Amazing Photoshop light effect in 10 Steps

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.

About the author

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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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153 Comments

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...

I loved It...

Simply AWESOME

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

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

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!!

Realy awesome effect and the tutorial is good.

Thank you so much!!!

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

so awesome. Thank you so much!!!

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!

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

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.

Very Nice.

I wish to be so creative.

Hey very good tuto XD

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

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.

Thanks, great work. I really liked it.

i used 9.5 px maybe that will help

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

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

mi primer wallpaper

Maggie

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

Thanks for the tutorial east to follow and was awesome.

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

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..

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amazing Love it

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

Great tut - thanks for sharing

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

My image is a little bit different:

Very good man Thanks

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

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

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)...

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

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

thanks a lot!
here's mine >

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?

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

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..

Excellent post! Thanks for sharing!

Ovi Dogar
AbsoluteCovers.com

Inspiring. Thanks for the tutorial.

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.

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

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

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

download break link..

sorry for my english..!! :(

Hmm, this is classy!!

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

Much Appreciated!!

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.

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?

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

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!

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

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

toplist, site ekle

It's Wonderful! Thank's!

this is awesome !
thanks !!! =D

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

Thanks you for your time ;)

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

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.

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..

Thank you my friend..

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!

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

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

Fantastic! Thanks.

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?

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

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!

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

excellent tutorial !

Cool tutorial!

great job nice finishing god bless you

great, excellent tutorial..

i would like to buy u one coffe

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

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

great tut :)

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

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.

Simply inspirational.. :)

regards,
Karry

i will buy you a coffe definality

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

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....

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

He has also taken tutorials from veerle.

Çok ba?ar?l? olmu? tebrikler :))

Very Very Nice.. :))
Thanks :*

HOOAH very nice

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

please answer

Realy an amazing tutorial thank u

this one is awsome..must try!

Great tutorial!
Thanks!

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

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?

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

hey thank you for the info
was very useful:)

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

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

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

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.

reminds me of the "Flaming Homer"

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

nice Awesome effect.thanks sir

Nice one... thx

Very nice, thanks so much!

hello is this corel photo paint x3

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!

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...

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!

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?

hi i just love ur tut. man

i did this using ur tut.

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

nice stuff. well done

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.

WoW. This is so power full

I Love this

sending subliminal messages? well anyways nice tutorial! thanks!

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

The Pickled Jester

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

Very Very nice

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

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

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

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!!!

the efficets looks cool ^^ , nice job

absolutely wonderful tutorial!

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

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 :)

simple but useful

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

O excellent, just excellent !

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

i dont understand a fucking thing about this :@

Esta muy bueno, Gracias en español!!!!

wow realy awesome. great job ;)

A great classical effect......

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

Very very nice tutorial.. Thaks :)(:

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

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

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

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 =)

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

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

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

Very easy and very nice

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

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

Verry nice tutorial and well explained :-)

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!!

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

Kiss from france :)

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