How to Do a Diffused Glow in Photoshop
Capturing that other-wordly, alien-like glow in a photograph can be difficult, despite the best lighting and weather situations. Instead of laboring over positioning your equipment and subjects, get glowing in Photoshop, where you can add a glow right onto the image. Photoshop's tools allow you to not only place a glow around a subject, but control the amount of light, spread and even the color of the glow, all with just a couple of clicks.
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Instructions
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Open Photoshop, click the "File" menu and click "Open." Browse to the image to add the diffused glow onto and double-click the name of the file. The picture opens in the Photoshop workspace.
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2
Click the "Lasso" tool and draw an outline around the object, person or area to receive the glow. When you see blinking dotted lines surround the area, right-click inside them and select "Layer via Copy."
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3
Pull down the "Window" menu and click "Layers" to open the "Layers" palette. Notice two layers. Your main picture, Background, and the copied layer, Layer 1. Double-click Layer 1 to open the "Layer Style" window.
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Click the "Outer Glow" line on the "Styles" column, which places a check in the "Outer Glow" box and opens the "Outer Glow" options on the window. Double-click the small colored square, defaulting to yellow, to change the color of the glow.
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Slide the "Opacity" bar down to 75 percent to make the glow look semi-transparent; experiment with the slider until you get your preferred glow appearance.
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Slide the "Spread" and "Size" bars to the right to increase the way the glow radiates out from the outlined image. The further to the right you slide, the larger the glow will diffuse.
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Click the "OK" button when satisfied. Click the small lined icon at the top-right of the "Layers" palette and select "Flatten Image."
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Click the "File" menu, click "Save As," type a new name for the photo and save it to your computer.
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