Photoshop video tutorials and digital art. Tutorials featuring everything from photoshop speed paintings to photo manipulation, layer masks and brush effects.
Open up the photo that you want to apply the lightning to and also a new document to create your lightning effect. After creating a black and white gradient, use the render filter > difference clouds to create a lightning bolt. You will then need to inverse the canvas to have the central section white with a black surround and use the level controls to sharpen the black and white areas. At this stage you can copy and paste the image onto the top of your photograph. You will then need to get rid of the black background around the lightning by choosing ’screen’ from the blend mode drop down box on the layers panel with the lightning layer selected. To finish off the effect scale the lightning to the required size and use the eraser tool to blend it in with the clouds.
First Duplicate the image that you are starting with by dragging it into the new layer icon in the layers palette. With the new layer selected go to filters> blur> surface blur and play with the settings until they are right for your image. Then choose filters> blur> smart blur>. To sharpen up the areas that you don’t want blurred use the eraser tool and reduce the opacity to go over the areas such as the hair, the lips and the eyes.
A really quick and easy effect. Good for use when trying to add text to a scary photo. Could also be created with a white background with light grey and blue colours to create an icy effect.
A great easy to follow tutorial. First use the liquify filter ( filter > liquify) to stretch areas on the face, particularly arching the eye brows. A good tip is to try to make the face unsymetrical. After adding a layer of texture and aligning it with the photograph below, choose hard light from the layers panel drop down menu with the texture layer selected. Erase the unwanted areas and use the dodge and burn tools to highlight specific areas. A good tutorial for changing the eye colour can be found here: Zombie eye.
This video covers in a lot of detail the best ways to change the colour and tone of imagery. Desaturate with different areas of colour highlighted, by going to: Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer. To change a photograph to Sepia tones: First Desaturate the image (Image > Adjustments > Desaturate) and then use the photo filter: Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter.
Start with any picture you like before applying the cloud filter followed by the difference clouds. Invert the picture and change the grey marker in the levels window to white by moving it to the right. This can then be modified to create the look of other types of electric current by adjusting the colour balance until you get your desired effect.
Use the pen tool before filling the area with colour. Repeat contract to fill the area with alternate colours before using the glass filter, layer effects and blur tool to smooth the edges.
