Ok basically I'm pretty much a noob at PS so i tryed a tut which i found on a link at this site .. and it starts with abstracts... so I have to use the lens flare too. I start make my background blak by pressing alt_ backspace and then i go to filter.. render.. and the lens flare tool is gray (unusable) ... I;m doing axactly what the tut says ... SO WHY DOESN'T IT WORK?

[post="tut I was using "]http://www.tutorialized.com/view/tutorial/Abstract-Background/25220[/post]

Can somebody please help me ... I might have PS in the wrong image setings or something but i just don't know what everything does in the program yet

Double click on the background layer to turn it into a edittable layer - Instead of a permanent background.

yeah... what npg said about editting a locked b/g...
although I dun think you can unlock some other files... like the ones with "Index" on em... :3
and I guess when you want to make lighting effects... it's better to use a soft brush.. but either way... it's good... n_n

... Uhm I'm not that lost ..the pic is from try number 5 or so ... I did unlock the background every time but for some reason when I start from scrach ..meaning with new doc the colors are always grey ,black and white. When I start with some pic I have everything is normal. I got it to work yesterday ... how, I don't know exactly ... now everything is fine the flare works (but I still want to know howcome it didn't before) .. So THANK YOU NPG ^^

about the brushes ... how do u make ur lighting effects Miyunami ? ...And I'm guessing this sounds stupid but what do u mean with " the ones with index" ... which ones are those ???

using the stock brush as a light source means that instead of using a lens flare, you use a soft, maybe around 100px-200px soft brush and click a few times at the area of where you want your light to be coming from. change the blend settings and the opacity of this layer depending on ur sig

that's because your Color Mode is on "Grayscale", you should change it to "RGB Color"
you can find that when you start a new document.

and I think index documents can't be unlocked..
like this --- > >>clickie<<
you can't open it in PS... :3



QFT!

.. I guess I do that to.. at least I used brushes at the very start when I had no idea at all how and where everything in PS was. Now I'm discovering it's wonders. Brushes are probably the most primitive way to lighten things up but they are the most controllable^^

However I'm not in grayscale mode I have it set in RGB (always).... seriously that was the first thing I checked... I think it must have been some kind of bug .. my PS has been acting weerd lately ... lots of errors and restarting involved.

I have one more question ... maybe someone knows how to get this matte but still metal effect it looks a little like stainless steel

the gray leaves on this pic