In this tutorial today we will be teaching you how to add a smoke effect to objects in CS5. This tutorial works well in CS3 as well as CS4. As always the source files will be available to you at the end of this tutorial.

 

Step 1) Creating the Base, Background Layer

Open Photoshop and create a new document. I used 1920x1200 pixels for this example. Then apply a gradient to this new document. You could fill this with a gradient or apply a layer style. I chose to use a layer style > gradient overlay. I used a radial overlay for the style and I chose #07090a - #202b35 for the colors.

 

Step 2) Adding the text and filter effect

Add some white text to the screen, for this tutorial we will be just adding some text that says “SMOKE". After your text is added, go to LAYER > BLUR > MOTION BLUR. For the purpose of this example we will be using a 90° angle and 40 pixels for the distance.

 

 

 

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Step 3) Distorting the text with a distort filter and blurs

For this next step, go to Filter > Distort > Wave. We used 3 for the number of generators, 10 and 246 for the Wavelength, and 5 and 35 for the Amplitude. Now go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. We used 10 pixels for the radius but you can of course adjust this as you see fit. After you have completed this step, group the layer and rename the folder Blend Mode to Color Dodge. You should get a nice color effect on the text now.

 

Step 4) Creating some background clouds

Create a new layer on top of the other layers and go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Make sure that you have black and white for the foreground and background colors. Change the blend mode of this layer to Color Dodge and now go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. With a very soft brush with black as the chosen color, hide some areas of the cloud. Use the image below as reference.

 

 

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Step 5) Adding the smoke Effect

 

Create a new folder on the layers palette. Change the folders blend mode to Color Dodge and add a new layer in it. Use the smoke brushes from Qbrushes. Select white for the color and paint over some of the letters. If you don't think the brush is very bright you can click twice.

 

 

Step 6) Adding some Texture behind the smoke

Create a new layer beneath all the previous layers besides the background. Fill this layer with black and go to Filter > Texture > Texturizer. Use 100% for the scaling and 4 for the Relief. For the texture use Canvas and for the Light use Top. That will add a nice texture to the image but you may need to lower the opacity to 10%.

 

 

Congratulations you have successfully completed this tutorial. As always the source files can be downloaded below. Leave a comment if you liked this tutorial or it helped you out!

 

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