Hi Everyone. I am going to be adding tutorials to my site. These tutorials will be ones I have done that helped me. Also I will be trying to create some myself and Friends of mine will be adding theirs to the site as well. Hope you find it useful.


Star Field Tutorial for CS3 Kindly provided by DazT


This is the easiest method I have devised of creating a simple star field background. It is also very easy to adjust to get the effect you want.
  • Create a new document (ctrl-n). Set the size to 1280x1024.
  • Create a new layer (ctrl-shift-n), call it ‘small stars’ and fill it with black.
  • Add some noise. Filter->Noise->Add Noise. Use 10%, Gaussian, Monochromatic.
  • Automatically adjust the levels (ctrl-shift-l)
  • Use Image->Adjustments->Threshold to reduce the number of stars. I used a setting of 215.
  • Make a copy of the ‘small stars’ layer. To do this use (ctrl-j) to jump the 'small stars' layer up into another layer. Call this ‘big stars’.
  • Now we need to scale up the stars on this layer. The easiest way to do this is to zoom out using (Z) and (Alt-left click) until the canvas is small enough so that we can stretch out a ‘free transform’ (ctrl-t) to roughly double its original width and height.
  • Now apply a Gaussian Blur. Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur set to 2.
  • Automatically adjust the levels (ctrl-shift-l) and set this ‘big stars’ layer blend mode to ‘screen’.
  • Create a new layer (ctrl-shift-n), call it ‘cloud1’.
  • Render some clouds into the layer. Filter->Render->Clouds.
  • Automatically adjust the levels (ctrl-shift-l) and set this layers blend mode to ‘multiply’.
  • That’s it! But... We can do more…
  • Let’s tint the stars blue. With the top layer selected, go to Layer->New Adjustment Layer->Photo Filter…
  • Call it ‘blue tint’ hit ok, and on the Photo Filter dialog select ‘Cooling Filter 80’ from the drop down list. Pick a Density that you’re happy with. I used 25%.
  • Create a new layer (ctrl-shift-n), call this ‘planet surface’
  • Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool and while holding down the shift key draw a circle that is about a quarter of the size of your image.
  • With the selection still active render some clouds into the layer. Filter->Render->Clouds.
  • Now use the spherize filter twice. Filter->Distort-Spherize. Use the default settings of 100% and Mode set to Normal. Hit (ctrl-f) to apply the last filter again.
  • Automatically adjust the levels (ctrl-shift-l)
  • Create a new layer (ctrl-shift-n) and call it ‘atmosphere’. Fill the selection with black.
  • Set the Layer->Layer Style->Outer Glow to the following settings.
  • Set the Layer->Layer Style->Inner Glow to the following settings.
  • Also set the layer blend mode to ‘Screen’ so that you can see the planet layer beneath.
  • Create a new layer (ctrl-shift-n) and call it ‘shadow’. Fill the selection with black. If you have lost the selection just (ctrl-left click) on the planet surface layer to get it back.
  • Now turn off the selection (ctrl-D) and apply a Gaussian blur of 25 pixels. Filter->Blur-Gaussian Blur.
  • Use the move tool (V) and drag the shadow layer to the right and down by about 150pixels each.
  • Turn the selection back on (shift-ctrl-D) and hit the ‘Add Layer Mask’ button in the layer palette.
  • Create a new layer (ctrl-shift-n) and call it ‘sunrise’. Fill the whole layer with black. Set the layer blend mode to ‘screen’ so that the planet and stars are visible.
  • Now render a lens flare into the layer so that it looks like a sunrise. Filter->Render->Lens Flare. I used 50-300mm zoom at 75%.
  • Use the move tool (V) and drag the sunrise layer so that the lens flare looks like the sun is just rising.
  • That’s it!