Star drafts

[helvene]

Unless you want an image with a transparent background, you don't. What you asking of is surely possible, but then the corona won't have the same shiny look as in the technique described above.

For transparent corona:
1. Make a solid layer and will it with Filter > Render > Clouds using the same colours you used for your sun.
2. Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast if the colours are too dim.
3. Make a new layer, switch background and foreground colors to BW. Apply Filter > Render > Clouds to the new layer.
4. Switch the second layer to Color Dodge mode.
5. Merge these two layers.
6. Select the star disc visible pixels and Select > Modify > Border.
7. Save the to a new channel for better control of what you're going to get.
8. Switch to this channel and turn everything else off. Smooth it to your liking. Mine was Filter > Blur > Radial Blur, Method: Spin, Quality: Best, Amount: 100, then Filter > Blur > Radial Blur with Method: Zoom, Quality: Best, Amount: 50
9. Make a new channel, run Filter > Render > Clouds then Filter > Render > Difference Clouds till the pattern you get is rather complex, usually twice or thrice is enough
10. Load this new channel as a selection, switch to the channel you've been working on previously and fill the selected areas with black.
11. Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast on the resulting channel if you feel there are not enough white areas on шею
12. Apply this channel as a mask to your corona layer.
13. Merge it with disc layer, delete the black background and save as a PNG with transparency.
14. To get rid of possible "artifacts" you may want to check youк star on a lighter background and remove the unwanted corona parts a soft eraser brush.

Sorry, no pictures this time.

[Meriba]

Thanks a lot Helvene, I'm gonna try as soon as possible, and I promise a picture of the result!!

[helvene]

The I'll be waiting to see it!

Forgot to warn that the technique for a transparent corona looks worse in my opition, the star will be less shiny. So I do recommend using the first technique and then just saving the star as a smart object.

[Meriba]

Hi,

I've lost from point 6 The first technique is more clear than this one and I'm quite unexperienced with these effects.

On the other hand, your warning for using smart object... well, I'll tried but I only could save the disk, not the corona.

In resume, I would like to create suns or other star objects (with corona or other perturbations) with transparent background so I can situate them on whatever background I choose.

Two tests for playing around a little :
Green sun
Green_sun.jpg

Greenish moon
Green_moon.jpg

[Altrunchen]

Not a problem! Merged PNGs or PSDs with layers retained?
Also do you want me to go with a regular star chart or have some specific colours in mind?

Well what I usually do in Photoshop is I make a standard layer, then I put a hue/saturation mask over it and then just adjust the mask bit by bit so that each color of the visible spectrum of light (ROYGBIV) is covered. That way you only have to make the core layer once and all you need to do is slide the hue/saturation bar over however much you want to.

[helvene]

Well... there may be another way. It's much easier and also gives a more pleasant visual result. Sorry I didn't think of it earlier!

12. Complete all the steps till #12 in the first tutorial
13. Add a layer mask to the corona layer. It should be full white at this point.
14. Select all (Ctrl+A) and copy all image layers (Ctrl+Shift+C)
15. Paste it as a corona layer mask.
16. Tweak the layer mask with Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast to make the corona more or less visible to your liking.
17. Disable the background layer
18. Do NOT merge the layers! Go to Image > Save for Web and Devices and save your image as a PNG with transparency support.

random_star.png

19. As you may see, there still are some visible whitish "artifacts" on the corona. Pick a smooth eraser brush and remove them.

[Meriba]

Here it is!
random_star.png

However, I would like to increase the corona violence (less uniformity, and few and greater solar flames) like in your image. How could I do that? What steps I've done wrong?

Thank you for your patience and help.

[helvene]

I don't believe you've done anything wrong. Just redo the Clouds filter till you get the result you want, it's always a bit random. Scaling it down also helps. Another option is to apply Difference clouds above regular (only fo BW layer) twice or trice, it also adds more detail.

[Meriba]

Thank you very much, I think I got it as you said "I don't believe you've done anything wrong". I'm gonna rewrite the process in my words (and language ) to understand better and I think that's all.

It's a beautiful outcome with a simple process, and if you haven't test by now, try to move the final disk or the clouds layer. It makes me imagine lots of possibilites for a web map. Example

EDIT: Here it is the small tut you posted with a few clarifications in english and in my mother tongue. With your permission, I would like to post it in a friends' website
Star drafts tutorial.pdf

[helvene]

With your permission, I would like to post it in a friends' website

You have it