I recently created an image where I needed light rays shining down, so I thought I would try to explain how I achieved the rays of light for this image:
Open a new file in PhotoShop at 300dpi. Make the new file the size in inches or pixels that you usually work with. Fill the background with a light color. I chose a pale blue color no. 95a6b3. I changed the background later to a gradient for the above image.
Use the rectangular marquee tool to draw out a rectangle over the background image leaving a one or two inch border inside the background.
On a NEW LAYER, select Filter>Render>Clouds. It should look like this:
Select Image>Adjustment>Threshold. Set the slider at the bottom in the center of the black hill. Hit OK. Now you should have something that looks like this:
Chose Filter>Blur>Radial Blur. The top slider should be at 100 and check ZOOM and GOOD. In the box move the mouse on those skinny lines and drag the center to the top of the little box and center it. Hit OK.
You should have something that looks like this:
Select>Deselect. Drag the blur layer to fit the screen, moving the top portion off the background. Set blending mode as desired. I set this to screen and it now looks like this:
At this point, you can use as is OR turn the background layer off and save as a png file to maintain transparancy so that when you wish to use your light rays you can add any color layer underneath this. You can change the blending mode as desired to match whatever type of work you need the light rays for.
You can also create a mask for the light rays layer to have the rays shine onto one particular spot.
If you have trouble with this, leave me a note and I will get back to you. I don't write many tutorials, so I am hoping that this makes sense. If you have any luck with it, please leave me a note, too. Then I'll know if I'm on the right track with relaying information accurately.
Who knows, maybe this will become a regular feature here - sharing some things I know about PhotoShop with YOU!
~karen
