Layer Life Tutorial – How to create Neon Glow Lines in Photoshop

I haven’t done a tutorial review in a few days so I thought I’d finally post this one all about learning how to create glowing lines in Photoshop. This is the most straightforward technique I’ve learned in a tutorial so far so it was a breeze to follow along and then use later on in my own edits which you can see in use here.

How to create Neon Glow Lines in Photoshop

This tutorial is via YouTube so you can check it out in the clip below:

Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRk8xfRzoo

Time: 10 minutes

Level: Beginner

Comment: If you’re looking for a very easy way to make an image edit stand out in a social media post, this is definitely worth checking out. I’ve used this technique a few times in image edits to great effect. The tutorial itself is without sound, but the steps are shown as text on the clip above.

Rating: 10/10 – PERFECT RATING

13 thoughts on “Layer Life Tutorial – How to create Neon Glow Lines in Photoshop”

  1. Hi Xen, yes when I first started out designing lightsabers I used to use a similar technique to this to recreate the blade effect on the sabers. The preview images from the online software I used weren’t great so I had to manually edit them to add extra layers of colour and effects. Then I discovered a “lightsaber add-on” for GIMP that automatically applied a blurred neon effect. It was ok but I later learnt how to create a mask layer, then fill a selection (shaped as the blade) with whichever colour I wanted, then used Gaussian Blur on the selection. I then copied the layer and reapplied the blur with a larger value to expand the size of the Aura (and as the blur gets bigger it also fades out). When I had about 3-4 layers I could merge all the selections down into one keeping the transparency. But I had to do this for every picture of a saber I built so if my design was viewed from four angles I had to repeat this process for each picture angle….a heck of a lot of work.

    Fortunately now I use Blender 3D I can build the blade as a 3D model and apply this type of Neon Glow into the material/texture and the software automatically moves and adjusts the effect as I rotate/move the model, I just have to click Render to produce the glowing image now!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hey Tyeth! Thanks for your comment. Just reading through the earlier process you used makes me cringe a little because I can totally see how much work that would have been for you. So glad you found an application that does most of that stuff for you now. You must be creating images in half the time that you did. I’m also quite in awe that you stuck with GIMP. I tried my hand at it but I didn’t really like it to be honest. I hear good things about it from people I know that have used it. It’s definitely worth a try if you’re without the budget to spend on expensive software. As creators, we will always find a way to do what we love, and that’s the beauty of it 🙂 Thank You for dropping by. How excited are you for Jedi Fallen Order? Will you be playing it?

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      1. Hello again, it was quite a process but finding GIMP and Blender have freed up my creativity no end. And to think I only started using Blender one year ago and had no 3D modelling experience!
        If I can find somebody who has a PS4 and Fallen Order I’ll try it – but at the moment I don’t have a PS4 (designing lightsabers doesn’t pay much ;D ) However I might be able to get my Fallen Order lightsaber replica printed out so I could pretend to be Cal that way.

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      6. Hello there, I had to give it a different name and a few tweaks so I avoided copyright infringement and I didn’t just model a carbon copy of the design. I’m glad you still liked the tweaked design. I have a few more hilts coming soon with shrouds and plates (sort of inspired by the old KOTOR and SWTOR pc games). Thanks for the kind words.

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      7. I still play SWTOR occasionally. I had this big plan to go back and finish my Legendary status achievement but I didn’t lol. I’m hoping things will pick up once they start the old Republic movies 😁

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Hello again, I have Knights of the Old Republic but it doesn’t seem to work on my old laptop (which is ironic as normally old games don’t run on new computers!) And it’s never too late to return and finish your adventure!

        Liked by 1 person

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