In todays tutorial I will show you how to create a digital bokeh effect, but this time in Photoshop. The process is very easy and we will be using the super powerful Brush Engine, one of the coolest things in Photoshop.
Created on: April 23 2009
Created by: Majesticlicks
Program used: Adobe Photoshop Cs3
Skill Level: Basic 7
1)Create a new document in Photoshop. I will use a nice scree resolution, 1920x1200 pixels. Fill the background layer with a very dark grey, not black. If you fill it with black the effect won't work. The color I used was #262626. |
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2)Select the Ellipse Tool (U),
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3) Select the ellipse and go to Edit>Define Brush. Make sure you select entire shape layer, and not just the mask. then go to edit> define brush preset. Now name your brush anything you want.
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Important please select the brush tool before startingGo to Window>Brushes (F5). The first thing to do in the Brush Engine is to select our new Brush. The size won't matter because you will change that when you use it. The Spacing, however, is very important. Chage the value to 100%. After that, select the Shape Dynamics, then Scattering and Other dynamics. For the values use the image below. |
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5) Before we start painting our bokehs let's create a new layer and fill it with a colorful gradient. I created a new layer and used the layer styles to do that but feel free to do the way you are used to. My gradient settings are as follows: Blend Mode is Overlay, Opacity is 100%, Style is Linear, and the Angle is 45º. Once you created your gradient...drag and drop it onto the background. At this point you should hide your shape layer.
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Step 6 Note the bokeh folder should be right below the gradient layer and above the shape layer Let's create a new Folder/group in our Layer Palette. Rename the folder to Bokehs and change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge. Then create a new layer inside the folder, You can create a new layer then drag it into the folder. choose white for the color and select the Brush Tool (B). Now just paint some ellipses with our custom brush. For this first layer use a big size, like 500-600px. |
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Step 7 Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. For this first layer in the bokeh folor use 20 pixels for the Radius |
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Step 8 Create another layer inside the folder, this will be our second layer and paint more brushes. This time however use a smaller size for the brush. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 4 pixels for the Radius.
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Step 9 Create another layer inside the folder and repeat the previous step, this time however use a much smaller brush. Apply the Gaussian Blur to this layer as well, but use only 1 pixel for the Radius. |
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After better saving I can up with this.... I hope you were able to follow along.
email if you have questions |
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and create a circle. Use black for the color, use the following setting as shown above, and go to Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options. Change the 
