started with this photo from BigStockPhoto.com (Couple by Dimitrii). Its a perfect photo si!ce the couple is i!

the foregrou!d a!d there are !o distracti!g ob"ects.

Start by selecti!g the people i! the foregrou!d. #his does!t ha$e to be a! e%act selectio!& but the closer the better. Its also better to ha$e a little outside of the li!es tha! i!. I made my selectio! by usi!g the 'uick (ask )'* a!d usi!g the Brush #ool )B* pai!ti!g away the red.

+ith your selectio! made create a !ew ,ue-Saturatio! .d"ustme!t /ayer )/ayer 0 1ew .d"usteme!t /ayer 0 ,ue-Saturatio!*. Drag the /ight!ess all the way dow! to 2344. (15#67 8ou do!t ,.96 to go to 2344. /ea$i!g it a little higher will allow your ob"ects to show more.)

8ou should e!d up with somethi!g like this7

Be!eath your ,ue-Saturatio! /ayer& youre goi!g to create a!other ,ue-Saturatio! .d"ustme!t /ayer )/ayer 0 1ew .d"usteme!t /ayer 0 ,ue-Saturatio!* with the same setti!g of /ight!ess7 2344.

8our image will be black. Select the :radie!t #ool ):* a!d press )D* to set your colors to default. Choose the default Black2to2+hite gradie!t.

(ake sure your layer mask is selected o! your !ew ,ue-Saturatio! .d"ustme!t layer.

1ow drag the gradie!t from bottom to top. Do this u!til you get the effect you like.

Below these two layers create a Solid Color .d"ustme!t layer )/ayer 0 1ew ;ill /ayer 0 Solid Color*. Set the color to a dark ora!ge color. I used <f=>=??.

Set the /ayer (ode to Color Bur!.

If the color is too dark or too light "ust ope! the Solid Color .d"ustme!t /ayer a!d mess with the colors til you get somethi!g you like.

1ow to create the glow of the su!. (ake a circle selectio! with the ce!ter !ear the hori@o!.

Create a !ew Solid Color .d"ustme!t /ayer a!d select a yellow color. I used <fAbc3B.

Cu! a high :aussia! Blur of arou!d BD2pi%els or so. );ilter 0 Blur 0 :aussia! Blur*. (ake it e!ough of a blur so you ca!t see a hard edge i! your circle. Set the /ayer (ode to /ighte!.

(ake a trape@oid shaped selectio! with the small e!d bei!g at your hori@o!.

Create a !ew Solid Color .d"ustme!t /ayer below the ora!ge2color layer. ;ill it with the same yellow you used for the su!. .gai! I used <fAbc3B.

Cu! a :aussia! Blur );ilter 0 Blur 0 :aussia! Blur* (or )Ctrl E .lt E ;*) of about half the amou!t you used earlier. I used 3D.

Set the /ayer (ode to /i!ear /ight a!d reduce the /ayer 5pacity to arou!d D4F.

I! case you got co!fused o! the /ayer order heres a shot of my /ayers Palette.

So theres a relati$ely Guick way to tur! a!y photo i!to a ,allmark su!set photo.

Step 3
5pe! a docume!t with 400 X 350 px, RGB, 72 DPI with white backgroun . Immediately create a new !a"er a!d re!ame it as paper. .pply this setti!g72 Gra ient #$er!a" B!en %o e 7 !ormal

:radie!t from &'(bb 3 )!ocation * '5+, to white re$er-e. .!gle H I4JK

Step B
+ith the custom shape choose a desire shape a!d draw with holdi!g shift with white color. 8ou ca! dow!load my custom shape here. .pply the followi!g setti!g for the shape72Gra ient #$er!a" B!en %o e 7 !ormal :radie!t from B!ackto white .!gle H I4JKDrop .ha ow B!en %o e 7 multiply #pacit" 7 3DF Di-tance 7 3p% .i/e 7 4p% 0ncheck g!oba! !ight, 1ng!e H 23DDJK

Step ?
23R4 5 6 to up!icate the shape a!d right c!ick o! the copy shape a!d c!ear the !a"er -t"!e. Cha!ge the shape co!or to b!ack for easy modificatio!. 23R4 5 3 to e!able the tran-7or%. Right c!icka!d select i-tort. drag the top middle poi!t as show!.

Step A
.fter co!firm the tra!sform. 23R4 5 4e7t 2!ick o! the layer to bri!g out the -e!ection. Select paper !a"er a!d pre-- e!.

