Note: Project files included with this tutorial are for practice purposes only.
SparkleStock is a design studio in Vancouver, Canada that creates Photoshop actions, Lightroom presets, and color grading styles. Their goal is to bridge the gaps between the creative and technical so that you can get back to what matters most: making awesome stuff.
Use the link in the Resources box to get this action by SparkleStock, and follow the directions below to easily create perfectly glittery, glowy images.
Load action.
In Photoshop, open the Actions panel (Window > Actions). Click the panel menu and select Load Actions, locate the BokehBomb.atn file (it may be in your Downloads folder), then click Open. Go to the Brushes panel (Window > Brushes) and use the Import Brushes option from the dropdown menu to add the BokehBrushes.abr file. Do the same with the BokehGradients.grd file (Window > Gradients). The action won’t work correctly without all the components.
Open a file and start action.
Open your image file. Make sure the brush opacity is set to 100%. From the Actions panel, select the Step 1 action and click the Play icon. The action will instruct you to draw an outline around the image you want to highlight with bokeh. The action automatically selects the SparkleStock Hard Round brush set to 175. Choose a different Bokeh Brush and adjust the size in the top toolbar for different effects. The larger your brush size, the smaller the size of the bokeh elements will be.
Finish applying the action.
Once you’ve drawn your outline, select Step 2 in the Actions window and press Play again to finish applying the bokeh effect. The Large, Medium, and Small options describe the size of the bokeh orbs. Use the History panel (Window > History) to choose different bokeh color effects. To futher adjust the look, go to the top layer and turn on and off the Color Grading, Bokeh Color, and Bokeh Brightness. Then try turning on and off the Foreground, Midground, and Background layers.
Adjust the gradient.
Load the gradients provided with this effect by going to the Gradient panel (Window > Gradients), opening the dropdown menu, and selecting Import gradients. Navigate to the Bokeh Gradients by SparkleStock.grd file and open it. Now, click on the Mask icon next to any Bokeh Color layer. Click on the dropdown menu under the Gradient bar, open the Bokeh Gradients folder and select an option to apply it to the bokeh.
Finesse with brushes
Load the brushes provided with this action by going to the Brush panel (Window > Brushes), opening the dropdown menu, and selecting Import brushes. Navigate to the Bokeh Brushes by SparkleStock file and open it. Use the brushes to paint in additional bokeh effects. Try adjusting the opacity of the brush as well as using it in the Foreground, Midground, and Background layers, for different effects.
