The Outer Glow effect is created by making a layer below the layer it
is applied to, and filling the same area as the content in the layer above
with a 75% opacity yellow in Screen mode. The filled shapes are slightly
bigger than the shapes they are applied to, thus the glow.
Here is what the effect layer looks like,
all by itself, when extracted from the example image at the bottom of
the page.
The effect has quite a few variables that can be set.
Here is the image I will use in the examples below. This shows an Outer
Glow with only default settings. Use it for reference.
- Blend Mode - As a rule, glows, or highlights will use the Screen
blend mode. However, feel free to try other modes for unusual effects.
Below is the example image using the Multiply blend mode.
- Opacity - Glows, shadows, and highlights all need some transparency. Adobe seems to like 75 % for them all.
- Noise - Adds random transparency variations. If you need texture
in your glow, use this. The example below had a Noise setting of 50.
- Gradient or Color - This area doesn’t really have a name.
You can pick one of the two choices via radio button. Choose this one:
to add a one color glow. Click on the color square to choose a new color (as I did, changing yellow to red).
Choose this one:
and then pick a gradient by clicking on the little tiny down arrow to the right of the gradient thumbnail to add a multicolor gradient glow. - Technique - Offers the choices of Softer or Precise. As a rule,
Softer is better. Precise is supposed to be better for adding glows
to things with sharp corners and intricate details. Here is an example
of Precise.
- Spread - This works in concert with the Size setting. It varies
the proportion of fully opaque to transparency within the glow effect.
The example below shows an Outer Glow with the Spread setting increased
to 50.
- Size - This determines the extent of the glow. The Spread setting will determine how much of this area is covered by more or less transparent color, but the Size setting determines the boundaries of the effect
- Contour - Varies the shading within the glow. Try different
ones for interesting effects. See the Contour
page for more detailed information on contours. The example
below used one of the Ring contours.
- Range - Determines what portion of the contour is showing in the glow. This has unexpected results, so experiment with it to find settings you like.
- Jitter - Adds random variations to the glow’s colors. You must
be using a glow with at least two colors to see any effect. Since the
default glow uses only one color (yellow), I switched to a Spectrum
gradient glow to create the example below with a large Jitter setting.
Here is the standard example image with a default Outer Glow effect applied.
And here is the Layers palette after the effect was deconstructed by choosing
Layer > Layer Style > Create Layers.
Photoshop Tips | Filler Images
Elements Tips | Shadows and Light
Elementary School | Advanced Elements
FreePhotos | The Belief Game
Table of Contents | Animal Rights
jay@arraich.com | Unreal Nature