Step D
2reate a new !a"er a!d re!ame as inner. Draw as show! with the rectan!ge %ar8uee too!. Drag ab!ack to tran-parent gra ient. C#C/ E /eft Click o! shape layer a!d select i!!er layer click the add mask layer at the bottom of the layer pallete.

Step L
23R4 5 6 to up!icate shape layer agai! a!d cha!ge the color to b!ack. 23R4 5 3 to tran-7or%. Select i-tort too a!d drag as show!.

Step =
Casteri@e the tra!sform shape a!d go to 9i!ter : B!ur : Gau--ian B!ur : 3p%. Set the opacit" to 25+. Put it be!ow -hape !a"er. 5pe! the wood picture a!d place it be!ow paper !a"er. Do!eM

Below is a!other sample I did. ,ope you e!"oy thisM

.tep ;< Drag 3he Photo #7 3he =in ow Into 3he >ain I%age

#o start thi!gs off youNll !eed both your mai! image a!d the photo of your wi!dow ope! i! Photoshop. +eN$e already see! my mai! image a!d hereNs the photo of the wi!dow INll be usi!g7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 5pe! both of your photos i! Photoshop.

+ith both photos ope! i! their ow! separate docume!t wi!dows select your >o$e 3oo! from the #ools palette7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Select the (o$e #ool.

8ou ca! also select the (o$e #ool by pressi!g ? o! your keyboard. #he! with the (o$e #ool selected click a!ywhere i!side the photo of the wi!dow a!d drag it i!to the mai! imageNs docume!t wi!dow7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Drag the wi!dow photo i!to the mai! photoNs docume!t wi!dow with the (o$e #ool.

+he! you release your mouse butto! the photo of the wi!dow will appear i!side the mai! image7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 #he wi!dow !ow appears i!side the mai! image.

If you look i! your /ayers palette youNll see your mai! image o! the Background layer a!d the wi!dow photo abo$e it o! its ow! layer which Photoshop has !amed O/ayer 3O7

.tep 2< .e!ect 1roun 3he In-i e #7 3he =in ow

1ow that our wi!dow photo is i!side our mai! image we !eed to make a selectio! arou!d the i!side of the wi!dow. Depe!di!g o! the wi!dow youNre usi!g the Cecta!gular (arGuee #ool or the 6lliptical (arGuee #ool may be all you !eed to select it. Be sure to check out our tutorial o! the ;ull Power 5f Basic Selectio!s if you !eed help with addi!g to subtracti!g from or i!tersecti!g with selectio!s. ;or more comple% wi!dow shapes the Pe! #ool may be your tool of choice which is what I used here to select arou!d the i!sides of all si% wi!dow sectio!s (check out our full tutorial o! (aki!g Selectio!s +ith #he Pe! #ool) if you !eed help7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Pse the selectio! tool of your choice to select arou!d the i!side(s) of the wi!dow.

.tep 3< De!ete 3he =in ow 4a"er

+ith the wi!dow shape !ow selected we !o lo!ger !eed the wi!dow photo i!side our mai! image so click o! the wi!dow layer (O/ayer 3O) i! the /ayers palette a!d drag the layer dow! o!to the #rash Bi! ico! i! the bottom right cor!er of the /ayers palette to delete it7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Delete O/ayer 3O by clicki!g o! its layer a!d draggi!g it dow! o!to the #rash Bi! ico! at the bottom of the /ayers palette.

#his will delete the wi!dow layer but the selectio! we "ust made remai!s7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 #he selectio! we made arou!d the wi!dow remai!s i!side the image.

.tep 4< In$ert 3he .e!ection

+eNre goi!g to use a /e$els ad"ustme!t layer i! a mome!t to darke! the image e$erywhere e%cept i! the area that was i!side the wi!dow which is goi!g to gi$e us our Olight shi!i!g from a wi!dowO effect. #o do that though we !eed to ha$e e$erythi!g e%cept the area that was i!side the wi!dow selected but at the mome!t we ha$e the e%act opposite. +e ha$e the area that was i!side the wi!dow selected while the rest of the image is !ot selected. #o fi% that we !eed to in$ert our selectio! which basically mea!s we !eed to swap the selectio! arou!d so that whatNs curre!tly selected becomes deselected a!d what is curre!tly !ot selected becomes selected. #o do that all we !eed to do is go up to the .e!ect me!u at the top of the scree! a!d choose In$er-e or we ca! use the keyboard shortcut .hi7t52tr!5I (+i!) - .hi7t52o%%an 5I ((ac). +hiche$er way you choose youNll see a selectio! bo% appear arou!d the outside edges of your image which tells us that e$erythi!g i! the image e%cept for the area that was i!side the wi!dow is !ow selected while the area that was i!side the wi!dow has !ow bee! deselected7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 I!$ert the selectio! so that e$erythi!g except the area i!side the wi!dow shape becomes selected.

