Dan writes with questions about PS Lighting Plug-In...
Lighting an object

hello i am just getting started to understand  how  to survive 
in the photoshop world, but i am looking  to find out how it is  
possible to add for ex.  spot lighting or any type of lighting? 
Do I have  to get  a plug-in or am i just missing out on a  
trick that photoshop already has?    
green designer, dan nelson

A

We're all green at some point, Dan...

Sure pull up the lighting filter (in the "Filters" menu) and click/drag that little light bulb at the bottom up into the image area. Presto... another light source.
(click to open enlargement)

Select the type of light this one will be (or select from the pull-down of supplied styles) and remember:

Directional works like the sun or "ambient" light which seems to light the entire setting, from a single direction...

Omni is like an "artificial" sun, shining in all directions from a single source, Spotlight is a focused beam that is brightest at its source.

Specify a color, move the source (by dragging), change the angle, and have fun.

I highly recommend playing with the properties and texture channel options because these offer some knock-out possibilities... the texture channels being the most awesome -- giving you a texture map with peaks (whites) and valleys (black!) ... as you can see in the example here.

Thanks for writing

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