Outer Glow
A soft halo of light around the silhouette.
Outer Glow is a drop shadow with no offset and a bright colour. It spreads evenly in every direction, so it implies emission rather than a light source somewhere off-frame.
Because it does not imply direction, it composites over anything without needing to agree with the rest of the scene's lighting.
When to reach for it#
- Neon, magic, energy, anything that should look like it emits light.
- Separating a subject from a background without implying a light direction.
- Making small bright elements read at a distance.
How it works#
The glow is the silhouette, blurred and tinted, drawn behind. Style changes how the falloff is shaped: a simple glow falls off smoothly, while the neon styles stack a tight core against a wide soft halo, which is what real gas-discharge light actually does.
Parameters#
Simple is one smooth falloff. Double stacks a tight inner glow against a wider outer one. Neon adds a bright near-white core. Soft is a very wide, very low-opacity spread for atmosphere.
How far the glow reaches in pixels. Large sizes on a large layer are one of the more expensive things you can ask for per frame.
Glows read best when the colour is more saturated than the layer it surrounds. A glow the same colour as the fill mostly disappears.
Overall strength.
Grows the source silhouette before blurring, which thickens the glow rather than enlarging it.
Recipes#
Convincing neon
- Set the layer fill to a light, desaturated version of the neon colour — near-white, faintly tinted.
- Add Outer Glow, style Neon, in the fully saturated colour.
- Add a second Outer Glow with a much larger Size and low Opacity for the room glow.
The core of a real neon tube is almost white; the colour is in the light around it. Colouring the tube itself is the usual mistake.
Things that catch people out#
The glow runs after the mask, so it spreads past the mask edge. Mask the parent instead if you need it clipped.
See also#
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