How to make a Star Wars lightsaber in Photoshop

Feel the Force awaken as we show you how to make a Star Wars lightsaber in Photoshop by mastering the software’s colour balance tool.

All Star Wars fans dream of owning their very own lightsaber. The Jedi Knight’s weapon of choice is possibly the greatest fictional gadget ever.

The closest we’ll come to the real thing can be achieved easily in Photoshop with a simple blur and colour balance technique.

When you start this tutorial, you’ll be but a learner. By the end, you’ll be the master. The circle is complete.

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Step-by-step how to add a Star Wars lightsaber to your photos

01 Add a black layer
Open your start image and then go to Layer>New>Layer to access the New Layer Dialog Box. Give the layer a name and then change the Mode drop-down to Screen. Now check the box next to ‘Fill with Screen-neutral colour (black)’ and press OK.

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02 Select the blade
Select the Pen tool and then click at the bottom of the shaft to add an Anchor Point. Click again at the top to add a second point, then continue the path so it goes right around the blade. When it’s closed, right-click and select the Make Selection option.

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03 Make three copies
Hit D to reset your colours to black and white, then Cmd/Ctrl+Backspace to fill the selection with your white background colour. Now press Cmd/Ctrl+J three times to copy the selected white blade onto three new layers.

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04 Apply four blurs
Highlight the top layer first and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Set Radius to 70 pixels and hit OK. Now apply the blur to the layer below, but this time with Radius at 40. Repeat on the next two layers with Radius at 20 and 2.

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05 Make it blue
Go to Image>Adjustments>Colour Balance. From here, add cyan and blue, then press OK. For a different colour, press Cmd/Ctrl+U and move the Hue slider. Now we need to paint in reflected colour, so select the Brush tool from the Tools Panel. Hold Alt and click on the blade to sample a colour.

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06 Add reflected colours
Create a new layer and then press Alt+Backspace to fill it. Hold Alt and click the Add Layer Mask icon for a full mask, then change the Blend Mode of the layer to Colour. Finish off by painting with a white soft-edged brush to reveal colour along the edges of the model’s arms and the top of his head.

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