The Dark Knight Icon Tutorial
Going from this to 
or
> Translatable: includes Selective Coloring and Non-Selective Coloring options.
> Made in PSCS2
> Original image from ign.com.
Note: for these results, I cropped my image last, and colored the image while it was still at it's original size. In many cases, I think the colors blend better that way.
This tutorial should work with most images - where colorings are extreme, I've put it notices on which images to take caution with.
1. Open up a curves layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Curves)
First Point
I: 154
O: 192
Second Point
I: 66
O: 85
2. Auto Color, Contrast, Leves (Image+Adjustments+Auto Color/Contrast/Levels)
If you think that the latter step makes your image too blue, then feel free to skip the Auto Color, or if it's too contrasted to skip the Auto Contrast, etc.
Selective Color Option: Scroll down the page for the Non-Selective Color Option.
3a. Open a new Selective Coloring Layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Selective Coloring):
The intention of this layer is to make the image very contrasted and red, for the next SC layer. If you image is already very red or red tinted, either lessen the numbers below or skip the step altogether, whatever your preference might be.
Reds: -100, 100, 36, 0
Yellows: -100, 25, 0, 0
Cyans: -100, 0, 0, 0
Whites: 0, 0, 0, -20
Neutrals: -10, 7, 0, -9
4a. Open a new Selective Coloring Layer:
Reds: -13, 0, 0, 0
Yellows: 100, 0, 100, 0
Neutrals: 48, 0, -19, -10
5a. Hue/Saturation Layer:
The numbers on this layer can be adjusted too, if they're too extreme for your image.
Reds: 0, 5, 0
Yellows: 0, 15, 0
Cyans: 0, 10, 0
Blues: 0, 20, 0
Masters: 0, 10, 0
6a. Crop and resize the icon to it's 100x100 px size, whatever you so choose. Or keep it it's original size for banner making.
Note: If that fuzzy white border shows up after you crop the icon, duplicating the layer once over should fix the problem. :]
Result:
Non-Selective Color Option
Not an exact result compared to SC, but it's still a good result.
3b. Make three new layers, and fill them as follows:
a. #f76e68 set to soft Light at 100%
b. #68e1f7 set to Soft Light at 100%
4b. Make a new Brightness/Contrast Layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Brightness/Contrast):
Brightness: -5
Contrast: 15
5b. Make a new Color Balance Layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Color Balance):
Midtones: -36, 0, 25
Shadows: +26, 0, 14
Highlights: -6, -11, 18
6b. More fill layers:
a. #d0ffff set to Color Burn 100%
b. #ffcccd set to Color Burn 70%
c. Duplicate layer #d0ffff and drag above the last layer, making it Color Burn 70%
7b. Two Hue/Saturation Layers:
Reds: 0, 30, 0
Yellows: 0, 20, 0
Cyans: 0, 27, 7
Blues: 17, 37, 15
Masters: 0, 20, 0
Masters: -10, 0, 7
Be careful with this last layer - if it looks bad to you, don't use it.
8b. Open up a new Levels Layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Levels), set to 60% opacity:
RGB:
I: 12, 1.12, 220
O: 0, 242
Red:
I: 6, 1.08, 232
O: 23, 255
Green:
I: 0, 1.03, 209
O: 23, 244
Blue:
I: 10, 1.03, 236
O: 34, 255
9b. Crop and resize the icon to it's 100x100 px size, whatever you so choose. Or keep it it's original size for banner making.
Result:
or
> Translatable: includes Selective Coloring and Non-Selective Coloring options.
> Made in PSCS2
> Original image from ign.com.
Note: for these results, I cropped my image last, and colored the image while it was still at it's original size. In many cases, I think the colors blend better that way.
This tutorial should work with most images - where colorings are extreme, I've put it notices on which images to take caution with.
1. Open up a curves layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Curves)
First Point
I: 154
O: 192
Second Point
I: 66
O: 85
2. Auto Color, Contrast, Leves (Image+Adjustments+Auto Color/Contrast/Levels)
If you think that the latter step makes your image too blue, then feel free to skip the Auto Color, or if it's too contrasted to skip the Auto Contrast, etc.
Selective Color Option: Scroll down the page for the Non-Selective Color Option.
3a. Open a new Selective Coloring Layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Selective Coloring):
The intention of this layer is to make the image very contrasted and red, for the next SC layer. If you image is already very red or red tinted, either lessen the numbers below or skip the step altogether, whatever your preference might be.
Reds: -100, 100, 36, 0
Yellows: -100, 25, 0, 0
Cyans: -100, 0, 0, 0
Whites: 0, 0, 0, -20
Neutrals: -10, 7, 0, -9
4a. Open a new Selective Coloring Layer:
Reds: -13, 0, 0, 0
Yellows: 100, 0, 100, 0
Neutrals: 48, 0, -19, -10
5a. Hue/Saturation Layer:
The numbers on this layer can be adjusted too, if they're too extreme for your image.
Reds: 0, 5, 0
Yellows: 0, 15, 0
Cyans: 0, 10, 0
Blues: 0, 20, 0
Masters: 0, 10, 0
6a. Crop and resize the icon to it's 100x100 px size, whatever you so choose. Or keep it it's original size for banner making.
Note: If that fuzzy white border shows up after you crop the icon, duplicating the layer once over should fix the problem. :]
Result:
Non-Selective Color Option
Not an exact result compared to SC, but it's still a good result.
3b. Make three new layers, and fill them as follows:
a. #f76e68 set to soft Light at 100%
b. #68e1f7 set to Soft Light at 100%
4b. Make a new Brightness/Contrast Layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Brightness/Contrast):
Brightness: -5
Contrast: 15
5b. Make a new Color Balance Layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Color Balance):
Midtones: -36, 0, 25
Shadows: +26, 0, 14
Highlights: -6, -11, 18
6b. More fill layers:
a. #d0ffff set to Color Burn 100%
b. #ffcccd set to Color Burn 70%
c. Duplicate layer #d0ffff and drag above the last layer, making it Color Burn 70%
7b. Two Hue/Saturation Layers:
Reds: 0, 30, 0
Yellows: 0, 20, 0
Cyans: 0, 27, 7
Blues: 17, 37, 15
Masters: 0, 20, 0
Masters: -10, 0, 7
Be careful with this last layer - if it looks bad to you, don't use it.
8b. Open up a new Levels Layer (Layer+New Adjustment Layer+Levels), set to 60% opacity:
RGB:
I: 12, 1.12, 220
O: 0, 242
Red:
I: 6, 1.08, 232
O: 23, 255
Green:
I: 0, 1.03, 209
O: 23, 244
Blue:
I: 10, 1.03, 236
O: 34, 255
9b. Crop and resize the icon to it's 100x100 px size, whatever you so choose. Or keep it it's original size for banner making.
Result: