Small Stars
When you open the starting file, you will have one layer like this…
Add Noise
Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise… set the amount to 400%, set Distribution to ‘Gaussian’, check ‘Monochrome’.
Your layer will now look like this…
Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur… type in “.5” and OK.
You should see the filter in the Layers panel…
Levels
Add an adjustment layer… choose Levels
In the Properties tab and change the black slider amounts to 240 (this should push the black and grey sliders to the right).
Zoomed out you will be able to see a few stars. If you want to see more stars, zoom in.
Select both layers (click, SHIFT-click).
CTRL+G to group them. Then rename the folder “small stars”.
Large Stars
Duplicate the layer (CTRL+J). Rename the top one “large stars”
Expand the top folder…
Double-click on the filter Gaussian Blur…
Change the amount to 2
Click on the Levels layer (the thumbnail, not the mask part)…
Then go to the Properties tab and adjust the settings: black to 165 and white to 175 …
You’ll now see some bigger stars…
Isolate Large Stars
Make sure the layer with the filters is active.
Go to the Channels tab (beside Layers). In the window that opens up, lick on the small circle at the bottom of the window (=Load channel as selection). Make sure the RGB (and the Red, Green, Blue ones) are highlighted, not the mask one – click on the top one to select them all if needed).
You will see twinkly stars (because the white stars are now selected.
Go back to your Layers tab and select the “large stars” group folder .
Add a layer mask to it…
Click beside the folder to collapse it…
…so then it looks like this.
You’ll now see the small stars behind as well…
Star Dust Splotches
Select the top folder layer …
…add a new blank layer above it.
Rename it “dust”.
Select the Brush tool
Reset the Brush Tool. Then change the brush size to 1000 px.
Set your foreground color to a dark color (ie blue).
- Color 1: click the first time on the left area…
- Color 2: change the color and click the next one on the right area
- Color 3: change the color and click the last color in the middle area.
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur… set the amount to 150.
Clouds
Insert a new layer above the dust, call it “clouds”…
Set colors to default (D).
Fill the layer with white (CTRL+Backspace).
Go to Filter>Render>Clouds… then your layer looks like this…
Change the blend mode to Color Dodge.
Your canvas now looks something like this…
Blending
Select the dust layer and reduce the opacity to 30%.
Now your space dust looks something like this…
Distant Star
- Select the top ‘clouds’ layer, and insert a new layer at the top.
- Fill it with black (ALT+Backspace).
- Rename it ‘star’
Go to Filter>Render>Lens Flare. You can leave the default type and amount, or you can change it to the ’35mm Prime’ type.
Change the layer blend mode to ‘Screen’.
Reduce the opacity to about 60%
Get it checked off…
Desktop Background
- Go File>Save as… (or CTRL+ALT+S) and change the file type to JPEG
- Then go in your OneDrive > COMP 8 > Photoshop folder, right-click on the photo and “Set as desktop background”.
Reset the Brush Tool back to the default so it’s easier for the next projects you work on.
