How to Turn on Headlights of a Car in Photoshop

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Open Photoshop and insert an image.

   It can be an image of a car or bike or a flashlight-anything that has a light source on it.
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   Step 2: Create a new layer.

   , Or go to Tool bar on the left and right click on the Lasso Tool icon, then click on the Polygonal lasso tool. , Make the triangle bigger as you go far (as shown below).
   
   Then release it to make it a selection. , By pressing ⇧ Shift+← Backspace in Windows or press ⇧ Shift+Delete in Mac or ⇧ Shift+F5 in both.
   
   Or go to Edit > Fill... above. ,, Do this by going Filter > Blur Gallery > Field Blur.... , You can give a little bit of blur there.
   
   The blur intensity can be between 20px to 30px. , And set the blur intensity between 200px to 300px depending upon the image. , And it will apply on the layer. , Reason behind adding it is that it should look more intense closer to the car and less intense further away from the car.
   
   Add the Layer Mask by clicking on the Layer Mask icon below the layers pallet.
   
   And a white mask will be visible beside the layer. , To go to the Gradient Tool press G or press ⇧ Shift+G a couple of times.
   
   This will give it a more realistic effect.
   
   And use Black to Transparent Gradient or Black to White Gradient. , Now fill it with bunch of little dots and specks.
   
   Color doesn't matter at this stage. ,, Set the Amount between 80 to 85, set the Blur Method to zoom, and Quality to good or best.
   
   And click OK.
   
   It will apply on the dots. ,,, By going to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation... or by pressing Ctrl+U on Windows or ⌘ Command+U on Mac. , But the source should be at the light source. , Or duplicate it, then rotate it around, anything which looks better. , First select all the light layers. , Or Right-click > Group from Layers....
   
   Name it anything like First Light.
   
   Then click on OK. , Or Right-click > Duplicate Group....
   
   You can name it anything like First Light Copy or Second Light. , Drag and place it in the place of the second light source. , And turn off the light streaks if required. , By pressing ⇧ Shift+Ctrl or ⌘ Command+Alt+N on the Keyboard.,, By using the Brush tool(B). , And place it just beside it. , By pressing Ctrl+E on Windows or ⌘ Command+E on Mac. , Located on Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.... ,,,,,
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   Step 3: Press L for the Polygonal lasso tool.

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   Step 4: Create a triangle starting from the headlights to a far direction

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   Step 5: in the direction the car is facing.

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   Step 6: Fill the selection with white.

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   Step 7: The Fill dialog will come choose white color and press OK.

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   Step 8: Give it a Field blur.

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   Step 9: Click on the point and drag it to the Headlights of the car.

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    Step 10: By clicking on the image

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    Step 11: add another point of blur on the other part of the light.

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    Step 12: Click on OK above.

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    Step 13: Add a Layer Mask on that layer.

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    Step 14: Use the Liner Gradient on the Gradient Tool to fade it away further from the car.

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    Step 15: Create a new layer.

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    Step 16: Then add a Radial Blur which is on Filter > Blur > Radial Blur....

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    Step 17: The Radial Blur menu will popup.

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    Step 18: If you see that you need to add more streaks

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    Step 19: draw some

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    Step 20: and press Ctrl+F on Windows or press ⌘ Command+F on Mac.

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    Step 21: When done

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    Step 22: change the blending mode from Normal to Screen.

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    Step 23: Now you can adjust the color/Hue.

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    Step 24: Then you can transform it as per your wish.

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    Step 25: You can also add a layer mask to the Streaks of lights.

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    Step 26: Make a group.

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    Step 27: Press Ctrl+G in Windows or ⌘ Command+G in Mac

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    Step 28: on the Keyboard.

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    Step 29: Duplicate (Ctrlor⌘ Command+J) the First Light group.

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    Step 30: Press V for the Move Tool.

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    Step 31: Add a layer mask if required.

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    Step 32: Make a new Layer.

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    Step 33: Create a Circle using the Elliptical Marquee selection tool on the ground.

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    Step 34: Fill it with the color which you used for the Streaks of lights to make it natural.

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    Step 35: Duplicate(Ctrl+J) the layer to make two lights.

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    Step 36: Then Merge those two layers.

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    Step 37: Then give the merged layer a Gaussian Blur.

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    Step 38: Set the amount between 45.0 pixels to 75.0 pixels

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    Step 39: and hit OK.

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    Step 40: And also change the blending mode from Normal to Soft Light.

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    Step 41: Lastly add a Lens Flare Filter to make it more realistic.

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    Step 42: Make sure to set the Flare from the light source

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    Step 43: in this case headlight.

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    Step 44: You can also add a layer mask and change the hue

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    Step 45: if it's too red.

Detailed Guide

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