Smoke Night Photo Manipulation Effect 2024

Smoke night effect is a photo manipulation technique which shows the night sky within the smoke cloud. If you are interested in making this effect, you can do it with your photoshop. In this tutorial article, I am going to show you How to make a Smoke Night Photo Manipulation effect in Photoshop. So, read this article till the end and follow the steps with care, you will get easy instructions from this article, and you will be able to do it easily. Let’s see how to make a smoke night photo manipulation effect in Photoshop:

Create smoke night photo manipulation effect in Photoshop

Photos You will need to make smoke night photo

You have to make sure you have the following images for making smoke night photo:

A photo of mountains. Choose a photo which has more than one mountain.
A photo of a rock or a mountain where a man can stand.
A photo of a man who is holding a smoke grenade. Make sure the image has the full body of the man.
A photo of a night sky. Choose a photo which has the star’s light dots visible.
And a photo of a moon. Transparent background of the moon image is preferable.

Let’s begin the smoke night photo making:

Step 1: Open the photo of a rock in photoshop

To do that, go to the “File” menu and select the “Open” option. Then, go to your image location and select your rock image and then click on the “Open” button. Your rock image will be opened in photoshop afterward.
Unlock the background layer. To do this, go to the layer panel and click on the padlock icon in the background layer. The layer will be unlocked afterward and the layer will be renamed as “Layer 0” automatically.
Now, make a selection of the rock only and eliminate the rest of the parts. To do this, go to the left side’s tools panel and select the “Quick selection tool”. Now, brush over the rock. You will see that selection is selecting the area automatically. If you see that you have over selected, press & hold the “ALT” button and then brush over the over selected areas.
Then, in the layer panel, click on the “Add layer mask” button from the bottom of the layer panel. You will see that the rock portion is separated.

Step 2: Insert a photo of mountain in the photo of rock

Go to the “File” menu and select the “Open” option. Then, go to your image location and select your image and then click on the “Open” button. Your image will be opened in a new tab in photoshop afterward. Go to your new inserted image tab, press “CTRL+A” from the keyboard to select the whole image, then press “CTRL+C” from the keyboard to copy the whole image, then come to the existing image’s tab and press “CTRL+V” to paste the copied image. A new layer “Layer 1” will be added.

Now, increase or decrease the size of the photo as per your preference. To do this, go to the layer panel, click on the mountain image layer and then press the “CTRL+T” from the keyboard, the free transform option will be activated. Now click & hold the corner handler and drag it outward to increase the size or drag inward to decrease the size. After that, press the “Enter” button.
Now, go to the layer panel, click & hold the mountain image layer and drag it at the bottom. You will see that, rock image is on top of the mountain image.

Step 3: Color adjustment of both layers

Color adjustment for rock image layer

Go to the layer panel, click on the rock image layer “Layer 0”, then click on the “Create new fill or adjustment layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel and select the “Levels” option, a new layer “Levels 1” will be created. Levels panel will appear. From there, click on the “The adjustment affects all layers below (click to clip to layer)” button from the bottom of the levels panel. Now adjust the color levels. In the levels panel, from the bottom color slider, drag the right side’s slider to the left to darken the rock image layer. Then, click on the “Levels 1” from the layer panel, then go to the left side’s tools panel, select the “Brush tool”, then set the foreground color as black from the tools panel, then go to the top bar/option bar, set the opacity around 60% to 70%, and then brush slightly on top of the rock to whiten slightly.
Now, create a new layer above the “Levels 1” layer. To do this, go to the layer panel, click on the “Levels 1” layer, then click on the “Create new layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel. A new transparent layer “Layer 2” will be created above the “Levels 1” layer. Now, in the layer panel, right click on the “Layer 2” layer and select the “Create clipping mask” option. Now, click on the “Layer 2” layer from the layer panel, then go to the left side’s tools panel, select the “Brush tool”, then set the foreground color as black from the tools panel, then go to the top bar/option bar and set the opacity between 50% to 60%, then brush slightly on the bottom of the rock to darken slightly and set the opacity around 60% to 70% from the layer panel.
Now, go to the layer panel, click on the “Layer 2” layer, then click on the “Create new fill or adjustment layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel and select the “Color balance” option, a new layer “Color balance 1” will be created. A color balance panel will appear. From there, click on the “The adjustment affects all layers below (click to clip to layer)” button from the bottom of the levels panel to clip with the layer. From there, slide the cyan color slider to the right slightly and slide the yellow color slider to the left slightly.

