How to make a logo in Photoshop

When it comes to actually design your own logo, you may need to start thinking about brand identity and style. For more inspiration, head to our pro guide to logo design, which tells you everything you need to know about the world of logos.

01. Create a new canvas

Open Photoshop and create a new document. I used a canvas size of 500px x 500px, but larger sizes would work just as well. You can change the canvas size at any point. Go into Photoshop > Preferences to set a gridline every 50px. Then turn the grids on, in the canvas, by pressing cmd + ' or View > Show in the Options bar. Make sure Snap to Grid is turned on, under View > Snap to.

02. Draw a basic shape

Select the Pen tool in the toolbar, or by pressing P, and make sure it’s set to Shape in the left of the Options bar, rather than Path. Use the pen to draw an arrowhead shape, starting at the centre-point of the canvas and using grid-line intersections for your other points. Naming the layers is not necessary for this project, but it can be helpful in more complicated documents, where there are many layers.

03. Duplicate and edit the shape

Duplicate the layer, by pressing cmd + J and click on the new layer to select it. Use the Direct Selection tool, shortcut A, to click on the top-most point of the arrowhead, located at the centre of the canvas. Move this point down a few grid squares, holding the Shift key to keep it locked on the y-axis.

04. Add colour with a gradient

Create a new gradient in the Fill drop-down menu, to the left of the Options bar. In the gradient window, double click on the bottom sliders to bring up RGB options, where you can choose your colours; I went for a light and dark blue. Then apply this gradient to both objects, changing the gradient rotation so they oppose each other. If you can’t see the Fill options, it may be because you may have the Move tool selected, so switch to the Pen or Shape tool.

05. Group and duplicate your layers

Group the two layers by selecting them and pressing the group button, which looks like a little folder, located at the bottom of the Layers tab. This prevents the Layers tab from becoming messy and makes it easier to handle the two layers together.

Duplicate this group and use the Free Transform function to rotate the new group ninety-degrees, holding down the Shift key to rotate in fifteen-degree increments. You can access Free Transform using cmd + T or under Edit > Free Transform. Now move the second group up, until it reflects the original shape, using the centre of the canvas as a line of symmetry.

06. Transform the shapes

Nudge each shape up or down one grid square, away from the centre point, using Shift + cursor key.

07. Group, duplicate, repeat

Using the same method from step #5 to group the layers together, duplicate the group and rotate by ninety-degrees. The new shape should resemble a sort of crosshair shape.

08. Draw a circle with the shape tool

Cycle through Shape tools until you find a circle, either by clicking-and-holding on the icon in the toolbar or pressing Shift + U. Click on the centre point of the canvas, holding Alt to draw a circle radiating from the centre, and Shift to keep the width and height proportional. If you make a mistake, you can undo or re-edit your shape using Free Transform.

09. Draw a rectangle and align to the centre

Cycle through the shape tools again, until you find the rectangle tool. Draw a white box across the graphic, above the other layers, making enough space for text. You can align this to the centre of the canvas by clicking on the rectangle layer and the bottom layer (which should be a white square, the same size as the canvas) and using align tools, either found under Layers > Align in the Menu Bar or the align buttons in the options bar.

More advanced users could use this rectangle to subtract from the shapes below, using Layer > Combine shapes, but for now, we will just stick to using it as a white block.

10. Add your text

Draw a text box over the rectangle, by clicking on the T icon in the toolbar or pressing T, then dragging across the canvas. Type your text into the box and centre it, using the buttons in the Character tab. Use the align tool again to centre this to the canvas.

11. Choose an appropriate typeface

Choose a typeface that suits your brand. There are plenty of free fonts out there, but it is crucial to pick one that you have permission to use – see our free font roundup for some ideas to get you started. Since this logo may appear across many of your assets, it would be bad news to use an illegally downloaded typeface. Play around with size and colour until you like what you see.

12. Adjust your kerning

Kern the text. This means adjusting the horizontal spacing between individual letters, maximising the word’s readability. You can do this under the Type tab, marked with V | A, or by clicking between the letters and pressing alt + left or alt+ right. For more on kerning, see our post on how to kern type.

13. Add final details and export

Make any final adjustments you need to give it that special something. For the main image at the top of this page, I added two smaller bars above and below the text, coloured with the same gradient. I also added a background, shadow and reflection, using similar techniques to the other steps, as well as using layer masks to add fade.

When you're happy, save the image out in whatever format you require. I used RGB jpg here for a web format but also saved it as a PSD so I could go back and make changes.

