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This lesson demonstrates how to create animated rain; to work along, download my rectangular window image Here, and my arched window image Here. Unzip the file and open the framed image onto Photoshop’s workspace.
Undo and Navigation Steps
Two ways of undoing steps are from the top menu, Edit then Step Backwards. Alternatively, click a previous snapshot in the History Palette.
Navigate (zoom in and pan) your image using the Navigator Palette,
or the Zoom Tool. 
Activate The Hand Tool by tapping the Spacebar, keeping the Spacebar pressed, pan your image in the usual way. 
1/ Creating a framed image from scratch - Utilising my window-frame templates here
Open your start image onto Photoshop’s workspace, and if necessary, reduce its size as explained Here.
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Now, create a transparent layer at the top of the layers stack by clicking the following Create a new layer icon - and work on the new later, (Layer 1).
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Then from the left-side toolbar, activate the Custom Shape Tool.
Custom Shape Tutorial Here!
And set the following attributes into its Options bar.
Scroll the Custom Shape library, locate, then double-left-click to set the following Grid shape, and drag it onto your image.
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Then apply the following Bevel and Emboss setting to the shape layer, Here. Finish by cropping the image that transcends the frame, and Flatten the layers.
1/ Animated Window
Open your framed image onto Photoshop’s workspace.
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And from the toolbar, set the Foreground to Black. 
Press your keyboard’s D key.
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Then activate the Polygonal Lasso Tool - Lesson.
And click and stretch a lasso line, around each window pane. After you have completed this, your window will resemble the following.
Tip: When applying the Polygonal Lasso, to go back a space, (for Windows), press the Backspace (or Delete key), of the keyboard.
Tip
Click another tool from the toolbar, (the Move Tool for example), this disables the Polygonal Lasso Tool.
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Now, save your window pane selection to an Alpha Channel. To do so, from the top menu, choose, Select then choose Save Selection. In the Save Selection dialogue box, enter a name for your selection (in the Name tab), then click OK.
More on Alpha Channels Here.
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From the top menu, choose Layer then choose New then choose Layer, then click OK in the New Layer dialogue box.
 
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Working on the new (top) layer, from the top menu. choose Edit then choose Fill, and in the Fill dialogue box ensure the Use tab is changed to Foreground Colour, then click OK.
Your window panes will immediately fill with black.
And your Layers palette will resemble the following.
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Ensure you are working on the top (filled with black) layer; then from the top menu, choose Image then Duplicate and in the Duplicate Image dialogue box, click OK.
Your image will be duplicated; and although (the duplicated image) has retained its two layers, it has lost the selection marquee. However, the marquee is safe and sound in its alpha channel to be retrieved later.
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Duplicate image one again, and you will have three identical images open on your workspace, with just the original image retaining its selection marquee.
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To retrieve the saved (window pane) marquees, activate the second image, and from the top menu, choose Select then choose Load Selection. In the Load Selection dialogue box, (from the Channel tab), activate your window pane selection, then click OK.
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Your saved selection will be applied to the second image. Activate the third image and repeat the load selection steps.
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You should now have three identical images, with identical selection marquees surrounding their window panes. Each image will have two layers, and the top (filled with black) layer, will be the active.
 
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Now, activate the first selected window. Then from the top menu, choose Filter then choose Noise, then choose Add Noise. In the subsequent Add Noise dialogue box, set the following attributes, then click OK.
Your first window will change to the following.
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Now, activate the second window, and apply a slightly different Add Noise filter. I changed just the Amount to 60.
Activate the third window, and apply an Add Noise Amount of 100.
You will now have three selected windows, with different Amount settings, as illustrated below.
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Now, activate the first (selected) window. Then from the top menu, choose Filter then choose Blur then choose Motion Blur. In the subsequent Motion Blur dialogue box, set the following settings - or experiment. You are looking to apply a rain effect.
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Now, activate the second then third window, (consecutively), and apply identical Motion Blur settings to them. After you have completed this step, you will have three windows, each with slightly different rain, as demonstrated below.
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Activate the first image, then from the Layers palette, change its Blend Mode from Normal to Screen. Additionally, reduce the layer’s Opacity to around 74%.
Blend Modes Explained.
This alters your rain to the following.
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Now, activate your second then third window, (consecutively), and alter their Blend Modes to Screen, and reduce their layer Opacities to around 74%.
After you have completed this, activate each image, and press Ctrl then D to remove their selection marquees.
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Now, activate each image, (consecutively), and from the top menu, choose Layer then choose Flatten Image.
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Activate the Move Tool. 
Then press the Shift key. Now, with the Shift key pressed, activate image three then (with the Move Tool), left-click and drag image three onto image one. Then (keeping the Shift key pressed), drag image two onto image one.
Pressing the Shift key automatically centralises your images.
Your first image will now have three layers, as demonstrated below.
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General optimising/saving animations lesson - CS, CS2, CS3 & Extended - here
Now, click the following Edit in ImageReady icon, at the foot of the toolbar - Photoshop CS and CS2 Only.
Then link here to animate your three-layered image. Instructions are identical; however, experiment with different settings for personal results.
Wendi E M Scarth. Top of Page - Home.
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