Color adjustment for mountain image layer

Now, go to the layer panel, click on the mountain image layer “Layer 1”, then click on the “Create new fill or adjustment layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel and select the “Levels” option, a new layer “Levels 2” will be created. A levels panel will appear. From there, click on the “The adjustment affects all layers below (click to clip to layer)” button from the bottom of the levels panel to clip with the layer. Now adjust the color levels. In the levels panel, slide the middle slider slightly on the right side. Now, in the levels panel, from the bottom color slider, drag the left side’s slider to the right and drag the right side’s slider to the left to adjust the mountain image color.
Now, create a new layer above the “Levels 2” layer. To do this, go to the layer panel, click on the “Levels 2” layer, then click on the “Create new layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel. A new transparent layer “Layer 3” will be created above the “Levels 2” layer. Now, click on the “Layer 3” layer from the layer panel, then go to the left side’s tools panel, select the “Brush tool”, then set the foreground color as white from the tools panel, then go to the top bar/option bar and set the opacity between 50% to 60%, then brush slightly on the edge of the rock to whiten slightly and then set the opacity around 60% to 70% from the layer panel.
Now, go to the layer panel, right click on the mountain image layer “Layer 1” and select the “Convert to smart object” option. Then, go to the “Filter” menu, then go to the “Blur” option and select the “Gaussian blur” option. A window will pop up. From there, set the radius between 4 pixels to 10 pixels. Then, click on the “OK” button.

Step 4: Open a picture of a man with a smoke grenade in photoshop

Go to the “File” menu and select the “Open” option. Then, go to your image location and select the man smoke grenade image and then click on the “Open” button. Your image will be opened in photoshop afterward.
Unlock the background layer. To do this, go to the layer panel and click on the padlock icon in the background layer. The layer will be unlocked afterward and the layer will be renamed as “Layer 0” automatically.
Now, we will only copy the man and smoke grenade portion and insert it in our main photo. To do this, you can use either the lasso tool or the quick selection tool. So, go to the left side’s tools panel, select the “Lasso tool” and make a selection path on the edge of the man and the smoke grenade and join with the starting point, do not include the smoke in the selection.
After making the selection, go to the layer panel and click on the “Add layer mask” button from the bottom of the layer panel. The selected part will be separated.
Now, go to the left side’s tools panel, and select the “Move tool”. Now, click & hold the man’s photo and drag to the main file. A new layer “Layer 4” will be created. Drag the “Layer 4” layer on top of all the layers.
Increase or decrease the size of the man’s photo, press “CTRL+T”, then click & drag the corner’s handler and drag it outward to increase or drag inward to decrease the size. Then, place the photo on top of the rock. Then press “Enter”.
Now, go to the layer panel, right click on the layer “Layer 4” and select the “Red” option. Again, right click on the mask thumbnail of the layer “Layer 4” and select the “Select and mask” option. A window will appear. This option is creating the mask on the edge of the photo. Now, set the “Smooth” as “2”, and set the “Soft edge” as between “-30” to “-25”. After selection is done, scroll down the right side’s panel, go to the “Output settings” section, and set the “Output to” option as “Layer mask” option. After that, click on the “OK” button.
Now, go to the layer panel, click on the rock image layer “Layer 4”, then click on the “Create new fill or adjustment layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel and select the “Levels” option, a new layer “Levels 3” will be created. A levels panel will appear. From there, click on the “The adjustment affects all layers below (click to clip to layer)” button from the bottom of the levels panel to clip with the layer. Now adjust the color levels. In the levels panel, from the bottom color slider, drag the right side’s slider to the left to darken the man’s image color. Then, click on the “Levels 4” from the layer panel, then go to the left side’s tools panel, select the “Brush tool”, then set the foreground color as black from the tools panel, then go to the top bar/option bar, set the opacity around 60% to 70%, and then brush on the edge of the man to whiten slightly.
Now, create a new layer above the “Levels 3” layer. To do this, go to the layer panel, click on the “Levels 3” layer, then click on the “Create new layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel. A new transparent layer “Layer 5” will be created above the “Levels 3” layer. Now, in the layer panel, right click on the “Layer 5” layer and select the “Create clipping mask” option. Now, go to the “Edit” menu and select the “Fill” option. A window will appear. From there, set the “Content” as “50% gray” and click on the “OK” button.
Then, in the layer panel, set the blending mode from “Normal” to “Overlay”. You will find the blending mode option beside the “Opacity” option in the layer panel.
Then, go to the left side’s tools panel and select the “Burn tool”. Now, brush on the edge of the man.
Now, put a shadow of the man. Create a new layer above the “Color balance 1” layer. To do this, go to the layer panel, click on the “Color balance 1” layer, then click on the “Create new layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel. A new transparent layer “Layer 6” will be created above the “Color balance 1” layer. Now, go to the left side’s tools panel and select the “Brush tool”, then set the foreground color as black from the tools panel, then go to the top bar/option bar, set the opacity around 60% to 70%, and then brush below the leg of the man and then set the opacity around 60% to 70% from the layer panel.

