ill the areas around
the lightning streaks with a black, uniform fill. Apply the Ripple
filter to further enhance the lightning effect.
- Click the Fill tool from the Toolbox.
- Right-click the black color swatch from the on-screen Color Palette.
- On the Property Bar, type 60 in the
Transparency box.
- Type 30 in the Color Similarity Or Hue Levels box.
- Click in the areas of the image around the lightning streaks
until the areas are mostly black. For best results, leave some
of the texture showing through the black fill.
- Click Effects menu, 2D Effects, Ripple.
- In the Ripple dialog box, click the Dual Wave 1:1 button.
- Type 9 in the Period box, 1 in the Amplitude box, and 90 in
the Direction box.
- Click OK.
Go to next page
Apply the Whirlpool
filter, and then convert the image to 8-bit Paletted mode
using the Black Body palette to give the image lightning-like
colors.
- Click Effects menu, 2D Effects, Whirlpool.
- In the Whirlpool dialog box, type 35 in the Spacing box.
- Type 3 in the Smear Length box, 70 in the Twist box, 0 in
the Streak Detail box, and click OK.
- Click Image menu, Convert To, Paletted (8-bit).
- In the Convert To Paletted dialog box, choose Black Body from
the Palette list box.
- Choose None from the Dithering list box, and click OK.
Go to next page
To finish the lightning
effect, convert the image back to 24-bit RGB mode,
and soften the streaks with the Gaussian Blur filter.
- Click Image menu, Convert To, RGB Color (24-bit).
- Click Effects menu, Blur, Gaussian Blur.
- In the Gaussian Blur dialog box, type 1 in the Radius box,
and click OK.
Now you have learned how to create a dazzling, lightning effect.
Here's an example of what your image might look like.
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Click here for more cool effects.