Lighting effects and opacity masks
5. Move the rays behind the scenery and enlarge them
At this point, drag the Rays of Light layer below any background scenery layers in the Layers palette to make it look more realistic. Then, select the Free Transform tool (E), hold down Shift, and drag one of the top corner handles of the triangle shape upward to enlarge it. This will expand the starburst shape so it encompasses the entire illustration. Notice that all of the rays will be enlarged at the same time because they’re all part of the same effect.
Position the Rays of Light layer below any background scenery layers and then expand the starburst shape using the Free Transform tool.
6. Change the blend mode and lower the opacity
Experiment with changing the blending mode to Soft Light or Overlay in the pop-up menu in the Transparency palette. Try setting the Opacity to 75% as well.
Change the blending mode in the Transparency palette.
7. Adjust the opacity mask
Finally, if you really want to get crazy, adjust the opacity mask that you created in Step 4. To do this, open the Transparency palette again and click once on the small black-and-white opacity mask to the right of the image thumbnail (if you don’t see the mask, choose Show Options from the Transparency palette’s flyout menu). Then, if you look in the Layers palette you’ll see that you can now reshape, resize, or otherwise transform the gradient circle. You can also modify the overall gradient to change the effect.
To adjust the opacity mask, click the small black-and-white opacity mask in the Transparency palette.
Final Image
The final image.
Matt Kloskowski is an Education and Curriculum Developer for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. He has authored or co-authored several books on Adobe Photoshop® and Illustrator and teaches an advanced Photoshop course for www.sessions.edu.
