Photoshop car tutorials: Add smoke to exhaust

This car tutorial will teach you how to smoke to an exhaust. You need to use the clouds filter for this tutorial. I have used a free stock image of a car rear which is available at: www.sxc.hu

Add smoke to exhaust

Step 1

Open an image of a car with an exhaust in Photoshop.
Insert a new layer by selecting Ctrl + Shift + N.

Step 2

Reset the colour palette by pressing the “D” key.
Select Filter > Render > Clouds and your image will look like below:

Step 3

Select Layer > Layer styles > Blending options and adjust the “blend if” option at the bottom of the pop-up window. You need to hold down the Alt key then click the slider and drag it to right. I have stopped the slider at 80, but you will need to experiment with your image. You only need to adjust the “This layer” slider.

Step 4

Add a layer mask by selecting Layer > Layer mask > Reveal All.
Select paint brush tool with an appropriate brush size and paint over the areas of the images to remove any smoke.
If you make a mistake you can use flip over the colour palette by pressing the “X” key then painting over the areas to restore the smoke.