How to Create Light Leaks in Photoshop

Do you want to add a light leak effect to your photo? A light leak or lomo effect can add a striking “punch” to your images. In this article, we will show you how to create light leaks in Photoshop.

If you don’t have it yet, you can get Photoshop from Adobe’s site here.

Creating Light Leaks in Photoshop

First thing you need to do is open your image in Photoshop.

Before we start, you should know the light source of the image. (Check out our other post on everything you need to know about photography lighting.)

Now, click on the half-filled circle icon at the bottom right corner of your Photoshop screen to add a Curves adjustment layer.

Simply lift the curve up near the top, and pin it near the bottom as shown in the image below:

Next, click on the Adjustment layer icon again to add a Gradient adjustment layer.

Go ahead and set the gradient color to ‘fc2c2c’. You’ll need to set the Angle to -100, and leave everything else as-is.

Next, change the blending mode of the Gradient adjustment layer to Screen and reduce the opacity to 90% for a beautiful light leak effect.

That’s all. You can see the before and after image below.

We hope this article has helped you to learn how to create beautiful and striking light leaks in Photoshop. You may also want to check out our guide on how to create a lomo effect in Photoshop.

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