How to Make Smoke in Photoshop CS

Adding smoke effects to your photos in Adobe Photoshop is as easy as applying some filters.

Adding details to existing photos or drawings in Adobe Photoshop can give them that little extra kick. Smoke effects can add a ghostly or eerie feeling to an otherwise normal picture. Using a few filters and playing with the layer's opacity, you can make realistic smoke effects with very little effort. There are also a couple different techniques you can use to create realistic looking smoke in Adobe Photoshop.

Things You'll Need

• Photo or drawing

Instructions

Liquify Filter

1. Open up your picture file in Photoshop. Click "Layer" on the top menu and then click "New Layer". A new blank layer will open on top of your picture.

2. Select the paintbrush tool from the toolbox. On the top, select a brush size of at least 20 pixels. Draw a few wavy lines, moving left to right over the section of the picture you wish to add smoke to.

3. Click "Filter" on the top menu and then click "Liquefy". A new menu will pop up showing the shape you created. Move your mouse over the shape, holding down the right mouse button, to distort the shape. Click "OK".

4. Click "Edit" on the top menu and then click "Fade Liquefy". A new window will open. Move the scroll bar to set the opacity to 50 percent.

5. Repeat steps three and four at least four times. You should have a smoky effect on your picture.

Cloud Filter

1. Open up your picture file in Photoshop. Click "Layer" on the top menu and then click "New Layer". A new blank layer will open on top of your picture.

2. Set colors to black and white in the toolbox. Select "Filter" from the top menu then scroll down to "Render" and select "Clouds". The entire picture will be covered with grayish clouds.

3. Select the lasso tool from the toolbox. Create shapes using the lasso tool that resemble smoke. These can be as large or small as you want, and can cover a large or small area of the photo.

4. Click "Select" from the top menu and then select "Inverse Selection". Then click "Edit" from the top menu and select "Cut".

5. Click "Filter" from the top menu and scroll down to "Blur". Then select "Gaussian Blur". A new window will pop up. Use the scroll bar at the bottom to set the setting to ten pixels. Click "OK". You should have a smoky effect on your picture.

References

• NoScope.com: How to Create Smoke in Photoshop
• Abduzeedo.com: Creating Smoke
• Wiresmash.com: How to Create Realistic Smoke in Photoshop