STEP BY STEP

Learn to light-leak

Open a template

Open light_leaks_before then go to File>New. In the New dialog, click ‘Art and Illustration’, then download and open ‘Grunge Paper Textures’. With the Move tool, drag the image across to the paper texture file. To resize it, press Cmd/Ctrl+T, hold Shift and drag the box corners.

Add a gradient

Click the Create Adjustment Layer icon in Layers and pick Gradient. In Properties, pick the ‘foreground to transparent’ style; click the preview to open the Gradient Editor. Double-click the little square in the bottom-left of the gradient, then choose an orange.

Paint in light leakage

Click the Create New Layer icon in Layers and change the blending mode of the new layer to Screen. Grab the Brush tool, choose a soft-edged brush and hit 5 for 50% opacity, then paint with yellow and orange colours around the edges to gradually add to the leak effect.

Tweak the layers

In the Layers panel (Window>Layers), drag the image layer above the ‘Your image here’ layer. Click through the layers and groups that make up the paper effect. There are several options within the file. Turn layers on or off to suit your image, and adjust the layer opacity if you like.

Blend with the image

Click OK. Use the Angle icon to fine-tune the gradient. You can also drag in the image to change its position. Next, go to the Blending Mode dropdown in the Layers panel and change it from Normal to Screen. If the effect is too strong, lower the layer opacity slightly.

Retro colour curves

Click the Create Adjustment Layer icon and choose Curves. Drag down the curve line to darken the image slightly. Click the RGB dropdown at the top. Select Blue, then drag the bottom-left point on the line upwards as shown to add a blue tint to the shadows.