This short tutorial shows you how to create the effect of arcing current in the air. Because it uses the “Difference Clouds” filter, the effect can look different every time you try it, as that particular filter changes each time you use it.
1. Open a new file. Make it 500 x 500 pixels, this is a nice size to work with for this tutorial.
2. Next you need to set the foreground colour of the file to black and the background to a light grey.
3. Select the gradient tool and then in the tool options bar, set the gradient to Foreground to Background.
4. Drag the gradient tool diagonally across the image from one corner to another.
5. The next step choose Filters > Render > Difference Clouds, which as said earlier will give a different effect each time you use it.
6. Now Invert the colours in the image by pressing Ctrl + I.
7. After doing this you need to choose Image > Adjustments > Levels to open the Levels dialog box. Drag the black slider to the right to dramatically darken the image, when doing this the effect of “electrical currents” should become apparent.
At this stage the electrical current looks very realistic but if you would like to add some extra colour to the image you can play choose Image > Adjustments > Variations. From the Variations dialog you can add colour by clicking directly on any of the preview images. Each time you click on the preview images the colour will change.
Tags: Electrical Current, Photoshop, Photoshop Effects, Photoshop Filters, tutorial