In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to create an infrared glow effect in Photoshop quickly. We will do it non-destructively so that our effect will be completely editable.
You’ll need:
- Adobe Photoshop CS6 (any other recent version will work too)
Step 1
Open your image in Photoshop.
We will apply the glow effect and infrared effect separately. Adding an infrared effect is easy. Firstly, click on the Black & White icon in the Adjustments panel.
Now, go to the Properties panel and change your Black & White adjustment layer’s Preset to Infrared.
In my image, the trees and grass have become a bit too bright. To fix this, go to the Properties panel and drag the Greens and Yellows sliders (since grass and trees contain green and yellow colors) towards the left. You can adjust the brightness of any area by dragging the appropriate color slider.
Step 2
Now, we will work on our glow effect. Select the background color, right-click (Windows) / control-click (Macs) on it and select Convert to Smart Object. Set the foreground and background colors as black and white by pressing D. Next, select Filter > Filter Gallery and choose Diffuse Glow from the Distort folder.
The Graininess slider controls the amount of film grain in the image, the Glow Amount slider controls the intensity and strength of the glow, and the Clear Amount slider controls the tonal range affected by the glow. You might want to play around with the sliders a bit till you get the desired effect.
Step 3
If needed, lower the opacity of the Diffuse Glow filter. In my image, the filter has blown out the detail in the water and sky, so I’ll be lowering its opacity. To do so, double-click on the Blending Options icon.
I’m reducing the opacity to 75%.
Step 4
Finally, we will bring back a teensy-weensy bit of the original image’s color. Select the Black & White adjustment layer and lower its opacity to 90%.
And we’re done!
