The ability to create attention-grabbing text or graphics is both practical and fun, whether you’re a
commercial graphic designer or a weekend dabbler. In this column, you’ll learn how to use multiple layer
styles to add a neon effect that you can easily apply to text, shapes, or drawn objects. Read on!HOW TO CREATE A NEON EFFECT
LESA SNIDER
BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP
©Adobe Stock/SFIO CRACHIOSTEP ONE: As you learned in my article in the November issue of Photoshop
User when to use Photoshop vs. Lightroom, special effects are a job for
Photoshop, not Lightroom. So fire up Photoshop and open the image you want
to use as a background for the neon goodies you’re about to make, e.g., a photo
of a brick wall. If you’re starting in Lightroom, select the image thumbnail in
the Library module and choose Photo>Edit In>Edit In Adobe Photoshop 2021.
The photo we’re using here is 1000x749 pixels, which is the size of the
Adobe Stock preview image so you can easily follow along. If you’d like to
download the low-res watermarked version of this image to follow along,
click this link, log in with your Adobe ID, and click the Save to Library button.
Double-click the image in the Libraries panel (Window>Libraries) to open it
in Photoshop. This image is in Grayscale Mode but we need it in RGB, so go
to Image>Mode>RGB Color.
Tip: If you aren’t starting with a photo background, choose File>New in
Photoshop and enter the size document you want. If you’re planning to print