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10 Things you didn't know you could do with Photoshop

If you think you could do with a skills refresh when it comes to Photoshop, we've got you covered. These ten tips will help you get to grips with the latest version of Photoshop CC, opening up new creative horizons and speeding up your workflow.

If you are in the learning zone and want to keep going, head over to our selection of the best Photoshop tutorials the internet has to offer. Or if you're looking for a standalone image editing app, some of these powerful alternatives to Photoshop might better suit.

01. Live blend mode preview

Switching blend modes is a quick way to dramatically alter an image, but it can be an inexact science, drawing a little on experience and requiring a lot of experimentation. Previous iterations of Photoshop have required the user to cycle through different blend modes in order to view the effect on the image, either clicking through the scroll-down list or using the Shift +/- keys.

But Photoshop CC is equipped with the blend mode preview function, which makes it possible to hover the cursor over any of the blend mode options for a live preview of the effect, on the canvas, before eventually clicking on the desired option. It also leaves a strip of unaffected pixels at the bottom of the canvas, showing the original image for direct comparison.

02. Match Font

Once the magical world of typefaces has sucked you in and taken hold, you’ll find yourself noticing them wherever you go; shop signs, train stations, restaurant menus, ancient manuscripts. The Match Font function is to fonts what Shazam is to music, analyzing the text in an image and deducing what font is being used.

Use the marquee tool to select the text in an image, activate Type > Match Font and let technology take care of the rest. Match font will provide you with a list of fonts similar to the one selected, separating them into those already installed on your system and others available for download from Typekit (Adobe’s font library). This will also be a good tool to use if a client ever asks you to alter a pre-made design or recreate one from scratch.

03. Content-Aware Fill

Another great addition to CC is the updated Content-Aware Fill. To be perfectly frank, earlier versions of this function were a hit-and-miss affair, producing several unwanted effects, such as spawning extra limbs and warping horizons beyond recognition.

The latest version of CC puts the user back into the driving seat, giving them at least some control over the process. After selecting the unwanted content and clicking on Content-Aware Fill, you are presented with a green box, which highlights the parts of the image to be sampled from when creating the fill. You can then use a brush to add or subtract from the box, refining the parts to be sampled to improve the eventual output.

04. Symmetry mode

One tool certain to reflect the current trends in design is Paint Symmetry. First introduced in Photoshop CC 2018, the Paint Symmetry tool allows you to create mirrored, symmetrical patterns with the brush, pencil and eraser tool. The already generous list of symmetry modes has recently been improved with the addition of the Radial and Mandala options.

Access Paint Symmetry by clicking on the butterfly icon at the top of the screen, selecting your tool and creating a symmetry plane. As well as being used to draw directly onto the canvas, they can also be implemented when painting to reveal or hide a mask.

05. Maths in number fields

With most of your fingers already tied up in shortcuts, you won’t have many lefts to count with. This is where Photoshop’s new maths function steps in, making it possible to do basic calculations without having to resort to a calculator or using the Dashboard. It’s a function that has long been available in other applications, but sadly missing from Photoshop. It really is as simple as writing your sums out in any number field, using standard mathematical symbols, and pressing enter. This will be a major time-saver when making proportional changes, such as working out canvas or image sizes. A great addition to the application.

07. Undo

Do or do not, there is retry. The October 2018 release made ‘multiple-step undo’ the default mode, performed using Edit > Undo or ‘Command + Z’. You can set the number of undo steps in the Preference Panel > Performance, which can go up all the way up to one thousand.

As helpful as this is, undo can be a clumsy option to rely solely on, so here are a few alternatives to reverse actions and revert back to previous versions: Time travel is possible with the History panel, which allows you to view all the recent states of an image and jump between them. It also allows you to create a new document from any one of those states. File > Revert will revert the document to the last saved version, while the History Brush tool allows you to restore parts of an image to the last saved version.

08. Batch

With over a trillion photos being taken every year and rising, the prospect of processing images in batches has become a more attractive proposition. Photoshop offers a range of assembly-line-style actions, found under File > Automate, including adding vignettes and shadows, as well as creating Panoramas and HDR.

The real value of batching comes when you set-up and use your own Actions, allowing you to perform blanket edits across a large number of images; changing color space, resolution or cropping. When this is complete, you can open any specific image to make finer, bespoke alterations.

09. Refine edge

Hard, straight lines are easy to draw with the pen tool, but plenty of images contain less well-defined edges, which appear jagged or blurry, such as the hair on a person’s head. A quick and easy method for dealing with this is the Refine Edge tool.

This can be accessed by roughly selecting the area you wish to affect and clicking the ‘Refine Edge’ option at the top of the interface. It’s then a case of playing around with the settings, having selected an appropriately contrasting background, until you’re satisfied with the selection. Then click OK and use it for its intended purpose.

10. Select focus area

There are many ways to select objects in Photoshop, including the wand, marquee and color selection, but few people realize you can select an area based on the field of focus in the image. All you need to do is choose Select > Focus to bring up a dialogue box, where you can refine the selection and use a brush to manually add or remove areas. Once you’re happy with your selection, you get a choice of outputs, such as selection, a new layer, and layer mask. This works well on images with clearly defined focus distances and shallow depths of field.

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The 10 commandments of Photoshop etiquette

As a designer, chances are you use Photoshop CC as part of your Creative Cloud package. And at some point in your career you will have a job or project where the end goal is to pass your Photoshop files onto someone else. This step doesn't get covered in many Photoshop tutorials.

Many of us have been on the receiving end of that relationship. And many of us will remember a time when we've opened up that PSD file and thought: What on Earth is this?

So if you want to avoid damaging relationships and getting yourself a bad rep within the design community, you need to understand, and follow, these basic rules of Photoshop CC etiquette. These rules may seem like a pain, especially when you're used to working in your own way, but if you get into the habit of sticking to them, they'll save you a great deal more pain in the long run.

If you know your Photoshop skills could do with an update, why not make a start with our pick of the best Photoshop tutorials?

01. Name your layers

As boring and mundane as it sounds: name your layers. This is the most basic rule of them all – even if it's a simple, descriptive name such as 'Arrow'. There's nothing worse then trying to find a certain layer within a file containing countless duplicates of 'Layer Copy'.

Once labelled, organise these layers into group folders, allowing you to move and show/hide various large sections with ease. Layers such as backgrounds or other solid elements that you wish to be preserved should be locked to ensure they don't get clipped or moved accidentally.

Once you've completed your task, it's always worth having a quick glance over your file to filter out and delete any unnecessary empty layers (a good way to check if a layer is empty is pressing cmd+T). You'd be surprised how many crop up.

02. Structure your files logically

Establish a simple naming convention that not only works for you, but would also make sense if your granny had to read it. Naming conventions such as 'New', 'Latest' or 'Website-Final' won't cut it (you can almost guarantee that it won't be the 'final').

An example of a good naming structure could be: 'Name_Type_Size_Version'. Why this structure? The company name is the first thing you see to identify the brand of the file. 'Type' illustrates what the file is intended for (Website, Email, etc). 'Size' is only applicable in certain cases such as banners, whereby you will have various sizes (for example: 120 x 600 or 300 x 250), and finally 'Version', which could be simplified to 'v2', 'v3' and so on, can be applied when making revisions to the original file. It's good practice to save each progression as another file, in case you need to refer back to previous versions.

Including these variables in the file name is a smarter way to organise your files and will definitely eliminate any future confusion.

03. Mask once

This refers back to point 1 and grouping layers: why apply 10 masks on 10 layers when you can group the lot and mask once?
04. Save your paths

The Pen tool to a designer is like the lightsaber to a Jedi. The better you are at using it, the more powerful your skills become. So once you're done spending hours making the perfect clipping path, be sure to save it, otherwise you risk having to do it again later in the job.

05. Don't stretch text or images

Never stretch buttons or vector shapes out of proportion; especially ones with rounded corners. Always redraw them to ensure you get the correct and consistent shape and style. Don't stretch images either; scale (down, never up) and transform but don't stretch out of proportion.

The same applies to fonts; kern, track and scale but whatever you do, absolutely do not stretch. Ever. It's very unprofessional.

Using smart filters where possible will ensure vector shapes can be made bigger and smaller with no distortions. It's handy to bear this in mind when designing for mobile and Retina displays.

06. Snap to something

One sign of a good designer is alignment, so switch on those rulers and get snapping: Snap to grid. Snap to Pixel. Snap to Layer. Snap to something! This ensures both that your designs are pixel-perfect and that all elements within them are easy on the eye.

07. Apply effects gracefully

Avoid the temptation to apply Color Overlay, Drop Shadow, Bevel, Outer Glow and Strokes to each and every element of your design. It's a tool job – know the difference between each one and when to use it. The main objective should be to use effects that complement the design and elevate your user experience. Subtlety is the key.

