Tutorial: How to achieve a Glow Effect with Adobe Photoshop?

Adobe Photoshop is the software of reference for visual creation, artistic montage of images and photo retouching. It has many features to implement all your ideas of original artistic visual creations. Your imagination is your only limit. Because everything is possible with Adobe Photoshop, you just have to take the time to learn how to master it, and to manipulate with or without tutorials.

And to help you get started, here is a detailed tutorial that walks you step by step through the artistic creation of a Glow Effect. This bright and striking effect highlights an element of your photo while darkening the background. Selection tool, layer of fusion, dynamic object, you will learn to master all these commands for your next creations. This tutorial is rather intended for users with an intermediate level in matter manipulation, but if you feel up to the challenge, do not hesitate and take all the time you need.

Tutorial: How to create a Glow Effect with Adobe Photoshop?

Select an image, preferably with a contrast of color important in order to showcase your Glow Effect, and open it with Adobe Photoshop.

Unlock your layer, duplicate it and rename it “Background” so as to clearly distinguish the background which will be darker and the shiny element of the photo.

Use the Object Selection Tool to crop the element where you want to add a shine and light halo effect.

It is not necessary to be very precise at the level of the clipping and the quick selection tool is more than sufficient. You can easily add or remove items from your selection with the + and – icons located at the top of the workspace. Do not hesitate to reduce the thickness of your selection cursor if the one selected by default is too big.

Once selected, create a layer mask.

Then duplicate your layer containing the layer mask in order to keep a backup copy and then transform it into a dynamic object via right click> Convert to dynamic object.

Before proceeding to the realization of the Glow effect, it is necessary to darken the background and for that, click on “Create a fill or adjustment layer” then “Color correspondence”.

The Color Matching Property tab is then displayed to change which 3DLUT setting is enabled. Via the drop-down menu, select the night effect, corresponding to Moonlight.3DL.

You can then darken the background even further by clicking on the Adjust tab and then selecting the Hue Saturation tool, where you can adjust the hue and lightness to achieve the desired rendering.

Now that the background is as dark as you want, let’s go back to our main element to transform into a luminescent object. Duplicate the smart object layer and change the mode of this copy to Linear Density – in the Lighten part.

Then add a Gaussian blur from the Filter menu to soften the sharp edges and give that glowing halo effect.

If your outlines weren’t precise enough during the first selection step, don’t panic, just go back to your layer mask and click the Select and Mask button at the top of your workspace.

This will open a new properties panel where you can adjust the size of the progressive outlines to give that glowing halo look and soften the outlines of your selection.

Then switch back to your Linear Density Smart Object layer. If you want to soften the effect, all you need to do is adjust the opacity of the layer.

If you want to change the color of your light halo, add a fill layer and select Hue and Saturation. Adjust the various sliders to obtain the desired color.

Who says luminescent halo, says more than light around the object. However, for the moment, the element just has the impression of being placed on a dark background. To add a little more lights around the element without accentuating the blur effect, go to the layer containing the color background and the first mask of our outline, before having created our dynamic object. Then add a new fill mask and select the Curves tool.

Then click to create a clipping mask for the layers below.

Then lower the contour line to darken the background a bit more if you want, use the brush tool with medium smoothing and go over the outlines of your light element. Make sure the main color is black, so that the effect is applied to the mask.

Then find on the Internet, a royalty-free image of a starry sky and add it to your composition. Then change the mode to Overlay.

Then stretch your image so as to cover your composition and manage its opacity to make the whole harmonious. Then create a layer mask that you will invert so that the starred elements appear where you want them.

Remember to change the main color to white and, with the brush, move to the places where you want the highlights to appear. stars, i.e. around the luminescent element.

And there you are, you are ready to embark on the Adobe Photoshop adventure with already a beautiful artistic creation that should impress more than one.

Article written in collaboration with Adobe