In this lesson, I will show you how the main theme for the cover of a magazine was created. The task was to create a bright picture for the presentation of a dance TV show. As a basic idea, I accepted – a combination of geometry and dance, which would emphasize the beauty and accuracy of movements.
Step 1
First of all, pick up a beautiful photo and open it in Rhotoshop. I will use the picture with the dancers. Also, images of basketball players, BMX-bikers, figure skaters and so on are well suited for this lesson.
Now open the image of some computer code in a new document. Activate the selection tool Lasso 
(Lasso tool (L)) and circle around the image (as shown below).
Activate the tool Move
(Move tool (V)) and drag the selected area to the document with the dancers. If necessary, click Ctrl + T (to go to the Free Transform function), and change the size and position of the code layer.
At this stage, your toolbar will look like this:
Step 2
Stand on the layer with the text fragment (Layer 1). Invert colors by pressing the key combination Ctrl + I. Change the blending mode of the text layer to Screen (Screen) and lower the opacity (opacity) to 25%.
Hold key Ctrl and click the left mouse button directly on the “Layer 1” thumbnail to get a selection of the object. Switch to the tool Move (Move Tool). Then hold down the key Alt and without releasing it, drag the selected item up a little and to the right.
Repeat copying again and place the second copy with the text a little below, as shown in the example:
Step 3
Click on the mini-icon at the bottom of the layers panel and add an Add Layer mask to the text layer. Choose a tool Brush 
(Brush tool (B)) from the toolbar. Press on the keyboard key “D“- this will help you quickly set the foreground and background colors to the default (black / white). Make sure the foreground color is black. If the foreground color is white, then press the “X“To quickly switch color.
Standing on the layer mask paint over the area of the face, arms and legs of the characters to hide the text on the indicated parts.
Lower the opacity of the text layer (opacity) to 10%.
Drag the text layer onto the “Create a new layer” icon at the bottom of the layers panel. This will help you quickly create a copy of the text layer (Layer 1 copy).
Set the opacity of “Layer 1 copy” to 35%. Then go to menu Filter > Blur > Motion blur (Filter> Blur> Motion Blur). In the settings, specify the following numbers: angle (lengle) – 0º, distance (distance) – 800 pix.
Step 4
Set the foreground color to white. Click on the mini-icon at the bottom of the Create a New Layer layers panel. Thus, you get a new layer – “Layer 2” (Layer 2).
Activate the tool Brush (Brush tool) in the brush settings, set a round standard brush with a hard edge. Draw a white dot on the dancer’s hand.
Activate the tool Rectangular area
(Rectangular Marquee tool). Standing on a layer with a white dot, create a narrow rectangular selection along the center of the white circle (the long side is vertical). Then press the key Delete. Draw another rectangular area in the center of the white point (the long side is horizontal), and click again. Delete.
Click Ctrl + T , to trigger a Free Transform. Turn the white point to the angle “-45º”. To apply the transformation click on the keyboard Enter.
Step 5
Activate the tool Rectangular area (Rectangular Marquee tool). Hold key Shift and create a square selection, marking the area around the previously created point.
Switch to Editing > Stroke (Edit> Stroke). Set the value for the parameter Width (Width) by 3 pixels and click OK. As a result, you get a point surrounded by a square frame.
Hold key Ctrl and click on the “Layer 2” thumbnail. Activate the tool Move (Move Tool), hold down the key Alt and move the selected figure to the girl’s knee and shoes, as well as to the dancer’s hand.
Hold down the key combination Ctrl + D in order to deselect. Lower Fill (Fill) “Layer 2” up to 75%. Double-click on “Layer 2” to go to the Layer Style menu. Add style to the figure External glow (Outer Glow). In the style settings, set the blending mode Overlap (Overlay), spread (spread) – 25%, size (size) – 100 pix.
Step 6
Create a new layer on top of all the previous ones. Set the blending mode of the new layer to Overlap (Overlay). Activate the tool Polygonal Lasso 
(Polygonal Lasso tool). Create a rectangular shape by connecting the previously created white dots. Fill the drawn shape with blue: R = 12, G = 66, B = 224. Add a layer style to the blue rectangle. Stroke (Stroke). Set the size (Size) of the stroke to 6 pixels., The type of stroke – outside, and choose the color white.
Lower the opacity of the blue rectangle layer to your liking.
Step 7
Create a new layer and set the blending mode for it to Soft light (Soft Light). Activate the tool Oval area 
(Elliptical Marquee tool). Holding the key Shift, Draw a circular area between the dancer’s wrists (as shown in the example below). Create an outline from the resulting area. To do this, click on the selection with the right mouse button and in the submenu use the item “Form a work path“(Make Work Path).