If you're applying the same effect on numerous elements then its always worth copy/pasting the layer styles to ensure the effects are exactly the same. Also, be aware of the Global Lighting option and when this needs to be applied. When in doubt, turn it off, so you can customise each element and effect to your liking. Otherwise one day you'll be wondering who changed all the styles in your design.

08. Collect up unused styles and images

After experimenting with various styles or images, it's good practice to put all these unused elements into one folder titled something like 'Unused'. Have it switched off at the bottom of the original file (it can be deleted on copied revisions thereafter to keep file size down).

This rule is an exception to the general rule about removing unused layers. It follows the same logic as keeping various little elements such as icons and small imagery handy just in case you need to make quick changes or additions.

09. Proofread your designs

Many designers are bad at spelling, so check your text and grammar thoroughly. Ensure everything is spellchecked (and that includes the brief and copy provided) so your work can clearly be read and understood.

10. Make everything easy to find

Once you're all done with your design, be sure to store it in a relevant location with all stock imagery, web files and so on nearby – not in a random folder called 'design files' or 'misc'. Otherwise you'll probably never find it again, and others certainly won't.

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The 9 best alternatives to Photoshop

You could be mistaken for thinking there are no real Photoshop alternatives around. Photoshop is such a powerful brand that, like Google, it has actually become a verb: 'to Photoshop' is shorthand for editing an image. This might make you believe that no other software could possibly do as good a job, and stop you from looking any further for your image editing needs.

In fact, Adobe doesn't necessarily have the market cornered and the backlash against Adobe's move to the Creative Cloud in 2013 actually helped to spur on a wide range of alternatives to Photoshop. These options can be just as powerful, and produce results that are just as professional.

So whether you're looking elsewhere because you can't afford the subscription, you want to support smaller development houses, or you just don't need all the millions of features that come with Photoshop CC, there are a number of image editing tools open to you. Here are the best Photoshop alternatives.

01. Affinity Photo

• Platform: Mac, Windows, iPad
• Price: £48.99/$49.99 (one-off payment)

Fully compatible with Photoshop and other file formats, Affinity Photo is aimed squarely at professional photographers and designers, and although it is hugely cheaper than Photoshop (with no subscription), its creators argue it's actually better. We think it's perhaps the most serious Photoshop alternative we've seen to date.

It comes with a promise of higher speeds, fewer crashes and unlimited undos but in truth, the amount of improved performance you'll get will probably depend what equipment you're using (it's been specifically designed to take advantage of the latest quad core technology).

Available on Mac and Windows, Affinity Photo for iPad had an update in 2018. If you're looking for an alternative to Photoshop, Affinity Photo is definitely worth investigating.

02. Sketch

• Platform: Mac
• Price: $99/year or try Sketch for free

Sketch is a professional vector graphics app for creatives that has created enormous buzz within the design community, and web designers in particular.

The development team behind Sketch has made it as flexible as possible, with it supporting infinite zooming and vector shapes that are perfect for multiple resolutions. You can build a new graphic from primitive shapes or start a new one with the Vector or Pencil tool.

It has a pleasingly simple UI and has many features similar to that of Photoshop and Illustrator, including layers, gradients, colour picker and style presets. Its popularity means there are also plenty of community-created Sketch plugins you can use to extend its functionality.

If you're looking for vector graphics software, it's also worth checking out Figma. Figma is browser-based, totally collaborative and it is creating enough noise to be some serious competition for Sketch.

03. GIMP

• Platform: Linux, Windows, Mac
• Price: Free

A free, open-source alternative to Photoshop that's been around for donkey's years, GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. Today it's available in versions for Linux, Windows and Mac.

GIMP offers a wide toolset, similar to Photoshop in many ways, and is a great option if you're looking for a no-cost image editor. The interface differs somewhat from Photoshop, but a version of GIMP is available that mimics Adobe's look and feel, making it easier to migrate over if you're ditching Photoshop.

The full suite of tools is available here – everything you're accustomed to is within easy reach, including painting tools, colour correction, cloning, selection, and enhancement. The team that oversees development has worked hard to ensure compatibility too, so you'll be able to work with all the popular file formats without any trouble at all. You'll also find a very capable file manager built in, along similar lines to Adobe's Bridge.

Overall, this is a great option whether you've either got a limited budget, or want to move away from Photoshop for other reasons.

