How to Create Star Wars Force Lightning With Photoshop

Lightsabers aren’t the only Star Wars special FX that can be created in Photoshop. You can also create the Force Lightning effect used by dark Jedi and Sith Lords such as Count Doku and Darth Sidious throughout the saga. This effect can be applied to any photo or image you choose.

Things You'll Need

• A computer (PC or Mac)
• Photoshop CS (or higher version)

Instructions

1. Open a new document by selecting “File” then “New” or by pressing Ctrl + N (on a PC) or Cmd + N (on a Mac). Create a new document with a width of 500 and a height of 200. Make sure that your foreground color is set to black and the background color is set to white. If they are not you can reset them to this setting by pressing D on your keyboard.

2. Select the Gradient tool by pressing G on your keyboard. If the Paint Bucket tool is set as the default simply click and hold down the mouse button over the Paint Bucket icon then select the Gradient tool icon. Set the gradient to “Linear Gradient” and the gradient type to “Foreground to Background.”

3. 

   Click and drag cursor vertically from the top to the bottom of the image to create a gradient that is black at the top and white at the bottom.

4. Select “Filter” then “Render” and click on “Difference Clouds.”

5. 

   Invert the image by selecting “Image” then “Adjustments” then “Invert” or by pressing Ctrl + I (on a PC) or Cmd + I (on a Mac).

6. 

   Adjust the image levels by selecting “Image” then “Adjustments” then “Levels” or by pressing Ctrl + L (on a PC) or Cmd + L (on a Mac). The levels dialogue box will open. Set the middle input level to 0.10 or drag the center level adjustment arrow all the way to the right.

7. 

   Open an image to which you want to add the Force Lighting. You may want the lightning to upwards instead of left to right. If this is the case, rotate the picture 90 degrees counterclockwise by selecting “Image” then “Rotate Canvas” and select “90 CCW.”

8. 

   Select the Move tool by pressing V on your keyboard. Click on the image of the lightning and drag it to the image you want to add the lightning effect to. The lightning will now appear as a second layer on the picture.

9. 

   Change the Blend Mode to “Screen.”

10. Use the Move tool again to position the lightning where you want it. You may also want to resize or reorient the lightning. The best way to do this is with the Free Transform function. Select “Edit” then “Free Transform” or press Ctrl + L (on a PC) or Cmd + L (on a Mac). Adjust the size and orientation of the lightning as you see fit then press Enter or click the check mark to apply the changes.

11. Now that you have the lightning in position, open the Hue/Saturation menu by selecting “Image” then “Adjustments” then “Hue/Saturation” or by pressing Ctrl + U (on a PC) or Cmd + U (on a Mac).

12. 

    In the Hue/Saturation menu make sure that “Colorize” is checked then adjust the Hue and Saturation sliders until you get blue-colored lightning. In the example a Hue of 229, Saturation of 89, and Lightness of 0 are used but you can play with the values until you achieve the desired effect.

Tips & Warnings

• You can create a Photoshop Action for this process to make creating multiple lightning bolts easier in the future.

Resources

• A more advanced text-based tutorial on Photoshop Force Lightning