.tep 5< 1

1 4e$e!- 1 @u-t%ent 4a"er

Click o! the Aew 1 @u-t%ent 4a"er ico! at the bottom of the /ayers palette7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Clicki!g the O1ew .d"ustme!t /ayerO ico! at the bottom of the /ayers palette.

#he! choose 4e$e!- from the list of ad"ustme!t layers that appears7

.tep '< Darken 3he 1rea 1roun 3he =in ow =ith 3he 4e$e!- 1 @u-t%ent 4a"er
+ith e$erythi!g e%cept the area that was i!side the wi!dow selected we ca! !ow darke! the image a!d create our lighti!g effect Guite easily usi!g the /e$els ad"ustme!t layer. If you look at the bottom of the /e$els dialog bo% youNll see a hori@o!tal bar with a gradie!t goi!g from black o! the left to white o! the right with a small black slider below it o! the far left a!d a small white slider below it o! the far right. #hese sliders are the #utput 4e$e!- sliders. #he !ame is a bit co!fusi!g but what these sliders do is determi!e how bright or dark the image ca! be. If you do!Nt touch the sliders at all (!ormally you "ust lea$e these sliders alo!e) the image ca! be displayed with a full to!al ra!ge. I! other words it ca! display e$erythi!g from pure black to pure white a!d e$erythi!g i! betwee!. 1ormally this is what you wa!t. Sometimes though like whe! youNre creati!g a! effect as weNre doi!g here you wa!t to limit how bright or dark the image ca! be. I! our case we wa!t to darke! the image a!d the easiest way to do that is to simply limit how bright it ca! be by clicki!g o! the white output le$els slider o! the far right a!d draggi!g it towards the left. .s you drag youNll see the image becomi!g darker a!d darker a!d thatNs because weNre limiti!g how bright it ca! be. #he o!ly part of the image that will !ot be affected

by the slider a!d therefore !ot become darker is the area that was i!side the wi!dow which is the o!ly part of the image that is !ot curre!tly selected. It will remai! at its origi!al bright!ess le$el gi$i!g our us lighti!g effect. :o ahead a!d begi! draggi!g the white output le$els slider towards the left while keepi!g a! eye o! your image to see whatNs happe!i!g7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Drag the white output le$els slider towards the left to darke! the image e$erywhere e%cept for the area that was i!side the wi!dow.

.s you co!ti!ue draggi!g the slider towards the left darke!i!g the image more a!d more the light shi!i!g from a wi!dow appears7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 #he light shi!i!g from a wi!dow appears as you drag the white poi!t slider to darke! the image.

ItNs completely up to you how dark you wa!t to make the image so drag the slider u!til youNre happy with the results the! click 5Q to e%it out of the /e$els dialog bo%.

.tep 7< 4oa 3he .e!ection 1gain

,old dow! your 2tr! (+i!) - 2o%%an ((ac) key a!d click directly o! the !a"er %a-k thu%bnai! for the /e$els ad"ustme!t layer i! the /ayers palette. #his will load the selectio! o!ce agai! i!side the image7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 ,old dow! OCtrlO (+i!) - OComma!dO ((ac) a!d click directly o! the layer mask thumb!ail for the /e$els ad"ustme!t layer to reload the selectio!.

.tep B< In$ert 3he .e!ection

+e !eed to i!$ert the selectio! o!ce agai! so that we ha$e o!ly the area that was i!side the wi!dow selected. #o do that use the keyboard shortcut .hi7t52tr!5I (+i!) - .hi7t52o%%an 5I ((ac) to Guickly i!$ert it lea$i!g o!ly the area i!side the wi!dow shape selected7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 I!$ert the selectio! o!ce agai! so that o!ly the area arou!d the wi!dow light is selected.

