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How do I draw "Rays" emmiting from an object in an image in Photoshop?

enter image description here

Example from http://www.pxleyes.com

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drawing the shape of one ray and giving it a gradient should works. – Jichao Jan 25 '11 at 17:25

3 Answers

up vote 16 down vote accepted

Quick & dirty method

Use readily available custom shape, which has been included in the installation since probably CS 1 — maybe even before that. I didn't realize its powers at first, mainly because the small thumbnail is distorted with a heavy moiré pattern (here highlighted):

"ray" shape

Just draw that shape behind the object you want to "emit rays". Here are the shape's path highlighted so you could have a better look how does it really look like; and the final result of the mockup.

pentagon emitting rays enter image description here

The custom shape has many limitations, sure, but it is the quickest method with a vanilla installation of Photoshop.

More unique method

Pick up the pen tool and draw a shape like:

a ray

This would be one of your rays. Copy it, modify them if you wish and rotate them, so they all are pointing into one spot. While this isn't too hard, it takes considerably more time than the first method, especially if you are approaching the deadline.

The fading of the rays could be achieved with a layer mask, which you could e.g. fill with a radial gradient.

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If you're going to go the ray-by-ray approach, it helps if you start with a vertical or horizontal ray (so you can get the proportions and angles right), do one transform, then use Ctrl+Shift+Alt+T to automatically duplicate the layer and replay the transform. It should only take you a minute or two to get all of the rays. – Calvin Huang Jan 28 '11 at 3:07
up vote 4 down vote

There are many ways to draw sunbursts in Photoshop and Illustrator. But this is by far the slickest.

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Please don't simply link to another website; actually answer the question and include the link to support the answer. – Philip Regan Jan 31 '11 at 19:20
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I did answer the question. If you actually view the links, you'd see that it'd be impractical (also pointless) for me to duplicate their content in this answer. This is a Q&A site, not a site for aggregating tutorials. – Calvin Huang Feb 4 '11 at 8:17
up vote 14 down vote

Here's my way...

photo1

Prepare an empty layer. Draw a rectangular marquee across the half of the layer. (like on the image above).

enter image description here

Fill that selection with your desired ray color.

enter image description here

Select Filter > Distort > Wave. Select the Square type and adjust the wavelength to increase/decrease bars (max and min the same value). Apply.

enter image description here

Select Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates. Select 'Rectangular to Polar'.

enter image description here

Modify your generated rays. You're done. =]

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+1 Clever, yet so simple. – koiyu Feb 3 '11 at 16:46
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+1 Lovely screenshots to illustrate your method. :D – JFW Feb 4 '11 at 7:58
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+1 For using Chrome. (JK) – muntoo Mar 14 '11 at 5:11

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