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Colorings: Color Layers, Levels, Curves (e.g. that Blue Exclusion look)
most of us are aware that you can do things in PS in around 1000 different ways with practically the same output if you only know what you are doing... it's what I love most about me beloved Erich :)
therefore I'm rambling about coloring techniques and tools today. three fairly popular colorings and how to do it with quite a few different techniques *g*
I'm explaining how to achieve it with Solid Color Layers, Levels, and Curves. Just to get you familiar with your tools. This is basic PS knowledge, so for most of you this should be uninteresting :)
nothing complicated here... just explaining some adjustment layers... it's not about the coloring look or the exact values I've used, it's more about what the tools do and general guidelines :)
basic screencap improvement
I'm lame, my favorite subject to icon is still Spike *g*
or maybe I'm just very loyal and a true blue soul ;P
here's the screencap I started with. it's from Screencap-Paradise.
the easy steps for lazy people... auto-contrast [ctrl+alt+shift+l], auto-levels [ctrl+shift+l], and auto-color [ctrl+shift+b].
I'm using these depending on the cap. any combination of these three that works best.
here I used all of them though.
the typical first steps...
one layer on Screen, 60% opacity
one high-passed layer on Softlight, 30% opacity
one desaturated layer on Luminosity, 30% opacity
and the very basic result
that exclusion look
...with Solid Color Layers
First we have the ever popular dark blue layer on blending mode Exclusion
I used this color: #001643 / RGB (0/22/67)
and then the light peachy/tan layer on Multiply, I lowered the opacity to 50%
the color of my choice: #F0E3D3 / RGB (240/227/211)
and the typical result
...with Levels
I'm adding an Adjustment layer. Uhm, one with Levels would be a good idea for this...
let's see, we need to work on the blues and the reds mostly for this look.
we're starting with the blues...
the Blue Exclusion layer reduces the Blues in the light areas and but adds some Blue in the dark areas, so to simulate this effect we need to do the same. we're reducing the Output levels of Blue for the light area, but increase it in the dark area.
and the result will look like this
so now we have a lack of the warm reddish tones and it's overall too bright...
we'll work on the brightness first, because that one's easier.
on the RGB levels, we reduce the Output levels in the light area, and because we don't wanna lose too much contrast we increase the Input levels in the dark area slightly.
Just drag the right lower slider a little more to the middle first, and then adjust the upper left slider more to the middle to balance it out.
and the result will look like this
now we're working on the lack of Red. we need to adjust the Reds as well as the Greens for this.
we start with adding some Red. To increase a certain color it's a good way to drag the slider for the Input levels more to the middle, I only did this for the light area (the right slider) because the other end would have the exact opposite result, to increase the Red in the dark area we need to work on the Output levels. I dragged the left slider more to the middle...
(always the same, always the same...)
and the result will look like this
now we have a look that's a bit too violet, so we need to add some Green.
we add it in the dark area that's enough. now you already know that to add a color int he dark area we need to increase the Output levels on the left side :)
and the result will look like this
so we have only one Levels Adjustment Layer and this result, which is fairly OK, I guess...
...with Curves
Adding an Adjustment layer. Curves it will be.
we already know that we have to simulate the decrease of Blue in the light areas and the increasing in the dark, so we're starting with that.
we don't need to change the linearity of the curve but the start and ending point making it more flat. When we start with a higher starting point we'll get more blue in the dark areas, then we only need to lower the ending point to reduce the blue in the light areas.
and the result will look like this
again it's too bright and lacks of Red (see a pattern?)
again we work on the brightness first, because that one's easy. we lower the ending point for the RGB curve, that's the same effect as decreasing the output levels for the light area (see Levels) and we need to increase the Input for the dark area like we did before, so we put the starting point more to the left.
and the result will look like this
aaaaand again we need to add some Red... we put the starting point higher, that will increase our Red output in the dark area, and we'll put the ending point more to the left, which will decrease our Input in the light area.
and the result will look like this
and lastly we add some Green because of the violet look again :)
a higher starting point to increase the output in the dark and a lower ending point to decrease the output in the light area.
and the result will look like this
so we have only one Curves Adjustment Layer and this result, which is not that bad either...
the easy feedback system
Poll helpful?
