Step 1

Open Illustrator, and using the Pen Tool (shortcut: P), draw two different curved lines, try to make them cross each other like the ones below. Those will be the shape of our smoke. After that, do the same thing again and draw 2 more lines. From those 2 pairs of lines, select one pair set the stroke color of the first line white and the other with Dark Gray(70%). Repeat the same thing to the other pair of lines, however invert the colors. The reason we do this is because when we import those shapes in Photoshop we will be able to tweak the colors with a lot more ease.

Step 2

Using the Blend Tool, click on the edge of the white line and then click on the edge of the gray line. It will create a line between the two lines. With the Blend selected go to menu Object>Blend>Blend Options. There change the Spacing to Specified Steps and put 200 steps. Repeat the same procedure to the other pair of lines we have.

Step 3

Now it’s all Photoshop from here. Copy the first blend and paste it in to Photoshop as a Smart Object. Repeat that for the second layer. We choose to paste as Smart Objects because you can scale and re-scale without losing quality. This happens because they remain vectors rather than becoming bitmap graphics. Besides that we can edit the vectors again, and if you are using the CS3 version it’s possible to apply all filters in a non-destructive mode as well. That means if you apply any filter you will be able to change their parameters anytime or even delete the filter effect returning to the original image. This is not dissimilar to Layer Styles except now with filters.

Step 4

Here I just organize my layers using folders. Set the blending mode to Multiply for both folders: Shape 1 and 2. After that apply a Gaussian Blur with a radius of 1 pixels in both layers: Smoke 1 and 2.

Step 5

Duplicate both layers inside of each folder. So you will have Smoke 1, Smoke 1 Copy, Smoke 2, and Smoke 2 Copy. Change the Blending mode of the Smoke 1 Copy and Smoke 2 Copy to Overlay

Step 6

Now we are going to change the color, from that grayish tone to a blueish one creating a new fill or adjustment layer and choosing Hue/Saturation. Put that layer on top of the others and double click on the layer to edit the Hue/Saturation parameters.

Step 7

Duplicate the Smoke 1 layer and Rasterize it and put on the top of the other layer, even above the adjustment layer. After that change its blending mode to Color Dodge and apply a Gaussian Blur with the radius of 25 pixels. You will get a light blue color like a glow.

Step 8

Now we have the basics we could stop here and have a great effect already. But let's take it to the next level, it's time to add some extra wafts. First fade Smoke 1 back to about 50% so it's a little softer. Then duplicate the Smoke 1 group and fade right back to 20%. Select the group and add a Layer mask. Then using a White to Black radial gradient mask it out as it gets to the right side so the smoke is fading off into nothing.
Step 9

Next duplicate the same fading out smoke layer we made in the last step again and rotated it to make it look a bit more random. If you had time you could replicate these layers from the very beginning steps in Illustrator. Your aim should be to have wafts of smoke going away from the main smoke channel. If you want a smoke on white effect, you should stop here.

I've already seen this on PSDTuts.com

If you visit Pixel2Life, you can actually see the title 'Creating a Stunning Digital Smoke Effect in Photoshop'.

Please submit 1 more tutorial in order to quality for the free domain.

This post was last modified: 12-02-2007 10:25 AM by DAS.