04. Pixelmator Pro

• Platform: Mac
• Price: $39.99

Pixelmator has been around for a while now, but more recently the team released the Pixelmator Pro. While the previous tool used floating windows, the Pro version has a more usable single-window UI, and offers non-destructive image editing. The team have pared back the interface, which should make it easy to pick up – and there's a 'hidden interface' option you can activate if you just want to see your image, with no distractions.

This Photoshop alternative is geared up especially for use on a Mac, and it supports features like tabs, fullscreen and split view.

05. Pixlr

• Platform: iOS, Android, web app
• Price: Free

Pixlr is a free Photoshop alternative that boasts more than 600 effects, overlays and borders. It also lets you do all the main things you'd expect from a basic photo editor, from cropping and re-sizing to removing red-eye and whitening teeth.

And if you're used to using Photoshop, then you'll find Pixlr's user interface easy to pick up quickly, as it's very similar. This free app is available in both iOS and Android varieties, or use can use it as a web app.

06. Corel PHOTO-PAINT

• Platform: Windows
• Price: $599.99 / £599.99 (entire CorelDRAW Graphics Suite) or try for free

PHOTO-PAINT is a dedicated photo editor in the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. The suite has been updated for 2018 to offer a Corel AfterShot 3 HDR support, as well as interactive tools for straightening photos and adjusting perspective. There's also improved stylus control, with the PHOTO-PAINT responding to different pressures, bearing tilt and rotation.

The suite is geared up to work perfectly with Windows 10, offering multi-monitor viewing and support for 4K displays.

07. Paint.net

• Platform: Windows
• Price: Free

Paint.net is a Windows-based alternative to the Paint editor that Microsoft shipped with versions of Windows. Don't let that put you off, though: it's a surprisingly capable and useful tool, available completely free of charge. The software started out life as a Microsoft-sponsored undergraduate project, and has become an open source project maintained by some of the alumni.

The focus is on ease of use, and there's a definite tendency towards photo editing rather than artistic creation. That said, there are a range of special effects available, allowing you to easily create fake perspective, blend and push pixels around the canvas, tile and repeat selections, and so on.

A good range of selection tools, support for layers, and adjustments such as curves and brightness/contrast mean that Paint.net is a great alternative to Photoshop for photo editing, especially if you can do without some of the more recent additions to Photoshop's toolset.

08. SumoPaint

• Platform: Browser or iPad
• Price: Free (basic), $4/mo (Pro)

SumoPaint is a highly capable, free browser-based image editor. All the standard features you'd expect from a desktop tool are present and correct. It's lightweight and quick to load, and the free version is very usable. There's also a paid-for Pro version and a paid-for iPad app.

The standard range of tools and adjustments you'd expect are all included. Brushes, pencils, shapes, text, cloning, gradients, etc are all quickly accessed from the Photoshop-esque floating toolbar. It can also open saved documents from your hard drive, making SumoPaint a perfectly viable option for editing and reediting.

Some tools work in different ways to Photoshop, offering possibilities that would be difficult to match in Adobe's offering. There are, however, limitations that will put off some users.

09. Acorn

• Platform: Mac OS X
• Price: $29.99

Image editing software Acorn debuted back in 2007 and has provided hobbyists and artists on a budget with a great, affordable alternative to Photoshop ever since. Features of the software include layer styles, non-destructive filters, curves and levels, blending modes and much more.

The most recent edition – Acorn 6 – includes new Scale and Transform options, the ability to use the Clone tool across layers or images, and the ability to use emoji on a path (if you so wish).

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How to turn day into night in Photoshop

Day-to-night conversions have been around for as long as Photoshop has had adjustment layers, but mastering the effect takes lots of practice. The key to making a day picture look like night in Photoshop is in learning to navigate the various adjustments, such as the Gradient Map and Curves, to achieve a believable tone.

Darkening the image to such an extent that there's hardly any detail left in the shadows is part of the technique, and we can further the effect using brushes to alter the balance of light on layer masks. The deep-blue tone is created with the Gradient Map adjustment and some of the photographic presets in Photoshop CC. Selections then come into play, swapping out the day sky for a star-filled nightscape.

01. Begin with the Gradient Map adjustment

Load up the start image 'pix_lighthouse_1872998.jpg' into Photoshop, and head to the Layers palette. Locate the adjustment layer icon and select Gradient Map.

02. Initial tint

Inside the Gradient Map editor, select the Photographic Toning set of presets from the drop-down menu. From the array of thumbnail gradients, select the preset Blue 1 and hit OK. This will tint the image with a light blue all over.

