Posts tagged lighting

This is the effect we are aiming for:

Step 1

Let's get this started, so first create a new document. For the example I'm using a 500x500px document which I will then fill with black.
With a dark tone of purple/pink create a radial gradient around the center. It should look like this:

Step 2

Now we need to get a nice "object". I used an icon I found at PNG icons, under the category Objects.
Simply place it in the center, over the gradient we drew, and play with the Levels (Image>Adjustments>Levels...) to make it look good in the new location.

Step 3

Let's get some text to put flying around our object. I simply went to the code (View>Source code) of this website and copied the first line, but you can use any text. Anyway, it won't be legible...
Paste the text in the image, and go to Filter>Distort>Waves. It will tell you that you cannot apply it to a Text layer, that you must convert it, click OK and apply the waves directly. The default settings are good enough.

With the move tool and the "Show transformation controls" check box checked, rotate and resize your text to look as if it is going away from the object.
Duplicate the layer (Cntrl+J) a couple times and move the new texts around to have multiple streams of text. You should end up with something like this:

Step 4

Now we must create the glossy effect that makes it look so cool. Go to layer styles (Double click over the layer icon or with the layer selected go to the bottom icon that looks like a circle with a f inside) and select Outer glow.
You can leave the default color or select another. I recommend that you use a different color for each text stream. Now the most important part is that you set the Outer glow blending mode to Color Dodge, this way it will look really glossy and stylish. For mine, I set the opacity to 100%, the size to 26 and the extension to 5, but again tweak this settings until you feel confortable with the result.
This is how mine looks now:

Step 5

Some improvements, duplicate more text layers, delete the layer style and apply a gaussian blur. Then set the opacity down a little, this way you create the moving effect.

I've used a brush called "Grunge flowers" which you can find in my article Best Photoshop brushes, to paint with black over the edges of the pinkish blurred circle we did in step 1, it looks way better like this
Then I added a little outer glow to that brush, also in Color Dodge, to increase the luminosity of the background.

Another thing you can do is create a layer mask for all text layers (Select the layer and then the bottom icon that looks like a double square) and with a black to white gradient I faded the outer edges, as if it was dissapearing into the distance.

Once this minor retouches have been done, press Cntrl+Alt+Shift+N and then with E instead of N to make a copy of what's visible and apply some Lens Flares (Filter>Render>Lens Flare) to add some visual impact.

I've made a lot of stuff in this step that I completely forgot about, but basically be creative. This is my final result again:

Partial source: Abduzeedo
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!