SolarCell

Looking for a way to add eerie solar effects to your images? Look no further.

As soon as you open up this Photoshop plug-in you know you’re going to have some fun. This piece of software enables you to create alien suns and other solar effects that are perfect for finishing off your sci-fi landscapes.

The interface has a gaggle of sliders, each controlling a different element of your final sun. These  are divided into four areas: Sun, Flares, Spikes and Halo, each giving ample control over the effect. A large dynamic preview updates as you tweak settings.

One great feature is SolarCell’s ability to save and load a generous amount of presets. You can create a great sun effect, save the settings and use it again. Some of the suns do feel a little artificial, but you can get them to match your landscape with a little work in your image-editing or painting software.