How can I create a glow effect?

[Jabula]

HI Guys,
Just wondering if someone could suggest a way in which I can bring out the highlights in my photos in the way that would create a glow effect. I'm not asking about creating a glow outside or inside the circumference of the photo, I'm talking about the highlights within the photo itself. The glow should "bloom" outwards over other parts of the photo.
I have searched and searched, but no luck. Please help.
Many thanks.

[Ron P.]

Welcome to the forums,

You want something like this:

psppx3-glow effect.jpg (38.7 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

My example is somewhat crude, I used a low resolution jpeg, and done it in less than 5 mins. How I done it:

1. I always work on my images in the program's proprietary working format, which in this case is PSP, so I duplicated the photo, and closed the original. Then zoomed in so I could select the various parts I want the glow effect to be applied.
2. Get the Freehand Selection Tool and set it to Edge Seeker. You may want to play with the Range setting, I left it at the default of 10.
3. Now start going around the edge of one of the objects in your photo to create a selection.
4. Once you have it selected, go to Selections>Promote Selection to Layer.
5. Once it is promoted to a layer, make sure you have it selected in the Layer manger, and then go to Effects>3D Effects>Drop Shadow
6. In the drop shadow dialog, you can change the color, the blurring, and transparency to suit your needs.

[Kathy_9]

I just "test drove" your instructions and they work nicely - thanks. I would recommend checking the box to put drop shadow on a separate layer as you can go back and tweak the opacity if needed.

[LeviFiction]

Well, Jabula said the highlights within the photo itself rather than adding a glow around something which is what your instructions show. And telling by the description of it "blooming" out I can then only assume that this person wants either the Bloom or the high-key glow effect. But I think the "bloom" portion in quotes kind of gives away which of the two Jabula is talking about. But I'll show both - both procedures are pretty similar in nature.

Method #1: High-Key Glow
1) Select the entire image (Ctrl + A or Selections->Select All)

2) Modify selection by removing the highlights only.
2.1) Selections->Modify->Select Color Range
2.2) With "Subtract Color Range" hover over your image and select the whitest area in the image
2.3) Increase the threshold and softness until you've selected most of the highlights including some of the mid-tones
2.4) Hit OK

3) Invert the selection to select only the highlights (Selections->Invert)
4) Promote the selection to its own layer (Selections->Promote to Layer or Ctrl + Shift + P)
5) Select None (Selections-> Select None or Ctrl + D)
6) Change this layer's blend mode to Screen (removes black adds white)
7) Fix up glow effect with eraser
8 ) Optional - Duplicate the highlights layer to make highlights even brighter

Method #2: Bloom #1
1) Duplicate Background Layer

2) Create a new mask from Image luminance
2.1) Right-click new layer New Mask Layer -> From Image
2.2) Source Luminance - do not invert the mask

3) Select picture from group and add Guassian blur - very small amount

4) Use eraser (make sure background color is black) on mask layer to remove effect from unwanted areas


Method #3: Bloom #2
1) Duplicate Background layer
2) Gaussian Blur - small amount just enough to bring out the highlights
3) Brighten image, decrease contrast (best to use Levels not actual Brightness & Contrast)
4) Change blend mode to either Soft Light, Hard Light, Overlay, or Screen
5) You can also adjust opacity for strength of the effect

Method #4: High-Key #2 - same as method #3 but desaturate the image rather than brightening and decreasing contrast

There are others, but again follow the same general method of blurring and brightening, just do a search for High-Key Glow or Bloom effect.

[Jabula]

Wow - your responses are great. Thank you all very much indeed! LeviFiction was absolutely spot on. I wasn't so much looking for a surrounding glow, but a highlight glow.
After a brief test, you have described exactly what I was looking for. I'm going to enjoy trying all the options you have given me. And certainly the suggestion from Ron gives me an idea for another option.
Thanks again for your detailed and very quick responses!
Cheers.