How to Photoshop Purple Smoke

Learn how to create purple smoke in Photoshop.

Knowing how to create a smoke effect in Adobe Photoshop is useful in creating design and art projects. You can add wisps of smoke coming off a cup of hot coffee or a cigarette, add it to abstract artwork, in a ghostly Halloween scene or use it as fog coming off water. Adding color to smoke, using Photoshop, is an easy process.

Instructions

1. Open Photoshop and click "File," then "New." Name the file "PurpleSmoke" and set the width and height for your composition. For this example, we will use "400" by "400" pixels. Make sure the "Color Mode" is set to "RGB Color" and set the "Background Contents" to either "White" or "Transparent." Then click the "OK" button.

2. In the toolbar, click on the "Fill" color box and choose a dark color for the background, such as black. In the toolbar, click on the "Paint Bucket" then hold the computer mouse over your background and click to add your base color.

3. Click on "Layer" on the main menu, and then click "New," then "Layer" from the pullout menu.

4. Click on the "Polygonal Lasso" tool from the toolbar and draw an image of smoke.

5. In the toolbar, click on the "Fill" color box and choose a purple color for the foreground and a white color for the background. In the toolbar, click on "Gradient." Hold the computer mouse over the image, then click and drag your mouse across the image to the gradient.

6. Click on the "Dodge" tool and from the main menu. Click on "Highlights" from the Range pull-down menu, "50%" for the exposure and "17Px" for the brush size. Hold the computer mouse over your image, then click and drag the computer mouse across the corners.

7. Click on "Filter" from the main menu and move the cursor to "Distort," then click on "Wave" from the pullout menu. Type in "4" for the number of generators, "10" for minimum wavelength and "250" for the maximum. Type in "15" for minimum amplitude and "35" for the maximum. Move the scale bar to "100%" for both horizontal and vertical. Click on "Randomize," and then click "OK."

8. Click on "Edit" from the main menu, and then click on "Fade." Change the opacity to "50%," and then click "OK."

    

9. Click on the "Smudge" tool from the tool menu, and then click on "Brush" from the main menu and select a brush size around "25." Click on "Normal" from the drop-down Mode menu and set the opacity at "50%." While holding the left button of the computer mouse down, drag it over the smoke image.

Tips & Warnings

• Changing the color of your smoke is as easy as changing the color of your gradient.

References

• Computer Sight: Create a Smoke Effect in Photoshop

Resources

• TripWire Magazine: 35+Stunning Photoshop Smoke Effects Tutorials