Faux Golden Light Effect in PSE

There’s something special about the light in the autumn season. It’s a little more golden and rich, flattering and warm than the rest of the year. The Autumn Symphony Collection by Laura Louie is perfect for these fall photos. Full of gorgeous oranges, browns, and yellows. It is so beautiful!

But what if your pictures don’t naturally have that golden light? Sometimes, despite our best intentions, our photos don’t reflect what we see in nature. Or sometimes we may want to use photos from some other time of year.

Here’s a little secret: Getting that golden light is as easy as a few mouse clicks in Photoshop Elements. It is really easy to add to any of your pictures. Let me show you how!

First, open your picture. Crop, adjust the curves, and any other tweaking you need to do.

Second, apply a Solid Color adjustment layer.

Pick a golden orange, red, or yellow color.

Change the Blending mode to combine your picture with the color layer. The Blending mode you choose will vary, depending on the colors in your picture, but Multiply, Color Burn, Screen, Overlay, and Soft Light are good ones to start with. Adjust the opacity of the Solid Color adjustment layer if the effect is too much.

Merge (or use a clipping mask for) the Solid Color adjustment layer with the photo, and now you are ready to use it on your layout.
Here you can see the difference this one little adjustment layer can make.

Here’s the finished layout with my golden photo:

Laura has created a beautiful collection for us this month, and I’m excited to see how you use it in your layouts! Be sure to post your layouts in the Scrap Girls Gallery!

An Amazing Deal!
Autumn Symphony, along with 6 other beautiful coordinating products were originally offered as a Scrap Girls Club selection. If you were a club member you would have received all these supplies for just $9.99 a month!
Join the Club today and start saving tons of money on our top designs!
Learn MoreDigital Scrapbooking Products Used:Autumn Symphony Collection BiggieTutorial written by Anna MansfieldUsing Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 with Windows 8