Photoshop Tutorial ~ Making Objects Glow

by | Feb 19, 2021 | Blog Posts, Tutorial Posts | 0 comments

For a while, I’ve always wondered how to make objects in my photos glow and float as if my photo took place in a magical Disney movie. Thankfully, I found this video that goes through the process very easily and does not require too much time to do. The hardest thing you’ll have to do is find the PNG of the object you want to glow!

 

There are two ways to do this effect. The first way is to take photos in a low light setting or manually dim your photo in photoshop or Lightroom. Then while in photoshop you can make your object glow and add the glow shine on whatever is near the glowing object.

 

This video will show you how to make glowing objects with this method:

https://youtu.be/aRLnj4TV-Ec 

The other way to do this is to, in a dimly lit area, use any kind of bright RGB light in place of where the glowing object will be when you edit it in. This will take away a small step in the process and make it easier. But if you do not have a bright RGB light then don’t worry about it! 

This video will show you how to make glowing objects with this method:

https://youtu.be/eJ7xdjIiT5E 

 

After doing a quick little shoot myself, here is what I was able to do by following the first video I mentioned. 

Now, as you can tell, half of the subject’s face is pretty well lit by the light from outside. Because of this, you cannot see the glowing lights of the icons near his face. On the other hand, the other side of his face is dimmer and showing off more of the colorful lights of the glowing objects. Overall, I think this photo came out well. Next time, I will definitely make sure the subject is not too well lit.

 

Now since the process of this effect is too detailed to be briefly gone over in this post I will just link the videos I mentioned above here!

 

How to Create 3D Glowing Social Media Icons:

https://youtu.be/aRLnj4TV-Ec 

 **I recommend starting this video first, you only really have to watch the first 10 minutes and then the last 5 minutes**

 

Make OBJECTS GLOW using this simple technique:

https://youtu.be/eJ7xdjIiT5E

**This video goes over both shooting and editing the photo and is a great and entertaining video**

 

Good Luck!