How to Add sunset effects to a photo

See your layers

Choose File > Open, select a photo, and click Open. Click on the Photo Persona icon. Make the Layers panel visible by choosing View > Studio > Layers. Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > White Balance Adjustment.

Create backlit shadows

Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast Adjustment. Set that layer’s brightness to –15%; contrast to 25%. From the Blend Mode pop–up, select Hard Light to darken shadows and brighten highlights.

Create a sun

On the Layers panel, click the Live Filters icon. Choose Lighting Filter, and Set Type to Point. Boost Specular to 65% for an intense glare, Shininess to 60%, and Distance to 6%. Take Ambient to 50% to brighten the scene.

Warm it up

In the White Balance adjustment panel, drag the White Balance slider to 50%. This gives a warmer hue (rather than the colder daylight colors of the original). Drag the Tint slider left by –15% to add more magenta.

Flatten the layers

Press Shift+Alt+Cmd+E. This creates a flattened version of your colorised image on a new layer. It also preserves the original layers and adjustment layers below in case you need to fine–tune their effect later on.

position the sun

Drag the sun’s control handle to move it. Our shot’s shadows are being cast to the left, so we’ve positioned our fake sun top right. Set the Lighting filter layer’s blending mode to Lighten to brighten up the image overall. All image rights: Serif.