- 1,679
- Sin City, USA
- Primus Ortus
You guys are funny. There are at least a dozen other peeps on this site that have advanced photoshop chops, while I am merely in the testing/learning phase. I really appreciate the kind comments but you could look to Big Ron or others for proper guidance. Seriously. đź‘Ť
That said, this rain effect is actually pretty simple. I use Gimp for the editing (because it's freeeeee!), so I'm not sure how it works in CS5 or other programs. I'm sure the concepts are similar though.
1. Open the picture you want to edit.
2. Open a "New Layer" with a "white" fill type.
3. Open another "New Layer". This one should be a "transparency" fill type.
4. Now, for the open transparent layer, add Noise. Go to "Filters", "Noise", "Hurl". When the Noise box opens, click "Randomize" and keep the other defaults. (50% and Repeat of 1)
5. The Noise will be colored, so you will want to desaturate it by going to "Colors", "Hue-Saturation", and moving the slider bar for "Saturation" all the way to the left (-100).
6. Now you want to add blur and motion blur to the noise. Go to "Filters", "Blur", "Blur". Repeat with "Filters", "Blur", and then "Motion Blur". Make sure "Filter Type" is "Linear" and then change the length and angle to suit your needs. For example, you could try a length of 31 and an angle of 45 degrees. (The rain will go from upper left to lower right of the picture at 45 degrees).
7. Now go to "Layer" and "Merge Down" so that the rain layer is merged with the white layer. The white layer can most likely be skipped altogether, it's just a preference.
8. In the "Layers" box, change the "Mode" to "Screen". Now you should see your picture under your rain layer. They aren't merged yet - you are still working with the rain layer.
9. Change the color levels. Go to "Colors", "Levels". Half way down the "Levels" box is an eye dropper with a default level of zero next to it. Move the number up to about 234 (or to some other number that you prefer. This will decrease the amount of rain and let more of the underlying picture through.
10. Merge the two layers. Go up to "Layer" and "Merge Down" to do this.
11. Now, if you want, you can repeat the above steps to add more rain levels. I had two levels of rain on the Ferrari picture, with slightly different angles and lengths to provide depth and variety to the rain.
12. You will notice the rain might not look good on the edges of the picture. Just crop the periphery slightly and add a vignette effect to take care of the edges and add some mood.
13. Also, if you skip the first "blur" and go straight to "motion blur", you may be able to simulate snow instead.
That said, this rain effect is actually pretty simple. I use Gimp for the editing (because it's freeeeee!), so I'm not sure how it works in CS5 or other programs. I'm sure the concepts are similar though.
1. Open the picture you want to edit.
2. Open a "New Layer" with a "white" fill type.
3. Open another "New Layer". This one should be a "transparency" fill type.
4. Now, for the open transparent layer, add Noise. Go to "Filters", "Noise", "Hurl". When the Noise box opens, click "Randomize" and keep the other defaults. (50% and Repeat of 1)
5. The Noise will be colored, so you will want to desaturate it by going to "Colors", "Hue-Saturation", and moving the slider bar for "Saturation" all the way to the left (-100).
6. Now you want to add blur and motion blur to the noise. Go to "Filters", "Blur", "Blur". Repeat with "Filters", "Blur", and then "Motion Blur". Make sure "Filter Type" is "Linear" and then change the length and angle to suit your needs. For example, you could try a length of 31 and an angle of 45 degrees. (The rain will go from upper left to lower right of the picture at 45 degrees).
7. Now go to "Layer" and "Merge Down" so that the rain layer is merged with the white layer. The white layer can most likely be skipped altogether, it's just a preference.
8. In the "Layers" box, change the "Mode" to "Screen". Now you should see your picture under your rain layer. They aren't merged yet - you are still working with the rain layer.
9. Change the color levels. Go to "Colors", "Levels". Half way down the "Levels" box is an eye dropper with a default level of zero next to it. Move the number up to about 234 (or to some other number that you prefer. This will decrease the amount of rain and let more of the underlying picture through.
10. Merge the two layers. Go up to "Layer" and "Merge Down" to do this.
11. Now, if you want, you can repeat the above steps to add more rain levels. I had two levels of rain on the Ferrari picture, with slightly different angles and lengths to provide depth and variety to the rain.
12. You will notice the rain might not look good on the edges of the picture. Just crop the periphery slightly and add a vignette effect to take care of the edges and add some mood.
13. Also, if you skip the first "blur" and go straight to "motion blur", you may be able to simulate snow instead.
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I tried to make subtle differences in the editing for each picture. Click on them to get the full effect. 
