Per Gustafsson shares some pro techniques for adding mood to your Photoshop projects

• Software Photoshop CS3 or later
• Time needed Time needed 1-2 hours
• Skills
  • Control Photoshop filters and tools
  • Use patterns, fills and other effects to manipulate an image and create a futuristic look

Since 1996 and Photoshop 4.1, I’ve been developing and exploring different techniques in Photoshop. In this Photoshop tutorial, I’m going to break down the composition of a photo and then add some digital elements, showing you how to create patterns, layer effects and 3D objects to create a moody, atmospheric effect that – in this case – is rather futuristic. Once you’re familiar with the techniques covered here, you can experiment with them in your own projects to create different moods.

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01 To create the futuristic effect seen here, start off with a simple photograph – in this case, an office ceiling, which we’ll add speed and action to through the advanced use of some Photoshop techniques. First duplicate your photo and expand the canvas vertically, then transform and mirror it to create a kaleidoscope effect.

02 Now add more depth to the image by enhancing the feeling of perspective. Create a single line with the Pen tool on a new layer and then add some motion blur to it by selecting Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Do this vertically only and the edges will become much more fluent. Select the layer with the Marquee tool and use the Transform command to place your new lines on the roof of the image.

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03 You can now add a light source to make it look like the lines are shining from the core of the image. I’ve chosen white and then painted onto a new layer before adding a lot of Gaussian blur to it. Next, transform the layer with the Perspective tool to keep it in line with the perspective we already have in the photograph. Now that there are lights and light beams following the photo, it makes our image feel much more realistic.

04 Now it’s time to change the colours. The easiest way to do this is to create several colour layers (multiple shades of blue and purple, in this case) and play around with them to get the look you want. Experiment with the Exclusion and light source tools on dark- and lightcoloured layers.

05 Now add some motion to the image. Draw a circular object, go to Filter>Distort>Twirl, and then add blur by going to Filter>Blur>Radial. Repeat and duplicate layers until you get the feeling you want.