Unlock the Secret to PRECISE Lens Flares in Photoshop – 90-Second Tip #04
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The Precise Flare Center is a hidden dialog in the Lens Flare filter that gives you precise lens flares in Photoshop, placed on an exact pixel.
By default, the Lens Flare filter drops the flare wherever you click in its small preview. Close to the spot you want, but rarely on it. Then it renders the result straight into your pixels.
This tip fixes both problems. You type the X and Y coordinates from the Info panel into the Precise Flare Center, and the flare lands on that spot, on its own layer.
It works in Photoshop CC 2018 or the latest version.
Key Takeaways
- The Lens Flare preview is too small to place a flare exactly. The Precise Flare Center takes typed coordinates instead.
- Hold Alt on Windows or Option on macOS and click the preview to reveal it. Nothing in the dialog hints that it exists.
- The Info panel shows the X and Y of whatever sits under your cursor.
- Render the flare on a solid black layer set to Screen. Screen hides black, so only the flare shows.
Table of contents
What You Will Learn
- How to read exact coordinates from the Info panel
- How to reveal the hidden Precise Flare Center dialog
- How to keep the flare off the photo with a black layer set to Screen
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop CC 2018 or the latest version
- A portrait, or any photo that needs a flare
Step 1: Put the Lens Flare on a Black Layer
Start with two layers: the portrait, and a new layer above it filled with solid black.
In the Layers panel, set the black layer’s blend mode from Normal to Screen. The menu sits at the top left of the panel.
Screen hides dark pixels and keeps bright ones. Pure black is as dark as a pixel gets, so the black layer vanishes and the portrait shows through untouched. A bright flare rendered onto that layer shows, and the black around it stays hidden.
That is what keeps the flare off the photo. The Blending Modes Crash Course explains why Screen behaves this way.
Warning: Keep the black layer selected when you run the filter. If the portrait layer is active, the flare is burned into the photo.
Step 2: Read the Coordinates in the Info Panel
Decide where the flare should go. In the video, two guides cross on the spot, but any point you can hover over works.
Open the Info panel from Window > Info, hover over the spot, and read the X and Y values. In the video they are 625 and 952. Remember them.
Note: The Info panel reports X and Y in your ruler units. If it shows inches or centimeters, switch the rulers to pixels first.
Step 3: Open the Lens Flare Filter
With the black layer still selected, go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare.
The Lens Flare dialog shows a small preview with a crosshair on the flare center. Clicking inside that thumbnail is where the guesswork comes from.
Step 4: Enter the Precise Flare Center Coordinates
Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the preview window. A second dialog, Precise Flare Center, appears with an X box and a Y box.
Type the numbers from the Info panel: 625 and 952 for the example photo. Press OK to close the Precise Flare Center, then OK again to close the filter.
The flare renders on the black layer, centered on that pixel. That is how you get precise lens flares in Photoshop: by the numbers, not by eye.
Tip: The flare has its own layer, so you can lower its Opacity or delete it without touching the portrait.
More hidden options like this one live in the Photoshop keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Lens Flare filter places the flare from a click inside a small preview thumbnail, so it lands near the spot, not on it. Hold Alt on Windows or Option on macOS, click the preview, and type exact coordinates into the Precise Flare Center.
Screen hides dark pixels and keeps bright ones, and pure black is the darkest pixel there is. The black layer vanishes, the flare shows through, and the photo underneath never changes.
Go to Window and choose Info. The Info panel shows the X and Y coordinates of the pixel under your cursor, which are the numbers the Precise Flare Center needs.
Precise Lens Flares in Photoshop, Every Time
Read the coordinates in the Info panel, Alt or Option click the Lens Flare preview, type the numbers, and press OK twice. That is the whole technique.
Watch the 90-second video above to see it in real time. Then comment on the video with yes I did or no I didn’t, to say whether you knew this option.
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Next, learn how to create a sun glow and sun flare effect in Photoshop.
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THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jesus:
Nice presentation: clear, poignant , and also entertaining.
Can’t wait for the next one!
Thank you, Jack!
i just found your channel few days ago.
i found your channel is very help and your instruction are easy to follow.
thanks a lot ..
will always wait for your video
Im guessing I’m doing something wrong with the black layer, it always puts it in the top left corner never where I program it to, Explain how you make the black layer