Ferlin

Been away from Photoshop for awhile. As they say use it or lose it and I'm a bit out of practice. I am trying to create soft mystical lighting emanating from a central source - sort of a heavenly light sort of thing- and I know this came up here and it was related to Marks starburst tutorial. I get the starburst tutorial but cant seem to get the soft glowing light. Any suggestions. I've looked around here for the thread but cant seem to find it. \:] Also what pixel size would I have to make my pics before I JPEG the to fit in the new rules. I usually flatten and then resize down to 700 or 800 px. Do I go to 500 or 600px?

Dodo

Hey Ferlin. I can't recall the exact thread for that - it was someone who wanted a light shining from behind a cross or something.

Well anyhow, what it involves is simply create a new layer, make some thin rectangular selections and fill with white (somewhat like a zebra crossing - just without the black). Then apply the "Polar Coordinates" "Distort" filter. That will make it originate from a central point. You can then repeat this a few times - using thinner lines, blurring each layer a bit.

Otherwise you can also try using a noise type gradient fill, then desaturate it to produce a more gradual transition. Here you'll just have to match the edge colours (otherwise the polar coordinates translation will show a definite separation). Then set the blending style for this layer to soft or hard light. You can play around with that.

As far as the image size limit is concerned - all I know it's limited to 100 KB. But also, try not to go wider than 600 pixels on images. You can click on the "Terms and guidlines" link at the bottom of each page - but I think that still refers to the old 150 KB file limit.

Ferlin

Thanks dodo. That sounds pretty close. I remember Mark suggested using an angle gradient. I should have asked then but -- What is an angle gradient?. Is it just applying a gradient at an angle? Anyhoo I got some ideas for using this light thing. Thanks again

ljiljana

Ferlin, this is an angle gradient:

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Lily
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<br />Speak softly and wear loud T-shirt.

Ferlin

Thanks Lily.I was afraid it might be some really complex thing but suspected it might be simple. Now I know something new.