Pure Filter Tricks [Intermediate/Advanced] (Photoshop Only)

W00t! My first tut...no screenshots though, except the final result. Sorry!

1)New document, 400x130, transparent background.

2)Hit D to switch back to default colors (If using different colors, your background color MUST be black, or else the difference clouds will not work, and neither will the rest of the tutorial.)

3)Filter>Render>Clouds

4)Filter>Render>Difference Clouds

5)Hit CTRL+F 3-5 times until you start to see lightning appear. (SEE REVISION BELOW)

6)Hit CTRL+L

7)Make levels at 0, .70, and 255, in that order.

8)Duplicate the layer.

9)Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen

10)On duplicated layer, switch blending mode to soft light.

11)Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Color Balance

Set settings to: Midtones- +21, 0, -22
Shadows- +62, +52, -41
Highlights- +20, 0, +30

12)Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves (SEE REVISION BELOW)

Set it to a mild arc, straightening near the top.

**UP UNTIL NOW, TAKEN FROM RMGdesigns v.2 site**
**MY STEPS START HERE**

13)Hit CTRL+SHIFT+E to merge all layers (They should all be visible)

14)Filter>Pixellate>Mezzotint

Set to "Long Strokes" (SEE REVISION BELOW)

15)Filter>Blur>Use Radial Blur or Motion Blur

IF YOU USED MOTION BLUR: Set the angle to around -45 degrees, and distance to 20 (REVISION)
IF YOU USED RADIAL BLUR: Set to "Zoom" and "Best" quality, set Zoom to 40. (REVISION)

16)Add text.

Radial Blur Results:


Motion Blur Results:



Revisions: Step 5) Hit CTRL+F Until you see much more lightning. I did 13 times.

Step 12) Change the arc to a steep slope, that connects with the top after the first grid on the left. This will staurate the picture more.

Step 14) Set to "Long Lines" instead of "Long Strokes"

Radial Blur Settings: Set to "Zoom" and "Best" and set Zoom to 90
Motion Blur Settings: Set to 27 degrees and 46 pixel distance.

Revised Results:
Motion: http://img281.echo.cx/img281/966/rev...ionblur0iz.jpg
Radial: http://img281.echo.cx/img281/3340/re...ialblur3en.jpg

Note: You can always mess with the settings a bit, add more saturation, different colors, etc. etc. To change colors without using the levels, hit CTRL+U and check the "Colorize" box.

[Cloud_Unchained]

Way too dark to see. The final result kinda looks like one you get from the tut I posted.

It does, but I'm going to mess around with it some more.