Step 5: Smoke night effect

Now, create a new layer on the top. To do this, go to the layer panel, click on the “Layer 5” layer, then click on the “Create new layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel. A new transparent layer “Layer 7” will be created above the “Layer 5” layer.
Now, we will make a down arrow shaped smoke from the tip of the smoke grenade towards the sky. To do this, go to the left side’s tools panel and select the “Brush tool”, set the foreground color as black from the tools panel. Now, right click on the photo and select the smoke brush and reduce the size of the brush. Now, go to the top bar and set the “Flow” between 50 to 60. If your photoshop does not have that brush, download it.
Now, brush like V-shape from the tip of the smoke grenade and then fill the V-shape by brushing.
Now, insert the image of the night sky. To do this, Go to the “File” menu and select the “Open” option. Then, go to your image location and select your image and then click on the “Open” button. Your image will be opened in a new tab in photoshop afterward. Go to your new inserted image tab, press “CTRL+A” from the keyboard to select the whole image, then press “CTRL+C” from the keyboard to copy the whole image, then come to the existing image’s tab and press “CTRL+V” to paste the copied image. A new layer “Layer 8” will be added. Now, in the layer panel, right click on the “Layer 8” layer and select the “Create clipping mask” option. Again right click on the “Layer 8” layer and select the “Convert to smart object” option.
Now, press “CTRL+L” to adjust the color level. A window will appear. From there, click & drag the middle slider to the right side slightly to darken the sky color.
Now, insert the moon image. To do this, Go to the “File” menu and select the “Open” option. Then, go to your image location and select your image and then click on the “Open” button. Your image will be opened in a new tab in photoshop afterward. Go to your new inserted image tab, press “CTRL+A” from the keyboard to select the whole image, then press “CTRL+C” from the keyboard to copy the whole image, then come to the existing image’s tab and press “CTRL+V” to paste the copied image. A new layer “Layer 9” will be added. Press “CTRL+T” and decrease the size of the moon, press “Enter”, and place the moon in the middle of the smoke sky.
Shine the moon. Create a new layer on the top. To do this, go to the layer panel, click on the “Layer 9” layer, then click on the “Create new layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel. A new transparent layer “Layer 10” will be created above the “Layer 9” layer. Now, click on the “Layer 10” layer from the layer panel, then go to the left side’s tools panel, select the “Brush tool”, then set the foreground color as white from the tools panel, then go to the top bar/option bar and set the opacity between 50% to 60%, then brush on the moon and around the moon to shine and then set the opacity around 60% to 70% from the layer panel.
Now, go to the layer panel, click on the “Layer 10” layer, then click on the “Create new fill or adjustment layer” button from the bottom of the layer panel and select the “Gradient map” option, a new layer “Gradient map 1” will be created. A gradient map window will appear. From there, click on the color, select the 5th preset option and click on the “OK” button. Now, in the layer panel, set the opacity around 20% to 30%.
That’s it.

Video Tutorial about “Smoke night photo manipulation effect” who really don’t want to read whole article just follow below video.

That’s how you can make a smoke night photo manipulation effect in Photoshop. In this tutorial I have shown you the process of making gifs in Photoshop. Above I have described how to remove the background, how to insert a new image and place it behind the main image, how to adjust color adjustments to make the image more beautiful, how to separate objects, how to make smoke night effect and many more. For your convenience, I have included various keyboard shortcuts so that you can do your work fast and easily. I hope you have understood How to make a Smoke Night Photo Manipulation effect in Photoshop. This is a very easy way to make a Smoke Night Photo Manipulation effect in Photoshop.