There’s a technique I found about recently that I wanted to share with my readers. There is a simple way to create an impression of “radiating waves” in Photoshop using the Curves adjustment tool. The first step is to create a circular black-to white gradient using the Gradient Tool (I recommend to work in the 16-bit mode at this stage for better results):
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The next step is to use the Curves tool (or an adjustment layer) and draw the following shape:
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If you check the preview checkbox, you can see live what it is doing to the gradient while you are adjusting the curves. The result should look as follows:
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Of course, this is not such an interesting image per se, but the point is that you can use it as a building block for other creations, such as the following one:
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and then adding the very same picture as another layer with the blending mode set to multiply (this darkens the “low” areas, creating the impression of shadows and thus a 3D picture):
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