Making Smoke in Photoshop

• In the Layers Panel, create a new layer.
  Have the default colours of black over white in the toolbox.

• Go to Filter > Render > Clouds.

• In the Layers panel, add a layer mask to the Clouds layer.

• Change the mode of the layer to Screen.

• With a soft black brush, mask out the outer edges of the smoke.
  Mask out further to make the shape of the smoke suitable for the subject.

• Reduce the Opacity of the Brush to 30% so that the spread of the smoke is more gradual.

• Create another new layer.

• Choose the Lasso tool and enter a Feather value of 30 px.

• Lasso a small area above two of the windows.

• Run the Clouds filter with Ctrl + F / Cmd + F.
  Cancel the selection.

• This new layer is too strong so lower its Opacity to 65%.

• Go to Filter > Liquify.
  Use the Twirl Tool to give the smoke more shape and activity.

• So the smoke layers can be adjusted with different modes and opacities.

  Masks can be added to create some clear spots with no smoke.

• Create another new layer.

• Lasso an area around one of the windows and run the Clouds filter again.
  If the cloud result is too heavy or not pleasing run the filter a second time and the pattern will change.

• Open Free Transform with Ctrl + T / Cmd + T .

  Use perspective control with Ctrl + Alt + Shift / Cmd + Alt + Shift and move one of the lower corners in to squeeze the shape over the window.

• Cancel the selection and drop Opacity down to 50%.

By using several layers, smoke can be controlled very precisely.

Adjustments are made with masks and opacity.

Screen mode can work well for at least one of the layers and Lighten mode can be effective depending on the background.

Subtle ways of improving the smoke effect can be found in
Photoshop Expert .

Back to the top of the Making Smoke page

Back to the Photoshop Free Tutorials page

Home