Space pictures - How can I make stars?

[PockyBum522]

I want to know, does anybody know a good way to make stars? Little dots in the sky...

Thanks, I just want random white dots of different brightnesses and that look good as stars.

 

[rpwin]

This is possibly one of many ways to create basic star skies:

Create a new layer
Fill the layer with a black.
Use the noise filter to create monochromatic, gausian noise (10-20%).
Open the IMAGE/ADJUST/THRESHOLD palette and use the slider to fine tune the "star" density.
Use the magic wand and select the black area
SELECT/INVERSE
EDIT/FILL/WHITE (your stars)
COPY
PASTE to new layer (on this layer you can choose individual stars using SHIFT/LASSO and trasform them to make them bigger or to create star formations)
EDIT/FILL the first layer with the desired colour or delete it you have a background you want to use.

Repeat the process on new layers with varying star densities. Delete unwanted areas of these new layers with a mask that has feather on it to create varied star groupings

Here is a simple example:

Ron Winslow

http://www.rpwdesign.dk

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.

 

[nevets2001uk]

I have been experimenting with space images for a short while and the best method I have found is to paint your canvas black.

Then goto Filter > Noise> Add Noise

Make the settings something close to 10-12% Gaussian and check the Monochromatic option.

Then press CTRL and L to bring up the level dialog box. In the input area set the values to roughly 55, 1.0, 110 and click OK.

You should now have a basic starfield

On my images I usually use 3 or more layers of stars. The first layer is very faint background stars, the second is like the above and the third is for the brighter stars. I create the layers and use Linear Dodge to put them together. By erasing different ares and adding slight blur effects you can create more complex and "deep" starfields. Also experiement with some subtle colouring on some areas to make it even more realistic as often stars are not plain white!

Hope this helps you. Once you get the basic just keep experimenting and you should come up with great effects.

Steve