03. Black of night

Lower the Opacity of the Gradient Map layer to 80% to reduce the effect slightly, head back to the adjustment layers and add a Curves adjustment. Darken the image by dragging the curve downward from the centre. The idea is to darken the shadows and midtones here.

04. Darken even further

Add a Levels adjustment layer above the Curves adjustment. Inside the Levels dialog, set the midtones marker to 0.95. Then, under Output Levels, set to 0 and 196. This adjustment should darken the image further, making it appear as though it is night.

05. Select the sky

Now we've converted the image to night, we need to swap out the sky. Press W for the Quick Selection Tool and click on the image's layer. Drag a rough selection over the sky and around the lighthouse.

06. Improve the selection

Hold opt/alt to remove areas of the selection that spill over onto the rocks and lighthouse. Press Q to load the Quick Mask Mode and preview the selected area. Use the Brush Tool to refine the edge of the mask, and press Q to return to normal view.

07. Save the selection

Go to the Select menu and down to Save Selection. In the pop-up menu, set Document to the current image, and set Channel to New. Leave Name as blank and hit OK to add the selection as a new Alpha Channel (Window > Channels to view).

08. Quick copy and paste

Load up the image 'pix_milkyway_2181250.jpg' from the FileSilo and press cmd/ctrl+A to select the entire image, then cmd/ctrl+C to copy. Head back to the lighthouse image and press cmd/ctrl+V to paste the new sky onto the image. Move this image to the top of the layer stack.

09. Apply a layer mask

In the Channels palette, cmd/ctrl-click on the thumbnail of the Alpha Channel created in step 7. On the new sky layer, add a layer mask to apply the selection. Click on the small chain link symbol between the mask and the thumbnail, and press cmd/ctrl+T to resize the sky to fit over the area.

10. New Curves adjustment

Add a new Curves adjustment above the new sky layer and clip them together (opt/alt-click between their layers). Lower the brightness of the new sky layer by pulling down the centre of the Curves adjustment. Adding three points along the line and lowering them all slightly provides more accuracy.

11. Paint in light

Add in a new layer and select the Brush Tool. Set the tool to black and 0% Hardness and paint in the small light for the lighthouse. To choose the colour of the light, double-click on the layer to load the Layer Style menu, and then select the Color Overlay option.

12. Add a Color Overlay

Change the colour of the Color Overlay style to an orangey yellow and set its Mode to Screen. Setting colour this way will enable you to change it later on, if needed. Hit OK and lower the Opacity of the layer down to 85% to fade it slightly.

13. Blur the light

Head to the Filter menu and down to Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius slider to 14px and hit OK to soften the light in the lighthouse. Load up the Free Transform controls (cmd/ctrl+T) and resize or rotate the light to fit within the lighthouse.

14. Create the reflection

Press cmd/ctrl+J to duplicate the light layer onto a separate layer. Go to Edit> Transform> Flip Vertical to rotate the light and flip it. Use the Move Tool to position it over the reflection of the lighthouse in the pool in the foreground.

15. Light rays

To add the beams of light from the lighthouse, on a new layer (cmd/ctrl+shift+N) create a long rectangle using the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L). The shape should extend out from the lighthouse and across the entire image.

16. Fill with colour

Go to Edit > Fill and choose Color under Contents. Set this to a yellow colour that is similar to, but lighter than, the colour used for the main light in the lighthouse. Hit OK, then cmd/ctrl+D to remove the selection, and then reduce the layer's Opacity setting down to 70%.

17. Soften and colourise

To soften the light beam, go to Filter and down to Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius for the blur to 36px and hit OK. Double-click on the layer and add a Color Overlay style to change the tone of the light, if you think it's required.

18. Double the light

Duplicate this layer (cmd/ctrl+J) and then change the Color Overlay style to a lighter yellow, almost white. Set the layer's blend mode to Screen in the Layers palette to blend into the light beam underneath.

19. Resize the second beam

Shrink the second light beam so that it's smaller than the one underneath. Lower the Opacity of this layer to 50% to make it fainter. The result should be two light beams coming out of the lighthouse, one on top of the other.

20. Duplicate and reposition

Group the two light beam layers together and press cmd/ctrl+J to duplicate the group. Flip the group vertically (Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical) and position so the light beams are included in the reflection of the lighthouse.

21. Control with masks

Add a layer mask to the group and brush away the light that falls outside the water. Also, on the Curves adjustment layer's mask, use a low Opacity brush over the sea in the foreground to reveal more detail on the water.

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