Learn how to Create Light Rays and Dust Particles Using a Custom Brush in Photoshop.

Tutorial Description

In today’s episode we learn how to create Light rays and dust particles using a custom Brush in Photoshop. The key to creating “dust” is to make particles that seem completely random.

Creating Dust in Photoshop

Using a custom brush is a great way to create dust because it will take care of Scattering all the particles for you. All you have to do is choose your Size then click-and-drag and Photoshop will place countless particles until you let go.

You will learn how to create a “custom Brush shape” to make the particles scatter even more.

Creating Light Rays

After you have covered your image with specs of dust it is time to make some Light rays. The cool thing about the dust Brush is that you can use it to create Light rays as well!

All you have to do is make your brush a bit larger and paint in one area of the photo. This will give you a cluster of dots in one part of your photo.

After you have painted the dots go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur. Choose the Angle and strength of the blur that gives you the best light ray effect. If you need to apply the same blur again just hit (CMD + F).

In this episode we show you how to add Variation to the Light rays then use a Layer Mask to make them look more realistic.