How To Create Wind Effect In Photoshop
Photoshop Wind Effect

Here’s the image I’ll be using for this tutorial:

And here’s what the final “vertical photo panels” effect will look like:

Wind Effect Text 1.) Open up a blank document in photoshop, 400x400 will do. 2.) Change font colour to black, and font face to Impact, or something of a similar effect. Make the text about 100pt. 3.) Centre the text so that there is enough space either side for the effect to work. 4.) On the right hand side you should see the 'Layers' panel.

You could get a better wind effect by copying your text to a new layer, and experiment with adding some noise, motion blur and then apply the wind effect for a different 'windy' effects. RE: Creating wind effect with a transparent background.
Realistic set of high detailed wind or dust cloud isolated on transparent background. Effect of white smoke, fog, spray.

The final result.

Step 1: Add A White Solid Color Fill Layer

With your image newly opened in Photoshop, click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. It’s the icon that looks like a circle split diagonally between black and white:

Select Solid Color from the top of the list of fill and adjustment layers that appears:

Choose a Solid Color fill layer from the top of the list.

Photoshop will pop open the Color Picker so we can select which color we want to fill the layer with. Choose white, either by clicking in the top left corner of the large color selection box on the left or by entering 255 for the R, G andB options near the bottom center of the dialog box:

Click OK when you’re done to close out of the Color Picker. The document will now be filled with solid white, which will serve as the background for our effect:

The document is now filled with white.

If we look in the Layers panel, we see the new Solid Color fill layer, which Photoshop has named Color Fill 1, sitting above the original image on the Background layer:

Photoshop places the Solid Color fill layer above the Background layer.

Step 2: Duplicate The Background Layer

Select the Background layer by clicking on it in the Layers panel:

Click on the Background layer to select it. Selected layers are highlighted in blue.

With the Background layer selected, go up to the Layer menu in the Menu Bar along the top of the screen, choose New, then choose Layer via Copy. Or, for a faster way to access the same command, press Ctrl+J (Win) /Command+J (Mac) on your keyboard:

A copy of the Background layer, appropriately named Background copy, is added directly above the original:

The Background copy layer is added between the original Background layer and the Solid Color fill layer.

Step 3: Move The Background Copy Layer Above The Solid Color Fill Layer

We need to move the Background copy layer above the Solid Color fill layer, and the fastest and easiest way to do that is with a keyboard shortcut. Press Ctrl+right bracket ( ] ) (Win) / Command+right bracket ( ] ) (Mac) on your keyboard. This will jump the currently selected layer (the Background copy layer) up over the layer directly above it (the Color Fill 1 layer), placing the Background copy layer at the top of the layer stack:

Press Ctrl+] (Win) / Command+] (Mac) to jump the Background copy layer above the Solid Color fill layer.

Step 4: Select The Rectangle Tool

Select the Rectangle Tool from the Tools panel:

Step 5: Select The Shapes Option

With the Rectangle Tool selected, click on the Shapes option in the Options Bar along the top of the screen. It’s the left icon in a row of three icons near the far left of the Options Bar:

Select the Shapes option in the Options Bar.

Step 6: Draw The First Vertical Panel

With the Rectangle Tool in hand and the Shapes option selected, click inside the document and drag out your first vertical panel. We’re going to add our panels from left to right across the image, so draw this first panel on the far left of the area you want to display. For example, in my case, I’m going to drag out my first panel on the left side of the man’s face (don’t worry about the color of the panel):

Dragging out the first panel on the left side of the image.

Step 7: Rotate The Panel Slightly With Free Transform

To add a bit more visual interest to the effect, let’s rotate some of the panels so they don’t all appear straight up and down. Press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to quickly access Photoshop’s Free Transform command, which places the Free Transform bounding box and handles around the panel. Click anywhere outside the panel and, with your mouse button still held down, drag with your mouse to rotate it. Don’t rotate it too far – a slight angle is all we need. You can also move the panel to re-position it if you need to by clicking anywhere inside of it and, again with your mouse button still held down, dragging the panel around with your mouse. Here, I’m rotating the panel slightly counterclockwise. When you’re done, press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) on your keyboard to accept the change and exit out of the Free Transform command::

Use Free Transform to rotate and/or move the panel inside the document.

Step 8: Move The Shape Layer Below The Background Copy Layer

If we look in the Layers panel, we see our newly added Shape layer (named Shape 1) sitting above the Background copy layer:

The Shape layer currently sits at the top of the layer stack.

We need to swap the order of the two layers so the Shape layer appears below the Background copy layer, and we can do that with another handy keyboard shortcut. With the Shape layer selected, press Ctrl+left bracket ( [ ) (Win) / Command+left bracket ( [ ) (Mac) on your keyboard. This jumps the currently selected layer (the Shape 1 layer) down below the layer directly below it (the Background copy layer):

Press Ctrl+[ (Win) / Command+[ (Mac) to move the Shape 1 layer below the Background copy layer.

Step 9: Select The Background Copy Layer

Once again click on the Background copy layer to select it:

Click on the Background copy layer at the top of the layer stack to select it.

Step 10: Create A Clipping Mask

Go up to the Layer menu at the top of the screen and choose Create Clipping Mask:

This “clips” the image on the Background copy layer to the vertical panel on the Shape layer directly below it, hiding everything on the Background copy layer except for the area that sits directly above the panel:

Only the part of the image that appears over the panel shape remains visible in the document.

If we look in the Layers panel, we see that the Background copy layer is now indented to the right, with a small arrow pointing downward to the left of the preview thumbnail. This is Photoshop’s way of telling us that the layer is clipped to the contents of the layer below it:

A layer indented to the right means it’s clipped to the layer below it.

Step 11: Add A Drop Shadow

Let’s add a couple of simple layer styles to the panel. First, click on the Shape 1 layer to select it:

Click on the Shape 1 layer in the Layers panel to select it.

Then click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Choose Drop Shadow from the list of layer styles that appears:

Choose Drop Shadow from the list.

This opens Photoshop’s Layer Style dialog box set to the Drop Shadow options in the middle column. Lower the Opacity of the shadow down to 60% to reduce its intensity, then set the Angle to 120°. Set both the Distance and Size options to 10 px, although you may want to experiment with different values for these two options depending on the size of the image you’re working with:

Leave the Layer Style dialog box open for the moment because we still have one more layer style to add. Your panel should look similar to this after adding the drop shadow:

The image after adding

Wind Effect Photoshop