Print Design: Basics – Creating a Starburst in Photoshop
by Joey at 2:35 pm
In this tutorial, I will show you a quick and simple way to create a starburst using Photoshop.
First, start off with a new document. I’m beginning with a perfect square, 3 inches by 3 inches. Now select the gradient tool. Select your different colors. I have chosen a dark red and a brighter red for nice contrast.
Now holding the shift key, click and drag from the top to the bottom of the document. This will create a nice, even looking gradient going from the top to the bottom of the document. Now, we begin creating it into a starburst.
Select Filter -> Distort -> Wave. We will begin adjusting these particular values to get a good result in a line pattern.
For the number of generators, we have selected 69. This number can vary depending on your preference. We change our wavelength to a minimum of 17 with a max of 18. For the amplitude, we go with a minimum of 5 and a max of 999 (the biggest value). Make sure you have Repeat Edge Pixels selected along with the type Sine.
Click OK, and you should get a nice line pattern. Now we will use the Filter menu again. Go to Distort and select Polar Coordinates.
Select Rectangular to Polar. And it will give you the final result of a simple and beautiful starburst.
We will use this starburst in a future tutorial.
Tags: photoshop, polar coordinates, print design, starburst, wave