Set the foreground color to white. To quickly switch the foreground color you need: press the key D (in order to set the default colors), and then press the X (which allows you to quickly swap the color of the main and background colors).
Activate the tool Brush (Brush tool). Then go to Window> Brush (Window> Brush) – this will open a window for setting the brush parameters. The settings for the brush you can see in the second image below.
Go to panel Contours (Paths). Click on the mini triangle in the upper right corner of the panel. This will open the action menu. Select from the list “Perform a stroke(Stroke Path). As a stroke tool set the “Brush”. After completing the stroke, press Backspase on the keyboard, in order to disable the circuit.
Author’s Note: You can create some more circles and decorate them with a picture. For example, I added another big circle near the pair.
Step 8
Using outlines and brushes, you can add different elements to the poster. Pay attention to the image above – I drew a contour diagonal that comes out of the dancer’s palm.
Step 9
Create a new empty layer, on top of the previous ones. Blend mode set to Screen (Screen). Fill the layer to 50%.
Activate the tool Oval area (Elliptical Marquee tool). Holding the key Shift, draw a circular area, which in size and location will correspond to a smaller circle, which we drew in Step No. 7.
Go to menu Editing > Stroke (Edit> Stroke). In the settings, set the stroke color to white and 10 pixels wide. To the white circle, add a Layer Style (Layer Style) “External glow” (Outer Glow). Choose a light blue color (R: 155, G: 189, B: 231). The remaining settings you need to enter, you can see in the second picture below.
Step 10
Hide some of the light circle. To do this, add a layer mask to the last layer by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the layers panel. Activate the tool Gradient 
(Gradient tool (G)). Go to the gradient settings menu and set the type – linear, color transition from black to transparent (or from black to white).
Then, standing on a layer mask, drag the gradient line from left to right. As a result, you will hide approximately half of the light circle (see the example in the image below).
Author’s Note: if you like the technique described, you can add more light arcs on the image
Step 11
Create a new layer and change the blending mode to Soft light (Soft Light). The opacity of the layer is reduced to 50%. Using the Elliptical Marquee tool, we draw a large circular selection around the characters. Using the tool Fill (tool) fill the selected area with white color.
Next, go to the menu Selection> Transform Selection(Select> Transform Selection). In the top settings panel, set the values for scaling in height and width to 87%. Press Enter to apply the transform. Then press the key Delete, in order to remove the selected area. As a result, you get a white, flat ring.
Step 12
Add a glow to the white ring. To do this, double click on the layer with the ring, and go to the menu Layer style (Layer Style). Activate the tab “Color overlay»(Color Overlay). Set the blending mode for the color to Soft light (Soft Light). Then click on the color swatch icon and set the following values: R = 255, G = 240, B = 0. Set the color opacity to 30%. Apply a layer style by clicking on the “Ok” button.
Add a layer mask to the ring layer. Activate the tool Gradient (Gradient tool). Set the color transition for the gradient from black to white. Standing on a layer mask, hide the left side of the ring using a gradient.
Optionally, you can further develop the layer mask with a black round brush with a hard edge. This will help you create an interesting shape for the yellow arc, transforming it into segments.
Step 13
Add a light hoop. Copy the yellow arc layer created in the previous step (Ctrl + J). Set the background color to white. Stand on the layer mask of the copy layer and press the key combination Ctrl + Delete – this will help to quickly fill the layer mask with white.
Now, click on the Effects word that you see under the arc copy layer and drag it (the Effects word) onto the trashcan icon at the bottom of the layers panel to clear the layer style.
Set the blending mode of the copy layer to Lightening basics (Color Dodge), and lower the opacity (opacity) to 20%.
Step 14
Standing on the Layer 6 copy layer, hold down the key combination Ctrl + T, to call Free transform (Free Transform). Using the transformation frame, change the shape of the ring (you can see the sample below in the picture). Press Enter to apply the transform.
Step 15
In order to create an effect that the arc goes behind the dancers, stand on the layer layer of the Layer 6 copy layer and use a black brush to hide part of the hoop.
Now, add a little glow to the hoop. Double-click on the Layer 6 copy layer to go to the menu. Layer style (Layer Style). Activate the tab “External glow“(Outer Glow). In the style settings, set the color to white; blend mode (blend mode) – Screen (Screen), opacity (100%), size (size) – 30 pix.
In order to decorate the final image, you can add some sparks.
