Creating a “Background Glow” in Photoshop

Question

I see this effect a lot in websites and feel envious because I'm like King Kong with boxing gloves on trying to operate Photoshop sometimes.

http://instagr.am/p/BtYlk/

Check this URL out, they have a brownish header background, but there is a slight white-ish glow/blur in the middle behind the actual photo. Can someone summarize or point me to a tutorial of how to achieve this in Photoshop?

Answer 1

I hate making image-heavy posts, so I just made a tutorial for you here. Please excuse the poor aesthetics.

I hope this is what you're looking for. Let me know if you'd like to me to include anything else.

Edit

A quick(er) but less accurate alternative can be found here.

PS. I love the analogy "I'm like King Kong with boxing gloves on trying to operate Photoshop sometimes."

Answer 2

Have a play with Lighting Effects. They can be found in Filter > Render > Lighting Effects.

Looks like the one featured on your link was done with an 'Omni' light or, perhaps, a gradient fill.

Regarding gradient fills: You can choose a radial one and move the central point of it by dragging it around on your document. Have a play about with it and let us know how it goes.

Answer 3

1) Inner glow in Photoshop? Double-click on the layer to bring up the Layer Style menu and click / select "Inner Glow". Play with the settings (swapping between Center and Edge for a Source will yield wildly different results).

2) Duplicate the layer, use the gradient that Scott suggested (gradient tool with a radial gradient) and create a light gradient. Then change the gradient layer from "Normal" to Screen / Soft Light / Hard Light (depending on which one looks best to you). You can also fiddle with the opacity, so if you want a more subtle effect you can dial down the opacity.