1What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial you will learn how to create an amazing sparkling light effect. I will explain everything in so much detail that everyone can create it, even those who have just opened Photoshop for the first time.

1. Let's Get Started

Step 1

First, open the photo that you want to work with. To open your photo, go to File > Open, choose your photo, and click Open. Now, before we get started, just check a couple of things:

Your photo should be in RGB Color mode, 8 Bits/Channel. To check this, go to Image > Mode.

For best results, your photo size should be 2000–4000 px wide/high. To check this, go to Image > Image Size.

Your photo should be the Background layer. If it is not, go to Layer > New > Background from Layer.

Step 2

Now we are going to crop the image to remove some of the space on the left. Choose the Crop Tool (C), and transform the Crop Box as shown below:

2. How to Create the Sparkling Lights

Step 1

In this section, we are going to create sparkles. Go to Layer > New > Layer to create a new layer and name it Temp_1.

Step 2

Now press D on your keyboard to reset the swatches. Then, go to Edit > Fill and set Contents to Foreground Color, Mode to Normal and Opacity to 100% as shown below:

Step 3

Now go to Filter > Pixelate > Mezzotint and set Type to Coarse Dots as shown below:

Step 4

Go to Select > Color Range and using the Eyedropper Tool, select the white color by clicking on some of the white particles in your photo. Set the Fuzziness to 200, go to Select > Select and Mask, and choose the following settings:

Step 5

Now hide this layer, go to Layer > New > Layer to create a new layer, and name it Temp_2.

Step 6

Set the foreground color to #ffffff, go to Edit > Fill, and set Contents to Foreground Color, Mode to Normal, and Opacity to 100% as shown below. Then, press Control-D on your keyboard to deselect the selection.