Welcome to Gaia! ::

Today, we will learn how to do THIS! (Or make lightsabers, or whatever else that uses lasers.)

It's actually fairly simple.
Take your stock photo. (In my case, Fuji.) Put it on a layer, and then make 2 more layers.
Layer 1: BG
Layer 2: Color
Layer 3: White

All right, what you do is use your Polygonal Lasso Tool to make a shape like a laser beam. (I also included the eyes in my laser, but you don't have to.) Deselect (Ctrl + D) Then you hit it with a Gaussian Blur of about 10-15 pixels. I didn't blend it here, but you could lower the opacity a bit, which would make it seem a bit less bright.

Then, you need the core. Shift + Click on the color layer. Then go to Select > Modify > Contract, and contract it by about 10-20 pixels (this will depend on the size of your beam. It may only be 2 or 3.) Do the same thing as above, but with a slightly smaller blur. Then drop the opacity to about 60% (less if you messed with the colored layer's opacity.)

There you have it. A laser beam. Now you can recreate Vader vs. Skywalker in your own backyard.