This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create the iconic, bat signal from the movie, "The Batman".
I provided two images, so you can follow along: a black and white shape of the bat signal
and a stormy skyline.
Their links are in my video's description or project files.
Before we begin, if you want to know as soon as I upload new Photoshop tutorials, smash
that "Subscribe" button and please remember to click "Like" if you like this video.
First, let's apply a color cast to the skyline that will make it look more brooding and cinematic.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Color Lookup".
Click "Load 3D LUT".
LUT stands for "lookup table".
These filters are based on cinematographic techniques that remap the original colors
of our image.
Click "TealOrangePlusContrast.3DL".
Make the background active and open your Channels panel.
If you don't see it, go to Window and Channels.
To save us some time, I included a channel that's the shape of the skyline.
Ctrl or Cmd-click the thumbnail to select its shape.
Open back the Layers panel and press Ctrl or Cmd + J to cut and copy the skyline from
the photo ono its own layer.
We'll convert it into a Smart Object, so we can modify it nondestructively.
To do this, click the icon at the upper, right and click "Convert to Smart Object".
Go to Filter and Filter Gallery.
Open the Distort" folder and click "Diffuse Glow".
Make the Glow Amount: 8 and the Clear Amount: 15.
As I toggle before and after, we can see that this adds a misty glow to the brightest lights
of the skyline.
Let's place all or our layers into a folder.
To do this, unlock the background and Shift-click the top layer to make all the layers active.
Press Ctrl or Cmd + G. Let's name it "Skyline".
Open the bat signal graphic and open the Channels panel.
Go to any of the channel thumbnails and Ctrl or Cmd-click it to select its shape.
Invert the selection by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + Shift + I. Open back the Layers panel and
unlock the background.
Press the "Delete" key to delete the areas inside the selection, which is the black color.
Deselect it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + D. Drag it onto the tab of the skyline, drag it down
and release.
To resize and position it, open your Transform Tool by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T. Make sure
the chain-link icon is active between the Transform's width and height and place your
cursor over the W or the H. Drag your cursor to the left to decrease the bat signal's size
approximately this much.
Drag it to approximately here and go to the bottom, left corner.
Press and hold Ctrl or Cmd as you drag the corner up and to the right to angle it.
Another way of angling it is to go to Edit, Transform, and Distort.
Then, go to the same corner and just drag it up and over.
To accept it, press Enter or Return.
Convert it into a Smart Object.
Go to Filter, Blur, and Gaussian Blur.
Blur it 5 pixels.
Go back to Filter, Distort, and Zigzag.
Make the Style: Out From Center, the Amount: minus 62 and the Ridges: 10.
Double-click an empty area of the layer to open its Layer Style window.
We'll use the "Blend If" filter to blend the bat signal with the clouds under it.
Basically, Blend If uses the luminosity of pixels to blend layers together.
"This Layer" represents our active layer, which is the bat signal.
The "Underlying Layer" represents all the layers beneath the bat signal in the layers
panel.
By dragging the left slider to the right, we're punching the darkest pixels of the sky
through the bat signal.
Conversely, by dragging the right slider to the left, we're punching the lightest pixels
of the sky through the bat signal.
We can make the transition gradual by placing your cursor in the middle of a slider and
Alt or Option-click.
This splits the slider in two.
By dragging the right half of the Underlying Layer across, it gives us a smooth transition.
Next, we'll fade the top right of the bat signal into the sky.
Click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask next to the bat signal.
Open your Brush Tool and Brush Picker.
Pick a soft, round brush.
Make the size 150 pixels, the Hardness 0%, and the Opacity and Flow 100%.
Brush over the top, right edge to fade it into the sky.
Make a copy of the layer and double-click Gaussian Blur of the copy to open it in the
Layer Style window.
Before the Layer Style window opens, you may see this message.
Just click OK.
Make the Radius: 33 pixels.
Make the layer mask of the copy active.
We'll fill it with white, but before we do, check your foreground and background colors.
If they're not black and white respectively, press "D" on your keyboard.
Since white is the background color, press Ctrl or Cmd + Delete.
At the top, reduce your brush's opacity to 50%.
We'll enlarge our brush size by making sure our CapsLock key is off and pressing the right
bracket key 4 times on our keyboard.
Brush over the right half of the bat signal 3 times.
Make a copy of it and double-click Gaussian Blur of this copy.
Again, if you see this message, click OK.
Blur it 17 pixels.
Double-click an empty area of the layer to open the Layer Style window.
Drag the right half of the Underlying Layer slider all the way to the left.
Make the Layer Mask active and click two or three times on the lower, left area to mask
out a bit more of the bat signal, which shows more of the sky through it.
Let's group the bat signal layers into a folder.
Shift-click the bottom bat signal layer to make all of them active and press Ctrl or
Cmd + G. Let's name it "Bat signal".
We'll make a new layer below the bat signal folder by Ctrl or Cmd-clicking the new layer
icon.
Place the layer into a folder and name it, "Floodlight".
Make the layer active.
Open your Pen Tool and at the top, choose, "Path".
Place your cursor approximately here and click.
Release and click approximately here.
It should be almost touching the bat signal.
If it isn't, press and hold Ctrl or Cmd as you drag the anchor point until the path is
flush with the bat signal.
Continue to make paths until you click the first anchor point to complete the path.
Right-click or secondary-click directly on the path to open the fly-out list.
Click "Make selection".
Feather it 20 pixels.
Go to Select and "Save Selection".
Then, deselect it.
Temporarily hide the bat signal and open the Channels panel.
We'll click on each channel to determine which one has the most contrast in the sky.
I think the green channel shows the most contrast in the sky.
Click the dotted, circle icon at the bottom which selects all the tones of the green channel.
Press "Q" on your keyboard to make the selection into a quick mask.
Ctrl or Cmd-click the skyline channel to select its shape.
We'll fill it with black and since black is our foreground color, press Alt or Option
+ Delete.
Then, deselect it.
Ctrl or Cmd-click the Alpha 1 channel, which is our floodlight shape.
Invert the selection and fill it with black.
Then, deselect it.
Press "Q" to convert it back into a selection.
Click the eyeball icon next to RGB to make all the color channels visible again.
Open back the Layers panel and fill the selection with white.
Then, deselect it.
Make a copy of it and double-click it to open its Layer Style window.
Alt or Option-click the left slider of the Underlying Layer to split it in two.
Drag the right half across to approximately here to punch the darkest clouds through the
floodlight.
Let's collapse the floodlight folder.
Make the skyline folder active and make a copy of it.
Drag it to the top of the Layers Panel.
Double-click it to open its Layer Style window.
Alt or Option-click the left slider of "This Layer", which is the skyline copy and drag
the right half to approximately here to punch the bat signal through the darkest tones of
the sky.
Split the right slider of the Underlying Layer and drag it to the left to punch the bat signal
and floodlight through the lightest pixels of the skyline copy.
Open the skyline copy folder and hide the Diffuse Glow effect of the copy.
Collapse the folder and open the Bat Signal folder.
Make the second layer mask from the top active and press "B" to open your Brush Tool.
Adjust its size and brush over areas of the bat signal to reveal more of the sky through
it.
Lastly, we'll illuminate the sky surrounding the bat signal.
Invert your foreground and background colors by pressing "x" on your keyboard.
White should be your foreground color.
Collapse the folder and make the skyline copy folder active.
Make a new layer.
Increase your brush's size and loosely brush over the bat signal.
Make a layer mask next to the active layer.
Go to Filter, Render, and Clouds.
Reduce your brush's size and make its opacity 50%.
Brush over the bat symbol inside the bat signal to reveal more of it.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!