A good meme goes a long way. Sometimes it even winds up in the most far-reaching corners of the Internet.
The laser eye meme is like that.
From edited photos of “super-powered” cats to bitcoin investors’ profile pictures, glowing eyes are all across the web. The trend started with the idea that glowing eyes represent coming into one’s full power, and the joke ran wild.
Glowing eyes, also known as lens flash eyes or red eyes, have been repeatedly superimposed on people and pets alike, all with the same goal: to get a laugh. Recently, however, these bright eyes have been showing up in unexpected places, like the aforementioned profile pictures of senators and businesspeople, meaning that laser eyes have gone completely viral.
What Do Laser Eyes Mean to You?
Before deciding if and how to make your meme, you’ll need to do a bit of light research, like looking up the most famous laser eye photos online. We’ve done some of the work for you by pinpointing common usages of this graphic. The meme is both an inside joke in the cryptocurrency community and a universal quip about goofy powers. That said, no one seems to know its true origin, and this is no surprise. On the Internet, comedic content travels lightning fast and creators are quick to edit images, taking the gag even further. Today’s hottest meme is already old news tomorrow.
If putting laser eyes on your professional profile picture isn’t your thing and you simply want to make a funny statement, you’re off to a good start. No matter where it may have started out, this meme was intended to be silly and lighten up the world’s social media feeds. Even most cryptocurrency aficionados aren’t taking it too seriously.
The question is: What gives you power? Is it your math abilities? Are you a good coder? Is it something more lighthearted like your incredible skill for always choosing the best dish on the menu? The laser eyes meme works for any situation in which you or someone else (yes, including your dog) is showing off their unique superpower, whatever it may be.
Make your meme even funnier by showing the transition from your normal state into that of your super-self. For example, imagine a meme that contains one photo showing you at a restaurant waiting for your food with a completely straight face followed by another photo in which you’re eating a delicious pizza, your eyes aglow.
Speaking of straight faces, they’re part of the comedy. Even if your meme isn’t serious, your subject should be. The irony is part of what makes us laugh, and it’s what has struck people as being so curious about the more non-ironic usages of laser eyes among bitcoin traders.
How Do I Make My Eyes Glow?
While we can’t show you how to make your eyes shoot laser beams in real life, we can show you how to create this effect in the Picsart app. Once you see how easy it is, you’ll be making hilarious memes that will bring a little bit of light (or, rather, a sharp ray of it) into everyone’s day. Let’s get started.
- When you’re ready to enhance an image by adding lasers, open the Picsart app on your phone. Click on the purple plus sign at the bottom of the screen to start a project.
2. In the “Photos” section, select from the recent photographs taken on your phone. If you want to use an older image or choose one from our image bank, select “All Images” and you’ll see the option to search for a free stock photo or select an image from your entire personal library.
3. When you select your photo, the application will automatically transport you to the editing screen. If you accidentally select the wrong photo, hit the back arrow at the top of the screen to go back to the photo selection stage.
4. Scroll right on the bottom bar of the screen until you find the “Lens Flare” option.
5. Tap on the “Lens Flare” icon to see all of the different types of flashes available. Click on the one that works best and it will automatically appear on your photo.
6. Move the flare around until it’s right over one of your subject’s eyes.
7. Change the intensity of the flare by clicking on the dual arrow and dragging inward and outward until the flash looks just right.
8. Change the hue of the flare using the slider at the bottom of the screen. There is also an option to change the opacity, but we recommend leaving it as is. The laser should look bright, and taking down the opacity will make it dull.
9. Next, play with the blending tool. When you click on it, you’ll have three options: Screen, Lighten, and Add. The first is the default option and won’t change your photo. The second will change the tonalities of your image to reflect the hue of the laser flash. The third will bring light intensity to the surface of your photo. Go with whatever looks best.
10. Now, it’s time to do the other eye. Follow the same steps and use the same settings so that your final image looks coherent. When you’re finished, click “Apply” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
11. Finally, export your image by clicking “Next” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Decide whether to post your photo to the Picsart community or save it for personal use.
12. Read up on how to make a good meme and use your laser-eye photo in a composition by adding funny text or placing it side-by-side with another image.
Create at the Speed of Culture
Picsart is a full ecosystem of free-to-use content, powerful tools, and creator inspiration. With a billion downloads and more than 150 million monthly active creators, Picsart isn’t just the world’s largest creative platform; we’re also the fastest growing. Picsart has collaborated with major artists and brands like BLACKPINK, the Jonas Brothers, Lizzo, Sanrio: Hello Kitty, I am a Voter, Bebe Rexha, Maroon 5, One Direction, Warner Bros. Entertainment, iHeartMedia, Condé Nast, and more. Download the app or start editing on web today to enhance your photos and videos with thousands of quick and easy editing tools, trendy filters, fun stickers, and brilliant backgrounds. Unleash your creativity and upgrade to Gold for premium perks!
