Lightning Effect
Skill level: Basic
Programs used: Photoshop 6
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Using a lightning effect in your images or logos is a great
way to ensure that interest and appeal are added while making the image
look great. Of course, you could easily use a pre-made lightning bolt from
a filter, but if you don't have access to such a filter, here is how you
can do it:
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1. Create a new canvas, about twice as wide as it is high,
with a transparent background. For the purposes of this tutorial, I made
my canvas 245 x 100 pixels.
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| 2. Make sure your foreground and background colors are set to black and
white respectively. If they aren't, you can simply press "D" to
reset your colors. |
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3. Now select the gradient tool  .
Make sure the gradient type is set to "foreground to background"
and drag a straight line from top to bottom of the canvas. Holding down
"SHIFT" while dragging will ensure that your line is straight. |
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| 4. Now for the lightning. Select the "Filter>Render>Difference
Clouds" menu command, and you will notice the gradient has allowed
for the "difference" in the clouds to be confined to the middle
of the canvas. Take note that the filter will create a different cloud each
time, so if you don't like the look of the difference clouds you just made,
undo the command and try again until you find one you like. |
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5. Select the "Image>Adjust>Invert" menu command or press
"CTRL+I". You will see the colors have now been swapped, so the
lightning is white, and has a more definite 3D look to it. |
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6. There is too much of a glow around the lightning at the moment, and
this can easily be fixed. Select the "Image>Adjust>Levels"
menu command, or you can press "CRL+L". Now slide the left-hand
arrow about three-quarters the way across the bar, and drag the middle one
to the right until you find the glow is the size you want. My input levels
and arrow placement were as follows:
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Input Levels: 193, 0.37, 255
The image:
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7. The lightning could be left like this, but I recommend adding color to
the edges of the bolt. This can be done by selecting the "Image>Adjust>Hue/Saturation"
menu command or pressing "CTRL+U". Make sure the "Colorize"
box is ticked, and then slide change the "Hue" to get a certain
color, "Saturation" to change the amount of color being added.
Don't move the "Lightness" arrow, or the black background will
be changed. |
A gold bolt:
Or a striking electric blue bolt:
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There you have it, lightning without a special filter. You
can use this effect with text to create some great eye-catching effects:
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