The Lightsaber Effect in Photoshop

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to create the lightsaber effect. This works with Photoshop CS3,4,5 and all Photoshop Elements. This is being done on a MacBook Pro so wherever there is a Command function, hit Control if you are using a Windows computer.

Step 1: Preparing the Picture

First open up Photoshop. I'm using CS5 but everything can be done on all else. Set colors to normal by hitting the "D" key. Then hit the "X" key to switch the foreground color with the background color. The foreground color should then be white.

Step 2: The Blade Itself

First make a new layer. Now, select the line tool from the tools panel. The default setting is this panel is on the left side of the screen. Press the "U" key to select the line tool. Set the line weight so it matches up to the width of the prop. Click and drag to create the line. If it doesn't match up when you are drawing it, hold down the space bar until you get it perfect. Again, make sure the color is white or else it won't work.

Step 3: Now It Looks Like a Sabre

Hit Command+"J" three times, so the layer is copied thrice. You should have four layers plus the background. With the top layer selected, go to Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur. Set the Blur to the same amount as the line weight. Do this with all the copies, but not with the original layer.

Step 4: Sabre Colour

Go to the Layer Menu - Layer Style - Outer Glow. Click on the yellow box because that will be the color of your lightsaber. From here, you can mess around with different colours. The trickiest colour to do is blue, just trying to get that the same shade as the movie's.

Step 5: Your Practically Done Now

Enjoy this tutorial? Show your friends and have fun with cool photoshop edits.