Here is a very simple tutorial for remaking the beautiful Windows Vista Aurora wallpaper effect, using Photoshop.  Full credit goes to tutorial9 for the steps which I followed.

My PSD source files are available below, if interested. Or click-on to follow my tutorial.

[aurora_watashii.zip] 1.6M
[aurora.png] 411kb (1900×1200)

Step 1

Start with a random image as our background.

Step 2

Apply a Gaussian blur with radius > 100 on the background

Step 3

Goto Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance.  Then using the RGB sliders to adjust the color of the background of your choice.   You can also change the brightness/contrast settings on the background layer.  The background changes are complete after this step.

Step 4

To create the light bands, first create a new layer.  Then select the elliptical marquee tool and draw a large rounded outline a shown below.  Press spacebar+drag to maximise the ellipse size outside the photoshop canvas.

Step 5

Select the brush tool with any brush size (say 100px), and 0% hardness  and fill the edge of the selection marquee.

Step 6

Next, deselect the marquee, and position / free transform the light band.  In the layers panel, change the blending layer to Overlay.  This will give the light bands a glowing effect.

Step 7

Now repeat Step 4 to create several light bands with different bush sizes, positioning and free transform.  You can also reuse existing light bands by duplicating the existing layers.

Step 8

Lastly you can create additional adjustment layers on each light band, like what we have done in Step 3.  Press Ctrl+Shift then click (once or twice) on the thumbnail of a light band layer.  This will automatically create a selection around your light band.  You can then proceed to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance and modify the color of the light bands.  Experiment!

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2. Digital Bokeh Effect Using Photoshop
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Here is a very simple tutorial for making a really cool rainbow blur effect, using Photoshop.  This can be used as a wallpaper, and as you can see, its also decorated my blog header too!

My PSD source files are available below, if interested.  Or click-on to follow my tutorial.

[rainbowblur_watashii.zip]  1.6M
[rainbowblur.png]  411kb  (1900×1200)

Step 1

Create a new document 1900×1200, or any size of your choice.

Step 2

Create a new layer.  Double click on the layer to open the Layer Style options.  Enable the Gradient Overlay, and select a radial gradient from dark blue (#12112C) to black as shown below.

Step 3

Create a second new layer, and make sure it’s non-transparent, white or black is fine.  We set our foreground and background to black and grey (#777777).  Then goto [Filters > Render > Fibres...].  You may play around with the numbers to define the hardness, here I used Variance 20 and Strength 10.

Step 4

Now we apply a motion blur on our texture. Goto [Filters > Blur > Motion Blur...], and apply a distance of 500 pixels. You may like to tweak this value to get the right effect.

Step 5

Double click on the blurred layer to open the Layer Style options.  Enable the Gradient Overlay, and select/create a linear gradient using the rainbow colours.  Make sure the Blend Mode is Overlay, and the angle should be at 0 degrees.

Step 6

Lastly, using the Lasso tool with a feather of 100px to create a random mask.  Goto [Layer > Add Layer Mask > Reveal Selection] to apply the masking effect.

Related Posts:

1. Windows Vista Aurora Effect Using Photoshop (Tutorial)
2. Digital Bokeh Effect Using Photoshop
3. How to turn a photo into a hollywood movie effect