[Photoshop] Making Rays

Notice; I did this on Photoshop 7, but it should work on all Photoshop versions.

Before we start, we should know what we're making, correct? Well, this is what the final result will look like.



Alright.

In reality, creating rays is very easy, although some people make it out to be a very hard task. Basically, they are just gradients. To start off, you will need to fill in your canvas of any color you choose (as you can see, I used blue).



Then, switch from the Paint Bucket tool to the gradient tool, and on the options bar, click the circle gradient. Make your foreground color white, and lower the opacity to say, 15-30%, depending on how bright you want it to be. Then, make the gradient near wherever you want the rays to be coming from. After this step, your piece should look like this:



This is where most people become confused. First, create a new layer by going to Layer > New Layer. It doesn't need a specific name, so just click OK. Then, click the little preview box of your gradient (it is to the left of the gradient types in the option bar), and change the setting from Solid to Noise. This will make it look like little waves, or whatever. Click OK, and click the gradient option that is one to the left of the circle gradient. Lower the opacity to about 15-20% and start the gradient from where you started the first gradient, and bring it down. You can go out of the canvas if you want, to make the rays stay closer together. You should get a result that looks a bit like this:



Now, go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate, and there you have it.



If you have any questions, please ask. I'm willing to elaborate on anything you do not understand.

Nice tut im in school but ill try it when im home!

This is what they use on Windows Vista Background of Login Boot screen if im correct.

I dont use Vista I use XP and Linux and Mac cause Vista is scum just watch Youtube vids.

But yeh great tut quite easy to do but for beginners great tut.

Wow, someone actually listened to me. Thanks Jackson! +Rep! I'm kinda confused on the second step... Can you elaborate on it?

Where you create the circle gradient?

Alright. Switch your foreground color (the one on top) to white, or any other color, and click the gradient tool.

To the left of the gradient preview (which can be found in the option bar), there are little boxes, with types of gradients. Click the one that looks like a white circle fading to black (or a black circle fading to white, not sure - it's a circle though). Start from wherever you want the rays to be coming from, and bring the gradient as far down as you desire. The farther down you go, the closer they are.

That's a rather neat effect! Great tutorial Jackson!

+Rep! I'll be sure to use it in the future

Great tutorial! Thanks,
Jony

Great tutorial, I have actually been looking how to do this!
I'll give it a shot now.
p.s; you should have added images of what you click rather than full text.