Particle overlay composer guide

Start

The tool opens already moving: 40,000 stars and one Meteor layer of white, yellow and orange streaks over a near-black ground. There is no picture underneath until you add one.

What you need

• A current browser with WebGL 2. Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari all have it.
• A picture, only if you want the light over it: a PNG, JPEG or WebP of up to 25 MB and 40 megapixels.

Your first result

1. Open Particle overlay composer. The first scene is already drawing.
2. Under Layers, press + Nebula, + Spark, + Dust or + Lightning to add a layer. The new layer is the one the panel now edits.
3. Pick its colours under Layer gradient, then shape it with the sliders below, which show only for that layer's kind.
4. Open Bloom and raise Intensity for more glow. Open Exposure and tone map to make the whole scene brighter or darker.
5. For a picture underneath, press Image A at the top of the panel, or drop a picture anywhere on the page. It sits under the light as the subject.
6. Open Save and load and press Save PNG.

Good to know

• Every layer can be picked again from its row under Layers; the sliders then change that layer.
• The readout at the top left of the frame shows the frames a second, the layers, the particles drawn, the star count, the picture's size, Bloom and Exposure.
• Save PNG keeps the frame you see at that moment. Keep your work has its size and the other things you can save.
• The scene is kept in this browser as you work, so it comes back when you reopen the page. Your picture does not; add it again.
• Your picture is kept on this device, and every lab tool that takes a picture opens with it, until you press × on its tile.
• On a phone the controls sit in a bar at the bottom of the screen. Tap the bar to open them.