tutorial o15
First off, this is curtissed with a rename. JUST SO YOU GUYS KNOW.
Second, an over-due tutorial, as requested by nykema
Going from
to
Program: Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0
Transferable: Probably
Difficulty Level: Easy
Image Heavy: Not too bad.
Requested by: nykema
What was requested specifically was the coloring on my Bolt icons, but this is the basic coloring I use for...most everything, lately. With minor tweaks here and there, depending on the image. It involves mainly using Luminosity and Soft Light, and I've seen plenty of other iconists use similar techniques. So here's just my own take on it.
1. Prepare your image as you please. Cropping, resizing, lightening; whatever tweaking you may need to do.
2. Create a bright blue fill layer. Set it to Luminosity. For this image, I used #3bbff0, but for others, I've used different shades. I've even used something more along the lines of #204ac2 for some images. After a bit, you'll get used to estimating which shades you'll have to use, but it's still a guessing game. Unfortunately, you won't be able to tell if it works or not until later steps, so you may have to change the color later.
Now, you can see a lot of the colors have been brought out, and whites and blacks have been neutralized to gray. Unfortunately, it looks really ugly. I hope to god no one ever stops here. So we'll have to fix that.
3. Go back to your base, duplicate it, and bring it to the top. Now, there's two things you can do here--either Soft Light or Overlay. I suggest two of the former, or one of the latter, but it's up to you. I also tend to do Soft Light instead of Overlay. But let's compare!
Here we have one soft light layer. Already lookin' better!
And here's the second. Much better.
As you can see, a singular overlay layer looks much different. It's up to you. Play around with these blending modes and opacity as it fits your taste and the image! I personally prefer the soft light, so I'll be continuing the tutorial with that.
4. Next, I do a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer. Most the the time, the image still looks like it has a filmy screen over it, especially with soft light. For this image, I upped the contrast +19. This will bring out the details, making the image sharper and less hazy. However, to avoid washing out the details and making it too bright, I also lowered the brightness. This particular image is set as a -21. Again, it really depends on the image used and personal taste.
5. Duplicate your base once more, and bring it to the top. Set it again to Soft Light, and play around with opacity until you get a look you like. I tend to keep it on the low side. This one's set at 30%.
And that's it! Some things to note: the luminosity layer really brings out reds, yellows, and oranges. Depending on the colors of your original image, you may have to play around not only with the color of your fill layer, but Hue/Saturation. When I have to do this, I create a Hue/Saturation layer above all my other layers, select the color I want to tweak from the top drop-down menu, and play around with hues, saturation, and lightness from there. I recommend the adjustment layer option as opposed to flattening the image and using the Hue/Saturation option in the topbar, since you can always go back and change the adjustment layer if you decide you don't like it. It's harder to do that with the topbar option.
Second, an over-due tutorial, as requested by nykema
Going from
to
Program: Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0
Transferable: Probably
Difficulty Level: Easy
Image Heavy: Not too bad.
Requested by: nykema
What was requested specifically was the coloring on my Bolt icons, but this is the basic coloring I use for...most everything, lately. With minor tweaks here and there, depending on the image. It involves mainly using Luminosity and Soft Light, and I've seen plenty of other iconists use similar techniques. So here's just my own take on it.
1. Prepare your image as you please. Cropping, resizing, lightening; whatever tweaking you may need to do.
2. Create a bright blue fill layer. Set it to Luminosity. For this image, I used #3bbff0, but for others, I've used different shades. I've even used something more along the lines of #204ac2 for some images. After a bit, you'll get used to estimating which shades you'll have to use, but it's still a guessing game. Unfortunately, you won't be able to tell if it works or not until later steps, so you may have to change the color later.
Now, you can see a lot of the colors have been brought out, and whites and blacks have been neutralized to gray. Unfortunately, it looks really ugly. I hope to god no one ever stops here. So we'll have to fix that.
3. Go back to your base, duplicate it, and bring it to the top. Now, there's two things you can do here--either Soft Light or Overlay. I suggest two of the former, or one of the latter, but it's up to you. I also tend to do Soft Light instead of Overlay. But let's compare!
Here we have one soft light layer. Already lookin' better!
And here's the second. Much better.
As you can see, a singular overlay layer looks much different. It's up to you. Play around with these blending modes and opacity as it fits your taste and the image! I personally prefer the soft light, so I'll be continuing the tutorial with that.
4. Next, I do a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer. Most the the time, the image still looks like it has a filmy screen over it, especially with soft light. For this image, I upped the contrast +19. This will bring out the details, making the image sharper and less hazy. However, to avoid washing out the details and making it too bright, I also lowered the brightness. This particular image is set as a -21. Again, it really depends on the image used and personal taste.
5. Duplicate your base once more, and bring it to the top. Set it again to Soft Light, and play around with opacity until you get a look you like. I tend to keep it on the low side. This one's set at 30%.
And that's it! Some things to note: the luminosity layer really brings out reds, yellows, and oranges. Depending on the colors of your original image, you may have to play around not only with the color of your fill layer, but Hue/Saturation. When I have to do this, I create a Hue/Saturation layer above all my other layers, select the color I want to tweak from the top drop-down menu, and play around with hues, saturation, and lightness from there. I recommend the adjustment layer option as opposed to flattening the image and using the Hue/Saturation option in the topbar, since you can always go back and change the adjustment layer if you decide you don't like it. It's harder to do that with the topbar option.