Amazing Photoshop light effect in 10 StepsListThumbs

Amazing Photoshop light effect in 10 Steps

January 08, 2008

Last year I had written a tutorial showing how to create some lighting effects in Photoshop, it was called Magic Lighting Effects. A lot of people liked it, but some people still have some questions on how to achieve that effect.

When I added a “buy me a coffee” featured on my blog I decided to use an image I had done when I was showing my cousin how to do the Magic effect. Instead of using a hat I used a coffee cup and the process is basically the same, however this time I will explain it in more details.

Step 1

Create a new document, apply a Layer Style on the background layer. Add a Gradient Overlay and a Pattern Overlay.

Coffee tutorial

Step 2

Here I've used an icon I found on a cool site, but you can use whatever you want.

Coffee tutorial

Step 3

Select the Ellipse Tool (U) and create a shape like I did. After that apply a Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur) with radius of 30px.

Coffee tutorial

Step 4

Create a new Folder name it “Light Effects”. Change its blend mode to Color Dodge, and move the ellipse you created to this folder.

Coffee tutorial

Step 5

In order to create the sparks we will use the amazing brush engine. Add a new layer, inside the “Light Effects” layer, set white for the color and follow the images below.

Coffee tutorial

Step 6

Using the Layer Styles add a Outer Glow to the sparks

Coffee tutorial

Step 7

Lets add some smoke. Create a new Layer, call it “Smoke”. Change its blend mode to Color Dodge and select the Lasso Tool. Set 40px for Feather and create a selection like I did below. After that make sure that the foreground is white and the background is black and apply a Filter>Render>Clouds. Tip: Continue applying the filter until you get the best clouds.

Coffee tutorial

Step 8

Add some text and using the Layer Styles again lets create a nice effect.

Coffee tutorial

Step 9

Place your logo and you can even add more effects like I did on the Magic Lighting Effect, but then you will have to follow that tutorial ;).

Coffee tutorial

Conclusion

I have to say, if you know a bit of Layer Styles and the Brush engine in Photoshop you will be able to create amazing effects. It will depend exclusively on your imagination and playing with the tool. Sometimes just changing a some settings and you get a totally different effect.

Coffee tutorial

The PSD file used in this tutorial can be downloaded here.

files/imagecache/Post640x480/originals/cofee.png

About the author

My name is Fabio Sasso, I'm a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I'm the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through Abduzeedo. Also you can follow me on Twitter or my personal site at http://fabiosasso.com.

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186 Comments

download from redtube01/26/2010

Good work, i found your blog in google, it's very interesting, keep us posting

CK01/22/2010

Wow, this looks lovely (:
can't wait to use this effect.

Konnie2101/15/2010

Have got writing an essay assignment and not know how to move? Do not be upset, just because the buy essay papers service could help you with the university essay very quickly. Thus why not to use this kind of assistance?

Lexxis01/05/2010

haha! did it! though still amateurish.
thanks for the tutorial! :)

Photobucket

Capsoboom12/27/2009

Hi AllenDoggie :) All you have to do is simply changing this thing to color dodge :) http://i46.tinypic.com/34fia09.jpg

BEAST12/27/2009

Very nice tut :)

What I did

[IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/zvpg6h.png[/IMG]

AllenDoggie12/18/2009

I just dont get step 4.. How to create a folder on Photoshop and how to change its blend mode to Color Dodge ???

Manzoor Kottayil12/16/2009

Its really nice, and you explained it as very well.
Thank you...thank u so much

iSunday14712/15/2009

thanks for share. nice tut !^^

Jon Victorino12/13/2009

Awesome!

estetik12/11/2009

woowww.. nice tutorial.. thank you..

Anonymous12/08/2009

OMG IAM SO STUCK. please help me on the folder bit >.< hwere it says maks a new folder......

Avery12/08/2009

very nice.

Nimol11/30/2009

WOW , very helpful

Thanks so much for let me download it ....

amouna11/28/2009

hi can u tell me how do u do this?
wow it s very wonderful

nagaraj arena11/19/2009

yes yes!!! I'm the one that asked for the tutorialvery nice!!
awesome!
thank you for sharing this wonderfull trick!

bruddas in the dark11/07/2009

how do you get the gradient overlay to go on the bottom nd not just stay in the middle

Hedda10/29/2009

Fun tutorial - thanks as always! ?

sethhumphrey10/28/2009

Thanks for the easy to follow tutorial.
I finally got around to working through it:

Jason Bobich10/15/2009

omg so cool... I'll be attempting this one!

AswaD10/09/2009

This is AMAZING !!!

Fanny10/07/2009

this is awsosme jst found this page and will totally keep track on the beauty of design and creativity ...AWESOME STUFF!!!!

Raymond10/04/2009

WOOOOOWWWW its great tutorial thanks Bro.....!!!!! You're awesome

Chad's Eye View09/29/2009

REALLY useful tutorial. I have used it myself, again and again. Thanks.

chandan09/23/2009

wow amazing one :)

i like it thanks

Anonymous09/21/2009

Thanx so much!!
I'm relieved when I find a tutorial which I can follow!!!
Kiss

ERiold09/01/2009

fantastic

future gadgets08/25/2009

Very impressive!

Multimedia Design08/05/2009

Beautiful results and easy to follow -nice job, and thanks!

drJohnMayo08/03/2009

Hello, I'm back again to view more information on your website.
This time i found useful info about Weight Loss and great post dedicated to Diabetes treatment.
Thanks you for the great made posts. I is really useful and interesting.
Best regards.

mjk kozehchian07/30/2009

wowwwwwww - wonderful tutorial, thanks a lot.

ck07/23/2009

Boy this is cool stuf!
Can't wait to upgrade my Brushes to CS4 to grab a complete hold of this stuf!

Great work!

Jes07/20/2009

Omfggggggggggggg this was so awesome i understood it perfectly thankss

Anonymous06/06/2009

how could you apply these overlays on the basic background layer man?I have CS2 but I cannot do it :|...It would be better a more detailed tutorial...

Sekko DaVinci06/03/2009

I loved It...

Anonymous06/02/2009

Simply AWESOME

TUrkPSD06/01/2009

thanks for tutorial. but brushes not found. Ples give me a brus

mito31805/24/2009

Awesome work man, and very well explained...
I applied the effect in one of my pictures... (How do I upload the picture?)
thanks

Make your tuts better05/12/2009

Man, you really need to make your tutorials easier for people with less experience to understand. This is really hard to follow, along with your magic light tutorial.

If you cared about your readers, you would do that. Jeez!!

SteveButabi05/12/2009

Realy awesome effect and the tutorial is good.

Thank you so much!!!

photo retouching05/09/2009

A really great effect! I will certainly be coming back to this site for more great tuts.

steph05/06/2009

so awesome. Thank you so much!!!

rosagena04/27/2009

I'm in Web Design school so my site is "Under Construction". With that said, I love this effect and will try it on another project I'm working on. Thanks so much for sharing. We learn so much from each other!

Dilla04/24/2009

i love your tuto i'm an amateur huahweuhwaue
and i'm also a newbie love your tuto so much

hannahbananza04/06/2009

if you GOOGLE "coffee cup icon" the same pic will come up; the site was iconarchive.com....
BTWs; i'm new to Photoshop and how the heck do you make a folder? I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what you mean.

photo and photoshop04/06/2009

Very Nice.

I wish to be so creative.

PHOTOMASTER03/24/2009

Hey very good tuto XD

Heavynne03/08/2009

Hi,
Wonderful tutorial. Beautiful effect and very usefull! Thanks!

Murphcane03/04/2009

My name is Ryan Murphy, I'm 15 and want to be a graphic designer.

I'm inspired by your tutorials.

Here's what I've done:

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Enjoy.

b4db0y02/23/2009

Thanks, great work. I really liked it.

CLOUDS?02/10/2009

i used 9.5 px maybe that will help

Anonymous02/08/2009

THE GAUSSIAN BLUR DOESNT WORK ON MINE WHATS UP WITH THAT?

PacoJarillo01/16/2009

Hello!!!!! I have done my own work!!! Hope u like it!!! :D

mi primer wallpaper

Maggie

Jessoh01/05/2009

This was awesome! Thanks for your help. I love to mess around with photoshop and it was fun to be able to follow some directions instead of me just fooling around with it myself all the time. Here's what I came up with

Photobucket

Bitterdulce01/04/2009

Thanks for the tutorial east to follow and was awesome.

Giuseppe12/26/2008

How to make this image with an uniform color background?
please help me
thanks!

gilda12/24/2008

wooooowwww..so fantastic i thought photoshop can't do that great image thanks for the tuto.im not a designer but i know how to use the photoshop tools.thnks...so wonderful....god bless..

Learn Photoshop12/18/2008

This is a great tutorial on how to add light effect in photoshop.

First Steps Graphic Designer12/18/2008

WHATS THE PATTERN??!!! plz help!!!

Craig S.12/11/2008

Ditto on all of the previous accolades for this fabu tutorial. Fabio is the man!

I had to create mine using CS2, so I couldn't emulate it completely, but here's my twist on it:

© 2008, Craig Smoot.

http://www.smoothedgedesigns.com/images/cupOjoe.jpg

Raven12/05/2008

This is the first light effect tutorial that I actually understand! Yayy me!! ^^

Calwen12/04/2008

Amazing work! Where do you downloaded the coffee cup icon? I love this crystal style.
Thanks for the answer.

yuppy12/02/2008

how did you make th circle brighter than th rest of th background?

Djdevil12/02/2008

Amazing Love it

desangles12/01/2008

i dont understand step 4 cuz how did you out the gold ligth????????????????????

Jumping Dog Design 11/28/2008

Great tut - thanks for sharing

Torisuta11/24/2008

Hey,

First thanks for sharing this.

I got a question... Why does the blending modes looking different on a folder (I dint even know that folders accept blending modes) than on a layer?

Greetings

Renan Ferrari11/24/2008

My image is a little bit different:

Anjum nawab11/24/2008

Very good man Thanks

Arfan11/22/2008

THank you very much adding your website to my favourites =)

Kovi11/21/2008

oh, it is very good tutorial. I try it :)

Timothy11/14/2008

This is a great tutorial. But, oddly, the coffee cup with light bubbling out of it reminds me of Harry Potter (don't ask why, it just happens)...

talal11/07/2008

At the outset I would like to thank you , one of the best lessons, which I liked from the great lessons I thank you all my heart, and also I liked the application of brother (Anony) the work of this wonderful

of practical lesson

http://www.col-sea.com/vb/uploaded/172_1226017262.png

Henry10/26/2008

Wow, great stuff thank you very much. This helped me out a lot.

mac10/19/2008

thanks a lot!
here's mine >

kelebek10/16/2008

I like this effect, well done. Just one question, why color dodge has a different outcome on a group of layers than on a single layer?

bikerchick10/10/2008

Looking at your photoshop tutorials for me is like walking into an Aladin's Cave! I think it's wonderful that you share your tips with us im sure many people like me think they are so very valuable as i've only been doing Graphic Design for a few years. A huge thank you!

x

izlekop10/10/2008

Dude! i wish i could personally thank you for posting this.. every second you have spent on making this site is worth it! truly its worth it..

always keep up the good work..

Ovi Dogar10/09/2008

Excellent post! Thanks for sharing!

Ovi Dogar
AbsoluteCovers.com

Ted09/22/2008

Inspiring. Thanks for the tutorial.

Mike09/13/2008

The download link for the psd file is broken. Could you please fix the link. This is an amazing tutorial. Outstanding in all aspects thanks for sharing such great work.

Maxi09/11/2008

Do you speak spanish? Maybe you can try do this in spanish :P

MOin09/10/2008

Great great you also provided .psd file i am planning to make an rss image for it. this is really creative work and i never gone through such sort of effect. amazing you seems to be a photoshop gennie man and the best part you are not greedy keeping your work secret you shared source file. two thumbs up

valerie09/07/2008

wow!!! really cool... im a student and Ive been studying photoshop for one semester and never done such cool things like this...thanks fabio your an artist... wish i could do great stuff like yours... thanks..Godbless

oscar08/29/2008

download break link..

sorry for my english..!! :(

Sphynxylynxy08/07/2008

Hmm, this is classy!!

I wish all tutorials on the net
could be as shick as yours.

Much Appreciated!!

Anonymous08/05/2008

Thank you so much.
I too would like to know how you did the coffee mug next to the "buy me a coffee" link. I like that one much better.

Julie08/04/2008

Great tutorial. The only thing is when I set the brush engine and white color for the sparks, it doesn't come out as bright as you have. They're not distinct. In fact I can't really see them. What gives?

Daniel07/30/2008

Vey nice, and useful. I love it. Thanks a lot

Cameron Smith07/25/2008

I would much prefer a tutorial on how he made the coffee cup next to the text "If you liked this post, you can BUY ME A COFFEE, thanks!" at the bottom of each post.

Can you please make a tutorial on this?

Thank you so much!

Daniel Lew Internet Marketing07/24/2008

Color Dodge and clouds effect does wonders, Absolutely love the coffee design! Great work!

Müzik Dinle07/21/2008

Oh yea I'm the onetutorial Thank You so much!! Yuo are great!!

pagerank sorgulama07/20/2008

toplist, site ekle

PTS07/20/2008

It's Wonderful! Thank's!

DIDI07/12/2008

this is awesome !
thanks !!! =D

Gabriel07/10/2008

Simply the best tutorials for photoshop on the web. I usualy never post comments but this is worth it.

Thanks you for your time ;)

Anony07/09/2008

Hi! im a 18 years old student grafic designer from the netherlands and i want to thank you for sharing your stuff with us! Cause i love the work you make and you are realy helping me to improve my photoshop skills! so thank you very very very much ;) and here is what i made with your help:
http://www.freewebs.com/m0nky/cokeaddiction.png

bnzr07/07/2008

Thank you! I just discovered your page and it is fantastic. I wonder why there are so much boring books out there, only explaining the basics. People like you should stick together and write a thick book of tuts.

kunal07/06/2008

Dude! i wish i could personally thank you for posting this.. every second you have spent on making this site is worth it! truly its worth it..

always keep up the good work..

Mirc06/30/2008

Thank you my friend..

Ravi06/25/2008

hello everybody!!
Thanks for this Tuto! it s amazing, i m reazlly impressed bye your Tuto, not only this one but all!!

But could you tell me why i can't download the PSD file? i wished i could.

Thanks!

shimul05/29/2008

really appealin effect good work.....it helped me

Vicente05/15/2008

Hello, fantastic job, but i can't find those kind of icons, where can i find some???
thanks mate!

Harry Roberts04/30/2008

Fantastic! Thanks.

NCR1904/16/2008

Hey,
This tutorial is helping me but i am stuck at the pattern gradient part. When i enter the patern gradient page it does not show a plain white pattern? Can you help me?

Website Design04/15/2008

Great tutorial. It's beautiful and simple :) Thanks.

RIMKA04/14/2008

hello everybody!!
Thanks for this Tuto! it s amazing, i m reazlly impressed bye your Tuto, not only this one but all!!

But could you tell me why i can't download the PSD file? i wished i could.

Thanks!

Tom04/12/2008

Ican't do the dodge tool, when I do that white circle I just get the same circle now yellow or dodge, can u please explain how to od this ?

I got Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extenden

evertt de sousa04/08/2008

excellent tutorial !

Brendon04/06/2008

Cool tutorial!

aboobacker04/06/2008

great job nice finishing god bless you

bto04/05/2008

great, excellent tutorial..

i would like to buy u one coffe

The Fachia04/03/2008

very simple tutorial but wait.. the result is so amazing. Unbelieveable

Brian03/21/2008

Just bought you a couple coffees :) Thanks for all the tuts.

computer jobs03/16/2008

great tut :)

earn money online03/08/2008

hy nice work
thanks for providing photo shop info
it is a nice software and works wonders

Jerry03/08/2008

Nice tutorial, thanks for sharing.

I'm not real good at adding glow to images, but I think I can pull it off with this.

Karan Kapoor03/06/2008

Simply inspirational.. :)

regards,
Karry

web design company03/06/2008

i will buy you a coffe definality

Magpie Coffeehouse03/05/2008

You should try some coffee from the Magpie; its simply the best there is.

David03/05/2008

it's great,i haven't learn it before,coz i just design bout bridal...
but in my opinion your design can give more soft colour inside,so can make more live situation...
ok thanks....

Eli03/03/2008

Just letting you know of someone stealing your tutorial: http://www.mma-studio.com/?p=3

He has also taken tutorials from veerle.

Anonymous03/02/2008

well i just found the coffee cup:

http://software.techrepublic.com.com/download.aspx?docid=240686

Ay?egül02/28/2008

Çok ba?ar?l? olmu? tebrikler :))

Very Very Nice.. :))
Thanks :*

Anonymous02/25/2008

HOOAH very nice

Elin02/22/2008

Hey! Love your pic, and wonderd where you found the coffeecup. I'd like to try it out ^^.

please answer

RMKhan02/22/2008

Realy an amazing tutorial thank u

Hairie02/21/2008

this one is awsome..must try!

DS02/19/2008

Great tutorial!
Thanks!

johno02/18/2008

A great tutorial, and very easy to follow. It never ceases to amaze me, what can be achieved in PhotoShop. Thanks.

dis-FUNK-tional02/18/2008

that's awesome.. I really want to learn how to do stuff like that in the Gimp (too poor to get Adobe Photoshop). Where might i find how to do crazy awesome stuff in the Gimp?? Do you know?

karu02/18/2008

wow................its Amazing!very nice.... THANKS!

penny stocks02/17/2008

hey thank you for the info
was very useful:)

Brad02/13/2008

Simply amazing, putting to use the most standard of tools to create amazing visuals... nice.

kevin.02/12/2008

It looks really nice, thanks for posting this up. :]

JAIME SERRA02/12/2008

Hello!
I´m a graphic designer, I live in Azores (Portugal) and I discover your page in the "GOOD TUTORIALS".

Can you tell me what is the font/typeface that you use in the logo "ABDUZEEDO"???
t seems to me very nice and it has a very contemporary design (I think), so... can you tell me it´s name.
Can you send me this font(if possible), .ttf or .suit!?? Please!??

I will be very grateful if you take a few seconds for me!

Jimmy

Ruth02/09/2008

Thanks so much!
Iv been workin with photoshop a few years now and its so great to diskover new things! So thank you again for this beutifull tut.

bratwurst02/08/2008

reminds me of the "Flaming Homer"

Yasir Assaf02/06/2008

it is amazing work, I like it soooooooooo much !!!

senthil02/06/2008

nice Awesome effect.thanks sir

Rahill02/05/2008

Nice one... thx

Ffanatic02/05/2008

Very nice, thanks so much!

unnamed02/05/2008

hello is this corel photo paint x3

Pepykvz02/04/2008

Hey... very interestin work! I want to be a graphic designer and i find this tutorials very useful... (I´m learnin english too... so... please don´t look at the mistakes in this comment) hehehe... if anyone wants to share with me some recomendations and cool pictures add me pepicus_073@hotmail.com.
I´m from mexico by the way... so... if u are interested in come here... I can give you some info.
Peace!

abduzeedo02/04/2008

First, thank you all for the comments.

Now, about the color dodge question, if you want to have the same outcome on a single layer you will have to fill the layer with black first and then change the blend mode to color dodge. It will work exactly as if the layer was inside a group.

I will try to write a tutorial about Color Dodge, I really like it...

Me02/04/2008

Your great, same with your work! Love it all. I just wish you had more tutorials beacuse thier some of the best quality on the internet!

Homunculus01/31/2008

I like this effect, well done. Just one question, why color dodge has a different outcome on a group of layers than on a single layer?

swapnil01/31/2008

hi i just love ur tut. man

i did this using ur tut.

http://swaprulez.deviantart.com/art/wavy-lights-76076894

aram01/30/2008

nice stuff. well done

Jane G.01/29/2008

Excellent tutorial, thanks! I will give it a try. You also have a very nice blog and I will subscribe now so I dont miss anything.

