A cool plasma background effect.

1

a. Start with a file 400x400 px.

b. Hit D to reset your colors to black and white, then go to Filter>Render>Clouds. I would suggest taking advantage of Photoshop CS's custom hotkey feature by binding Clouds. I have mine bound to Ctrl + t.

c. Name the Layer the clouds is on "BG"

 

2

a.Next go to Filter>Brush Strokes>Accented Edges...

Use these settings:

Edge Width: 4

Edge Brightness: 39

Smoothness: 6

3

a. Next create a new layer, call this one "Vapor"

b. Set the new layers blend mode to "Overlay".

c. On the Vapor layer, go to Filter>Render>Clouds.

d. Next go to Filter>Sketch>Chrome...

use these settings:

Detail: 10

Smoothness: 10

 

4

a. Go back to the "BG" layer.

b. Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation... (Ctrl + U)

use these settings.

Hue: 113

Saturation: 29

Contrast: 27

c. Then, still on the "BG" layer, go to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast... This is another custom hotkey of mine, I have Brightness/Contrast bound to Ctrl+Alt+C. I would recommend binding this since Brightness/Contrast is used so often.

use these settings.

Brightness: 5

Contrast: 27

-Your final product should look something like this.

-Discuss this Tutorial on the Forum