Graphics Beast :: Creative design blog by Steven Till

DIFFICULTY :: Beginner
SOFTWARE :: Photoshop (CS+)

Okay, so this is more like a helpful tip than a tutorial, since the technique is extremely easy and also very quick, but regardless, I hope you find this technique useful.

When used properly, glow effects can really enhance a design, to help draw focus to important aspects of a piece, or to help set an overall mood. There are countless ways to produce various types of glows, one of the easiest being Layer Effects. These effects can be invaluable for a designer, and if you’re anything like me, then you love to find new ways to utilize Layer Effects in your creations. This approach allows you to create an additional glow that will add some texture and additional back light to your object. To accomplish this, we’re going to use a Drop Shadow in a rather unorthodox way… by using a bright color, we’ll be casting light instead of darkness, plus using noise to grunge up the background a bit.

Basically, the process is easy, all you need to do is apply two (2) Layer Effects to the desired layer.

1. Apply an Outer Glow effect. This will create the main back light to your object. There aren’t any specific settings you need to follow, so make adjustments to your own liking.

Outer Glow settings.

Object layer with Outer Glow applied.

1. Next, apply a Drop Shadow to the layer. Change the color to match the color used in the Outer Glow. Add a bit of Noise to create some texture and depth. Here are the settings I used.

Settings used for the Drop Shadow

And that’s it!!  Of course, to enhance the awesomeness and creepiness of the subject, you can add an Inner Shadow to further accentuate the back lighting. Here is the finished piece with some minor tweaks to the Outer Glow and an Inner Shadow applied.

Ooooo... A nice, grungy, and scary beastie!

This technique can produce some very interesting results, depending on the color, blend mode, and background elements that you use. Experiment and see what other cool glow effects you can come up with!