.tep (< >o$e 1n Re-i/e 3he =in ow 4ight =ith 9ree 3ran-7or%
Press 2tr!53 (+i!) - 2o%%an 53 ((ac) to bri!g up PhotoshopNs 9ree 3ran-7or% bo% a!d ha!dles arou!d the wi!dow light effect the! mo$e a!d resi@e it as !eeded. #o mo$e the wi!dow light simply click a!ywhere i!side the ;ree #ra!sform bo% (a!ywhere e%cept o! the small target ico! i! the ce!ter) a!d drag it i!to positio! with your mouse. #o resi@e the wi!dow light drag a!y of the ha!dles. If you wa!t to co!strai! the proportio!s of the wi!dow light as you drag hold dow! your .hi7t key a!d drag a!y of the four cor!er ha!dles. ,ere INm maki!g the wi!dow light Guite a bit larger a!d mo$i!g it so that the light from the bottom left sectio! of the wi!dow is shi!i!g o! the woma!7

.tep ;0< 1pp!" 3he Gau--ian B!ur 9i!ter

#he o!ly problem with our wi!dow lighti!g effect at the mome!t is that the edges are too sharp which looks u!realistic. /etNs softe! them by applyi!g the :aussia! Blur filter. #o do that go up to the 9i!ter me!u at the top of the scree! choose B!ur a!d the! choose Gau--ian B!ur. INm goi!g to set myRa iu- $alue to about 5 pixe!- to softe! my edges. If youNre usi!g a high resolutio! image youNll probably wa!t to set yours a bit higher. Qeep a! eye o! your image as you drag the Cadius slider at the bottom of the dialog bo% so you ca! see how much blurri!g is bei!g applied (itNs always better to make a decisio! with your ow! eyes tha! to simply e!ter i! a $alue that worked well for someo!e elseNs image)7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Softe! the edges of the wi!dow light with the :aussia! Blur filter.

Click 5Q to apply the filter a!d e%it out of the dialog bo%. ,ereNs my image after softe!i!g the wi!dow light edges7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 #he image after softe!i!g the wi!dow light edges with the :aussia! Blur filter.

.tep ;;< .e!ect 3he Gra ient 3oo!

#hese !e%t few steps are optio!al a!d if you wa!ted you could stop here but INm goi!g to add a bit more realism to my effect by reduci!g the i!te!sity of the wi!dow light i! the bottom cor!ers. #o do

that if youNre still followi!g alo!g select your Gra ient 3oo!from the #ools palette or press G to select it with the keyboard shortcut7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Select the :radie!t #ool.

.tep ;2< .et =hite 1- Cour 9oregroun 2o!or 1n B!ack 1- Cour Backgroun 2o!or
8our ;oregrou!d a!d Backgrou!d colors should already be set to white a!d black respecti$ely but if for some reaso! theyNre !ot press D o! your keyboard to reset them. If you look at the ;oregrou!d a!d Backgrou!d color swatches !ear the bottom of the #ools palette you should see the top left swatch (the ;oregrou!d color) filled with white a!d the bottom right swatch (the Backgrou!d color) filled with black7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 PhotoshopNs ;oregrou!d a!d Backgrou!d color swatches i! the #ools palette.

.tep ;3< .e!ect 3he 9oregroun 3o Backgroun )=hite 3o B!ack, Gra ient
+ith the :radie!t #ool selected white as your ;oregrou!d color a!d black as your Backgrou!d color RightDc!ick (+i!) - 2ontro!Dc!ick ((ac) a!ywhere i!side the image to bri!g up the Gra ient Picker a!d select the first gradie!t i! the top left cor!er the 9oregroun to Backgroun gradie!t7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 OCight2clickO (+i!) - OCo!trol2clickO ((ac) a!ywhere i!side the image a!d select the O;oregrou!d to Backgrou!dO gradie!t from the :radie!t Picker.

.tep ;4< Drag 1 .hort Gra ient 9ro% 3he Botto% 2orner- In 3owar - 3he 2enter #7 3he I%age
Click your mouse "ust below a!d to the left of the bottom cor!er of the wi!dow light a!d drag a short ways i! towards the ce!ter of it to add a white2to2black gradie!t i! the cor!er. +eNre !ot addi!g the gradie!t to the image itself here. +eNre addi!g it to the layer mask of the /e$els ad"ustme!t layer7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Drag a short white2to2black gradie!t from the bottom left cor!er of the wi!dow light i! towards its ce!ter.

