In the last tutorial, I showed you how to create a gradient in PicMonkey. This tutorial, using a similar method, I will show you how to create a ray of light effect.

The photo below is the before and after. The image on the right is what we will create.

Before and after photos.

Step One: Add A Rectangular Overlay

Choose the photo you want to edit. Click on Overlays > Geometric > Rectangle. Change the color to white (#FFFFFF). Resize it so it’s a little longer.

Figure 1: Creating a rectangular overlay.

Step Two: Erase Part Of The Rectangle

Click the “Eraser” tab and choose a large brush and hardness is 0. Start erasing part of the rectangle shaping it like a ray of light. I temporarily changed the color to black so you can see the shape that you should have.

Figure 2: Erasing part of the rectangle.

Step Three: Resize And Reposition The Rectangle

Now that you have your shape, make it thinner and longer. Rotate it to match the angle of the light. In this example, I wanted to enhance one part of the sun’s ray, so I will make sure it lines up.

If the white color of the rectangle doesn’t blend and look natural, choose another color as you can see in the screenshot below, I changed the color to one that closely matches the orange-reddish color of the sunlight. And for more natural and blended look, I changed the fade to 25%.

Figure 3: Resizing the overlay and adjusting the color.

Step Four: The Result

Here is the end result of what you should have. And below are the before and after photos for comparison.

Figure 4a: End result.

Figure 4b: Before and after.

Step Five: Applying The Steps To Darker Photos

The same look can be achieved with darker photos, too. If you have a photo you took of the sun rising and would like to add some rays, following the same steps as above, you can give the photo a little pop.

Figure 5: Applying the technique to a dark photo that doesn't have the sun's rays.

Step Six: How It Looks

After editing a darker photo, you should have something that looks like this. Remember to adjust the color of the overlay and the fade as necessary so it blends well and looks natural.

Figure 6: The end result of adding the sun’s rays to a dark photo.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you’re done! You can apply this method to any photo where you want to give it a little pop.

In the next tutorial, I will show you how you can apply both a gradient and the ray of light effect to your projects to create something unique.