If you ever used windows vista or 7, you might have come across these beautiful wallpapers. In this tutorial, i'm going to show you how to create one yourself in a few easy steps.
First, find an image with different light intensities at different areas like this one. You can find plenty in google images or you can simply use the one i have here. Open it up in Photoshop.
Next, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and enter the following:
You should get something like this.
Next, choose the Elliptical marquee tool from the tool bar and make a selection similar to the one shown below. Pick the Paint brush tool and choose a brush size of 300 px. Set the brush hardness to zero.
Create a new layer and paint along the edge of the selection.
Press Ctrl + D to deselect. Change the layer blending mode to overlay in the layer window on the right. And viola! You have your first light streak. Hit Ctrl + t to transform the layer. Resize it and position it to your liking.
Make a few more such streaks. Make sure each new one is in a different layer. If you've made a few, you can make the rest by duplicating the earlier layers. Press Ctrl + j to duplicate and then resize with Ctrl + t.
Soooo simple! Beautiful, isn't it?
In case you cant find a background of the colour you want, don't fret. Just get any image with good lighting like the one i have below.
Next, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and enter a radius of 100 as earlier.
Go to Image > Adjustments > Colour Balance. We have to modify the midtones and highlights to get the colour we want. You can play around and explore different options. To get a similar turquoise, enter the following values.
You will get something like this.
Repeat the same procedure as above with this as background. I've also made a red one here.
If you like this tutorial, you should check out some of our other ones.