+he! you release your mouse butto! Photoshop will add the short gradie!t to the layer mask a!d youNll see the light gradually fade away as it approaches the bottom left cor!er7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 #he wi!dow light !ow gradually fades away i! the bottom left cor!er.

#he! do the same thi!g i! the bottom right cor!er. Click your mouse "ust below a!d to the right of the bottom right cor!er of the wi!dow light a!d drag a short ways i! towards its ce!ter7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Drag a short white2to2black gradie!t from the bottom right cor!er of the wi!dow light i! towards its ce!ter.

+he! you release your mouse butto! Photoshop adds the seco!d white2to2black gradie!t to the layer mask a!d the light appears to fade away i! the bottom right cor!er as well7

.tep ;5< 4oa 1 .e!ection #nce 1gain 1roun 3he =in ow 4ight
+eNre goi!g to fi!ish off the effect by maki!g the light shi!i!g from the wi!dow a little more i!te!se. .gai! this is a! optio!al step but itNs $ery simple. ,old dow! your 2tr! (+i!) - 2o%%an ((ac) key a!d click o!ce agai! o! the layer mask thumb!ail for the /e$els ad"ustme!t layer i! the /ayers palette7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 ,old dow! OCtrlO (+i!) - OComma!dO ((ac) a!d click o! the layer mask thumb!ail i! the /ayers palette.

#his will agai! load a selectio! i!side the image with e$erythi!g e%cept for the wi!dow light selected7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 #he selectio! loaded i! the image. 6$erythi!g e%cept the wi!dow light is curre!tly selected.

.tep ;'< In$ert 3he .e!ection

Press .hi7t52tr!5I (+i!) - .hi7t52o%%an 5I ((ac) to i!$ert the selectio! so that o!ly the wi!dow light is selected7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 I!$ert the selectio! so o!ly the wi!dow light is selected. #he rest of the image becomes deselected.

.tep ;7< 1

1 .econ 4e$e!- 1 @u-t%ent 4a"er

Click o!ce agai! o! the Aew 1 @u-t%ent 4a"er ico! at the bottom of the /ayers palette a!d choose 4e$e!- to add a seco!d /e$els ad"ustme!t layer7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 .dd a seco!d /e$els ad"ustme!t layer.

+he! the /e$els dialog bo% appears simply click 5Q i! the top right cor!er to e%it out of the dialog bo%. +e do!Nt !eed to make a!y cha!ges to it. If we look !ow i! the /ayers palette we ca! see our seco!d /e$els ad"ustme!t layer abo$e the origi!al o!e7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 PhotoshopNs /ayers palette showi!g the seco!d /e$els ad"ustme!t layer at the top abo$e the origi!al.

.tep ;B< 2hange 3he B!en >o e #7 3he 1 @u-t%ent 4a"er 3o E.creenE
#o i!crease the i!te!sity of the light shi!i!g from the wi!dow all we !eed to do is go up to the !a"er b!en %o e optio! i! the top left cor!er of the /ayers palette a!d cha!ge its ble!d mode. By default layers are set to the O1ormalO ble!d mode. Click o! the dow!2poi!ti!g arrow to the right of the word O1ormalO a!d select .creen from the list7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Cha!ge the ble!d mode of the seco!d /e$els ad"ustme!t layer from O1ormalO to OScree!O.

.s soo! as you cha!ge the ble!d mode to Scree! youNll see the i!te!sity of the light i!crease dramatically i! the image7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 #he light appears much more i!te!se after cha!gi!g the ble!d mode to OScree!O.

.tep ;(< 1 @u-t 3he 4ight Inten-it" B" 4owering 3he #pacit" #7 3he 1 @u-t%ent 4a"er

If you fi!d as I do that the light !ow appears too i!te!se you ca! reduce the i!te!sity simply by goi!g up to the #pacit" optio! i! the top right cor!er of the /ayers palette (directly across from the ble!d mode optio!) a!d loweri!g the opacity $alue u!til youNre happy with the result. INm goi!g to lower mi!e to about =4F7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 Ceduce a!d fi!e2tu!e the i!te!sity of the light by loweri!g the opacity of the /e$els ad"ustme!t layer.

.!d with that youNre do!eM ,ere o!ce agai! is my origi!al image for compariso!7

Photoshop /ighti!g 6ffects7 #he origi!al image o!ce agai!.

.!d here after reduci!g the i!te!sity of the light by loweri!g the opacity of the ad"ustme!t layer is my fi!al OCast /ight ;rom . +i!dowO effect7