Final

Original

Stars

Make a Starry Sky

1. Open a nighttime image or early/late light image which you want to add a starry night sky. You will need to adjust your image if it is a daytime image.  Below is a daytime image from Portland, Maine and the outcome isn’t as convincing in my opinion.
2. Start with new document the same size as your image.
3. Add new layer above the background layer (Layer – New Layer) and call it stars.
4. Fill with black. (Edit – Fill – Black)
5. Filter – Noise – Add Noise about 120% – Gaussian – Monochromatic. (It will look way too noisy!)
6. Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur – .3
7. Image – Adjustments – Levels – bring white slider teeny bit left to brighten the whites – now pull the black slider way to the right until the amount of stars looks right. My black slider is at 200 and white slider at 249.
8. Hold down your Shift key while dragging the stars above your image.
9. Mask out the part that isn’t sky.