next time I'll be rambling about that Color Burn look and that Vibrant look... if I don't lose interest first *g* ... attention span of minus three minutes and all that jazz...
as always Have Fun! :)
therefore I'm rambling about coloring techniques and tools today. three fairly popular colorings and how to do it with quite a few different techniques *g*
I'm explaining how to achieve it with Solid Color Layers, Levels, and Curves. Just to get you familiar with your tools. This is basic PS knowledge, so for most of you this should be uninteresting :)
nothing complicated here... just explaining some adjustment layers... it's not about the coloring look or the exact values I've used, it's more about what the tools do and general guidelines :)
basic screencap improvement
I'm lame, my favorite subject to icon is still Spike *g*
or maybe I'm just very loyal and a true blue soul ;P
here's the screencap I started with. it's from Screencap-Paradise.
the easy steps for lazy people... auto-contrast [ctrl+alt+shift+l], auto-levels [ctrl+shift+l], and auto-color [ctrl+shift+b].
I'm using these depending on the cap. any combination of these three that works best.
here I used all of them though.
the typical first steps...
one layer on Screen, 60% opacity
one high-passed layer on Softlight, 30% opacity
one desaturated layer on Luminosity, 30% opacity
and the very basic result
that exclusion look
...with Solid Color Layers
First we have the ever popular dark blue layer on blending mode Exclusion
I used this color: #001643 / RGB (0/22/67)
and then the light peachy/tan layer on Multiply, I lowered the opacity to 50%
the color of my choice: #F0E3D3 / RGB (240/227/211)
and the typical result
...with Levels
I'm adding an Adjustment layer. Uhm, one with Levels would be a good idea for this...
let's see, we need to work on the blues and the reds mostly for this look.
we're starting with the blues...
the Blue Exclusion layer reduces the Blues in the light areas and but adds some Blue in the dark areas, so to simulate this effect we need to do the same. we're reducing the Output levels of Blue for the light area, but increase it in the dark area.
and the result will look like this
so now we have a lack of the warm reddish tones and it's overall too bright...
we'll work on the brightness first, because that one's easier.
on the RGB levels, we reduce the Output levels in the light area, and because we don't wanna lose too much contrast we increase the Input levels in the dark area slightly.
Just drag the right lower slider a little more to the middle first, and then adjust the upper left slider more to the middle to balance it out.
and the result will look like this
now we're working on the lack of Red. we need to adjust the Reds as well as the Greens for this.
we start with adding some Red. To increase a certain color it's a good way to drag the slider for the Input levels more to the middle, I only did this for the light area (the right slider) because the other end would have the exact opposite result, to increase the Red in the dark area we need to work on the Output levels. I dragged the left slider more to the middle...
(always the same, always the same...)
and the result will look like this
now we have a look that's a bit too violet, so we need to add some Green.
we add it in the dark area that's enough. now you already know that to add a color int he dark area we need to increase the Output levels on the left side :)
and the result will look like this
so we have only one Levels Adjustment Layer and this result, which is fairly OK, I guess...
...with Curves
Adding an Adjustment layer. Curves it will be.
we already know that we have to simulate the decrease of Blue in the light areas and the increasing in the dark, so we're starting with that.
we don't need to change the linearity of the curve but the start and ending point making it more flat. When we start with a higher starting point we'll get more blue in the dark areas, then we only need to lower the ending point to reduce the blue in the light areas.
and the result will look like this
again it's too bright and lacks of Red (see a pattern?)
again we work on the brightness first, because that one's easy. we lower the ending point for the RGB curve, that's the same effect as decreasing the output levels for the light area (see Levels) and we need to increase the Input for the dark area like we did before, so we put the starting point more to the left.
and the result will look like this
aaaaand again we need to add some Red... we put the starting point higher, that will increase our Red output in the dark area, and we'll put the ending point more to the left, which will decrease our Input in the light area.
and the result will look like this
and lastly we add some Green because of the violet look again :)
a higher starting point to increase the output in the dark and a lower ending point to decrease the output in the light area.
and the result will look like this
so we have only one Curves Adjustment Layer and this result, which is not that bad either...
the easy feedback system
Poll helpful?
next time I'll be rambling about that Color Burn look and that Vibrant look... if I don't lose interest first *g* ... attention span of minus three minutes and all that jazz...
as always Have Fun! :)