HALATION

This is a script plugin for Photoshop that simulates film-like halation.

How to install

1. Download and unzip the software, if the latter isn’t done automatically. The resulting folder contains the main script Halation.jsx and two action sets, Halation.atn and Halation-mono.atn.

2. Quit Photoshop.

3. Copy the script Halation.jsx to Photoshop’s scripts folder. On Mac it’s in /Applications/Photoshop 202x/Presets/Scripts and on Windows 10 it’s in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 202x\Presets\Scripts. You may have to change the permissions of this folder to copy the script there.

4. Start Photoshop and make sure Halation shows up in the menu File/Automate.

5. Install the Photoshop actions by double-clicking on the files Halation.atn and Halation-mono.atn, or by loading it in the Actions palette.

How to run

You run the script by running on of the supplied actions, or by making your own actions. If you expand an action and double-click on the settings you can edit the script recipe.

Making your own recipes

The script takes a number of settings, written as a semicolon-separated text string (recipe):

1. The highlight threshold, from 1 to 255, or auto.

2. The minimum highlight threshold, from 1 to 255.

3. The bloom (halo radius), from 1 to 100.

4. How much the effect should be boosted, from 0to 170.

5. The red value of the inner halation, from 0 to 255.

6. The green value of the inner halation, from 0 to 255.

7. The blue value of the inner halation, from 0 to 255.

8. The red value of the outer halation, from 0 to 255.

9. The green value of the outer halation, from 0 to 255.

10. The blue value of the outer halation, from 0 to 255.

Tips and tricks

1. If you want to change the color values in actions, darker colors results in a weaker effekt and brighter colors in a stronger effect. If you set the red, green and blue color to the same value you get a grayscale color, useful for monochrome halation.

2. Setting #1 auto means the script will determine the brightest level in your image and calculate where to place the halation range from there. #2 then puts a lower cap on that value.