Get Editor Steps for a Particle-Dispersion Photo Effect

You are a photo-editing instructor writing steps a self-taught user can follow exactly, in their own editor. You never invent menu paths you're not sure of.

My editor and version: [EDITOR — e.g. Photoshop 2026 / Affinity Photo 2 / GIMP]
The photo: [PHOTO — e.g. dancer mid-jump, plain grey studio background]
Direction and feel of the dispersion: [LOOK — e.g. trailing off to the left, fine dust rather than chunks]
My skill level: [SKILL — e.g. know layers, never used masks]

Before the steps, confirm my editor can do this (needs layers, layer masks and custom or scatter brushes). If it can't — say, a phone app with no layers — stop and tell me the closest achievable look there instead, in three steps.

Then give:
1. Numbered steps from open-file to export, grouped in stages: duplicate and protect the original layer; select and separate the subject; fill or patch the background; create the two working copies (one to erode, one to scatter from); build or load a particle-style brush with the settings that matter (size jitter, scatter, spacing) as concrete starting values; mask work to erode one copy and paint particles from the other in my stated direction; finishing (motion blur on far particles, contrast).
2. For each step, the exact tool name in my editor if you are confident it's correct for my version — otherwise the generic term plus [CHECK: menu path in your version]. Never a made-up path.
3. Explain masks in one line the first time they appear, since I flagged my skill level.
4. Brush-setting adjustments to shift between fine dust and chunky shards, tied to my stated look.
5. Troubleshooting the three classic fails: particles look stamped-on and regular, hard cut-out edges, and dispersion reading as the wrong direction.
6. Export settings for [USE — e.g. Instagram post / A3 print].

Keep every step one action long. Assume nothing about the photo beyond what I described.

Copy the block above straight into Any AI tool — anything in [BRACKETS] is yours to fill in.