AmirFarbod Designer01/28/2008

WoW. This is so power full

I Love this

trendsettr01/27/2008

sending subliminal messages? well anyways nice tutorial! thanks!

The Pickled Jester01/26/2008

A fine work you have here...thanks for posting.

The Pickled Jester

taha01/25/2008

after effects kullanarak bu calismayi nasil hareketlendiririz acaba? cok guzel bir calisma tebrikler...

Paridhi.Mp01/25/2008

Very Very nice

Shoaib01/24/2008

it's not bad,if you want to see more tutorials. then see "www.tutorialoutpost.com"

Anonymous01/20/2008

what is the site from which you got that coffee cup pic??
ive been looking for a site like that for a while.

adrianix01/19/2008

superb!!
This is a knowledge i've been searching for.
Thanks dude.
Keep making masterpieces!!

Otterkins201/17/2008

Awesome job! The addition of the PDF download so you can save the tutorial for future reference ears you a "Hero of the Graphics Union" medal....or something equally valuable I'm sure!!!

Anonymous01/17/2008

the efficets looks cool ^^ , nice job

Anonymous01/16/2008

absolutely wonderful tutorial!

Anonymous01/16/2008

Wow this is brilliant! I always wondered how to get lighting like that, now I know! :D Thanks a bunch

Anonymous01/16/2008

thanks for the tutorials :p
i really enjoy that, and very useful for me to learn PSd more advance,,

by the way i don't understand in this tutorial, why u use texture overlay to?
and,, can we change with grads tool instead using gradien overlay..

thanks :)

resun01/15/2008

simple but useful

JS01/15/2008

How the hell did you add color to the Ellipse tool with??!?!?!

Umer Tahir01/14/2008

O excellent, just excellent !

Brgtt01/12/2008

Thank you for this - it was not only helpful but also fun. Thanks again.

Anonymous01/11/2008

i dont understand a fucking thing about this :@

Manuel01/11/2008

Esta muy bueno, Gracias en español!!!!

wolfman01/11/2008

wow realy awesome. great job ;)

Ashfaq Rana01/11/2008

A great classical effect......

Soca01/11/2008

Wow.. awesome work man.. I wish I had that much skill... haha happy new years btw!

St.ONe01/11/2008

Very very nice tutorial.. Thaks :)(:

Anonymous01/11/2008

Question for you. How are you adding the clouds? When I use the lasso tool and select the area then go to filter - render, clouds is greyed out. Fibers and Lens flare is selctable but when I try to use them it says it can't because the selected area is empty. Please help

Anonymous01/11/2008

Question for you. How are you adding the clouds? When I use the lasso tool and select the area then go to filter

Anonymous01/11/2008

i will ask about the fonts that you used pleased ... could you tell us?

add01/11/2008

man you put the PSD man ... you did it ... you really wanna help people and you are a great teacher please add me on your MSN will be a pleasure for me ... really thanks ... and continue helpng us =)

Oh my god ...01/11/2008

Man ... U put the PSD ... my god ... of this ... great effect ? ... great itf obviously seems that you wanna help man really thanks for the PSD i love it really really thanks .. and by the way ... you are a great grapchic designer feel free to add my MSN ... that will be a gift for me thanks

Mr. Buns01/10/2008

This was a amazing tutorial, thank you for posting it!

StudioSamurai01/10/2008

Very cool. Beautiful style. Thanks for showing the workflow, it's invaluable. Keep up the great work. Happy New Year!

laba01/09/2008

Very easy and very nice

Zeb01/09/2008

Thanks for share ! thank you for you and happy new year ;-)

oren01/09/2008

very nice!!
awesome!
thank you for sharing this wonderfull trick!

Benny01/08/2008

Verry nice tutorial and well explained :-)

giackop01/08/2008

Yes yes yes!!! I'm the one that asked for the tutorial.. Actually i was thinking that you made the icon but that's not important!!!
Thank You so much!! Yuo are great!!

Arnaud01/08/2008

I love ! very beautiful effect thx :) I test now

Kiss from france :)

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