Adobe Photoshop CS2 Gleam Effects Tutorial

Software: Adobe Photoshop CS2
Subject: Adding Gleam Effects
Difficulty: Easy

Gleams are the effects of light beams shining off a surface. When light hits a surface some is reflected and this effect is what the gleam intends to replicate. In real life, this effect is most noticeable on metal, liquid or glass surfaces and adding this effect to textures in Photoshop can add a further level of depth to these types of surfaces if you are trying to recreate them.
This tutorial will show you how to create a gleam effect on a flat colour.

To begin, open Photoshop and choose File > New from the menu bar:


The new window options box appears. Change the width and height to 500 pixels, or values of your choice, and choose a new name for the window if you wish. Then click OK:


A new window will appear in which you can use to create many graphics and designs in. The working area is known as the canvas. For this tutorial we will be creating the gleam effect on the canvas:


Select the ‘Rectangle Tool’ from the toolbar located on the left of the screen by default:


Drag a rectangle shape out on to the canvas in the new window. Then right click the ‘Shape 1’ box on the right under the layers tab. Select ‘Delete Vector Mask’:


The rectangle will now fill the canvas and a warning box will appear. Click ok to continue:


Next, click the colour box on the toolbar, located on the left, to open the colour picker window. Select a lighter shade of colour to that of your rectangle by clicking in the colour box on the area of colour you require. Then click ok:


Select the Brush tool from the toolbar, located on the left. Click the arrow on the options bar at the top of the screen and select a large brush diameter while ensuring that the hardness is at 0%. Here 300 pixels has been selected which is suitable for the size of the canvas. Also, reduce the opacity to 50%:


Now take the brush and sweep it across the canvas to create a thick and slightly lighter line than the canvas itself. It should look something like this:


After doing this, reduce the diameter of the brush from the option bar:


Sweep another stroke of the brush over the previous line. Continue to reduce the size of the brush after every stroke until you get something that looks like this:


Although this looks quite good it can be improved by smudging the lines together to get a better blending effect which ensures the individual lines you have drawn are not visible at all. To do this, select the Smudge tool from the toolbar. You may have to hold down the tool selection icon to select the Smudge tool from a list of other tools:


Alter the diameter of the smudge tool so that it is large enough to cover the lines you have drawn. Do this in the same way that you altered the brush diameter. Then sweep the smudge tool over the lines. This should create a smoother finish and should look something like this: