tutorial: Lightning

Making lightning in Photoshop is very easy, create a new image (I'm using a 500x500 image for this tutorial) and lets get started.

1. Hit 'D' to reset you colors back to default. Then select your gradient tool and fill the image with a gradient, (this will determine the direction your lightning will go).



2. Next go to Filter > Render > Difference Clouds, not to be confused with just Clouds. Hit ctrl + I on you keybord to invert the image. At this point your image should look something like this:



3. Now you want to open up your Levels menu (hotkey: ctrl + L) select the black arrow on the left and move it right until the lightning starts to stick out and the useless clouds in the background start to disappear:



4. That's pretty much it, if you want to add color go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and check the box in the bottom-right corner that says 'Colorize' then just move the sliders until you are conent.

End Result: