Tutorial - Star Trek Caps (or other v. blue caps)
My beloved neversince asked me to do a tutorial on the coloring I used for my recent batch of Star Trek icons. Since she is fabulous and since I still have a few of the .psd files, I figured why not?
While I'm writing the tutorial specifically using Star Trek cam caps (i.e. much lower-quality than what we'll have once the movie is out on DVD or what you'd get from an HD television show), the general technique of using curves adjustment layers is applicable in many situations (it's the main way I color my icons), and settings similar to the ones in this tutorial will be especially helpful for heavily blueish-tinted caps/images.
If you're already familiar with curves adjustment layers and how they work, you can skip straight to part two. If hearing the phrase "curves adjustment layers" induces glassy-eyed terror, take a deep breath and start with part one. They confused me at first as well, but once I got the hang of them I couldn't imagine life without them.
Part One - Curves Adjustment Layer Overview
Curves can be applied either to a single layer or as an adjustment layer - a layer that solely consists of some sort of, well, adjustment that then applies to all of the layers underneath it. Using adjustment layers also allows one the luxury of being able to go back and edit the effect later, instead of having to undo all subsequent steps or add another effect.
Adjustment layers are found in the Layer menu. To add one, simply navigate to Layer -> New Adjustment Layer and choose which type you want to add. In this case, we'll be using the curves layers:
The first box to pop up after you select the curves adjustment layer is the New Layer box. You can just click "OK" here, because the settings here are all ones you're more likely to want to change later, such as name, blending mode, and opacity.
After you hit "OK," this is what you'll see:
Don't panic! See where it says "Channel:" and then has a drop-down menu? It starts on "RGB." In this channel, the changes you make to the curve affect the overall amount of light and dark in the image. Think of a black and white image. Pulling the line up (to the left) above the midpoint will increase the whites, down (to the right) will decrease them. Below the midpoint, pulling the line up (to the left) will increase the blacks, down (to the right) will decrease them.
The other channels are Red, Green, and Blue. The effects are similar. In the red channel, the upper half of the graph affects the lighter tones in the image (adding or subtracting red) while the lower half does the same to the darker tones. Likewise for the green and blue channels except with their respective colors.
For example:
This is the red channel, so it's affecting the amount of red in the image. It's increasing the red tone in the lighter part and decreasing it in the darker part.
I recommend always moving the dialog box so that you can see your icon while you adjust the curve. If you have the Preview box checked, the changes will appear on the image as you work, so you'll be able to see exactly what you're doing.
My most important advice for curves layers is just to play around and get a feel for what they do.
Part Two - The Tutorial
I'm using cam-quality caps from the new Star Trek movie for this tutorial, but similar settings will be helpful with any blue-tinged caps, and the general ideas are applicable to all caps (I can't seem to make an icon without curves layers).
1) Start with your base:
2) Sharpen as necessary, keeping in mind that the more color adjustment layers you put on your icon, the less sharp the base needs to be, as adding layers increases sharpness. It's always easier to add more sharpness later than try to take it away. Add screen layers as necessary to lighten the icon. In the case of this base, I used one.
3) Now it's time to put on the first curves adjustment layer. These are the settings I ended up with:
> The RGB setting lightens bright parts of the icon and ever-so-slightly darkens the darker parts.
> The red setting increases the general amount of red in the icon, in both the light and dark ends of the spectrum.
> The blue setting starts to take away the overwhelming blue tone of the icon.
> I did not adjust the green settings on this curves layer.
Don't worry about the input/output numbers that show up when you hover over the data field - I never edit curves layers using the numbers. It's all about the shape of the curve and getting a feel for what the adjustment layer does. Always edit the curves while you can see the icon so that you can see how the changes you're making affect what the icon looks like.
Anyway, after layer one, this is what the icon looks like:
4) And adjustment layer number two:
> Once again, the RGB settings slightly adjusts the overall brightness/contrast by lightening the light end of the color spectrum and darkening the dark end.
> The red setting increases the reds in the light end but ever-so-slightly decreases them in the dark end.
> The green setting decreases the overall amount of green, at both ends of the spectrum.
> The blue setting once again takes away more blue.
And these are the results after layer two:
5) I did use a third adjustment layer on this icon although some of the caps with less blue in them didn't require a third layer. Use your judgement, and of course you can throw in your own methods of color adjustment once you've gotten the icon to something resembling "normal" tones. Anyway, my third layer ended up looking like this:
> These are mostly just tweaking things; you can see the curves are very small. I took away a little more blue and added a little more red, plus made some eensy-weensy adjustments to the RBG and green layers.
Finished icon, after layer three:
6) If your base starts out with more blue, take away more blue in each adjustment layer. If it starts out with less blue, take away less blue! In a similar way, curves can easily be used to remove red or green tints, and through judicious use of all settings, just about any other color tone. Curves are most useful when you want to remove an overall tone, like caps that are too blue or too red, when there is still a decent range of colors underneath the color. If the image is essentially blue-tinted black & white, there's really no help; if you just want to change one color in an icon with a range of colors you'd be better off with selective color (hence the name selective color, lol).
Pretty much all of the non-black & white Star Trek icons in my last icon post were made with some variation of curves layers like this.
Play around with the settings and see what you get. It's a very imprecise thing, but once you get the hang of it they become very easy!
I hope that was helpful! I don't provide psd files, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
While I'm writing the tutorial specifically using Star Trek cam caps (i.e. much lower-quality than what we'll have once the movie is out on DVD or what you'd get from an HD television show), the general technique of using curves adjustment layers is applicable in many situations (it's the main way I color my icons), and settings similar to the ones in this tutorial will be especially helpful for heavily blueish-tinted caps/images.
If you're already familiar with curves adjustment layers and how they work, you can skip straight to part two. If hearing the phrase "curves adjustment layers" induces glassy-eyed terror, take a deep breath and start with part one. They confused me at first as well, but once I got the hang of them I couldn't imagine life without them.
Part One - Curves Adjustment Layer Overview
Curves can be applied either to a single layer or as an adjustment layer - a layer that solely consists of some sort of, well, adjustment that then applies to all of the layers underneath it. Using adjustment layers also allows one the luxury of being able to go back and edit the effect later, instead of having to undo all subsequent steps or add another effect.
Adjustment layers are found in the Layer menu. To add one, simply navigate to Layer -> New Adjustment Layer and choose which type you want to add. In this case, we'll be using the curves layers:
The first box to pop up after you select the curves adjustment layer is the New Layer box. You can just click "OK" here, because the settings here are all ones you're more likely to want to change later, such as name, blending mode, and opacity.
After you hit "OK," this is what you'll see:
Don't panic! See where it says "Channel:" and then has a drop-down menu? It starts on "RGB." In this channel, the changes you make to the curve affect the overall amount of light and dark in the image. Think of a black and white image. Pulling the line up (to the left) above the midpoint will increase the whites, down (to the right) will decrease them. Below the midpoint, pulling the line up (to the left) will increase the blacks, down (to the right) will decrease them.
The other channels are Red, Green, and Blue. The effects are similar. In the red channel, the upper half of the graph affects the lighter tones in the image (adding or subtracting red) while the lower half does the same to the darker tones. Likewise for the green and blue channels except with their respective colors.
For example:
This is the red channel, so it's affecting the amount of red in the image. It's increasing the red tone in the lighter part and decreasing it in the darker part.
I recommend always moving the dialog box so that you can see your icon while you adjust the curve. If you have the Preview box checked, the changes will appear on the image as you work, so you'll be able to see exactly what you're doing.
My most important advice for curves layers is just to play around and get a feel for what they do.
Part Two - The Tutorial
I'm using cam-quality caps from the new Star Trek movie for this tutorial, but similar settings will be helpful with any blue-tinged caps, and the general ideas are applicable to all caps (I can't seem to make an icon without curves layers).
1) Start with your base:
2) Sharpen as necessary, keeping in mind that the more color adjustment layers you put on your icon, the less sharp the base needs to be, as adding layers increases sharpness. It's always easier to add more sharpness later than try to take it away. Add screen layers as necessary to lighten the icon. In the case of this base, I used one.
3) Now it's time to put on the first curves adjustment layer. These are the settings I ended up with:
> The RGB setting lightens bright parts of the icon and ever-so-slightly darkens the darker parts.
> The red setting increases the general amount of red in the icon, in both the light and dark ends of the spectrum.
> The blue setting starts to take away the overwhelming blue tone of the icon.
> I did not adjust the green settings on this curves layer.
Don't worry about the input/output numbers that show up when you hover over the data field - I never edit curves layers using the numbers. It's all about the shape of the curve and getting a feel for what the adjustment layer does. Always edit the curves while you can see the icon so that you can see how the changes you're making affect what the icon looks like.
Anyway, after layer one, this is what the icon looks like:
4) And adjustment layer number two:
> Once again, the RGB settings slightly adjusts the overall brightness/contrast by lightening the light end of the color spectrum and darkening the dark end.
> The red setting increases the reds in the light end but ever-so-slightly decreases them in the dark end.
> The green setting decreases the overall amount of green, at both ends of the spectrum.
> The blue setting once again takes away more blue.
And these are the results after layer two:
5) I did use a third adjustment layer on this icon although some of the caps with less blue in them didn't require a third layer. Use your judgement, and of course you can throw in your own methods of color adjustment once you've gotten the icon to something resembling "normal" tones. Anyway, my third layer ended up looking like this:
> These are mostly just tweaking things; you can see the curves are very small. I took away a little more blue and added a little more red, plus made some eensy-weensy adjustments to the RBG and green layers.
Finished icon, after layer three:
6) If your base starts out with more blue, take away more blue in each adjustment layer. If it starts out with less blue, take away less blue! In a similar way, curves can easily be used to remove red or green tints, and through judicious use of all settings, just about any other color tone. Curves are most useful when you want to remove an overall tone, like caps that are too blue or too red, when there is still a decent range of colors underneath the color. If the image is essentially blue-tinted black & white, there's really no help; if you just want to change one color in an icon with a range of colors you'd be better off with selective color (hence the name selective color, lol).
Pretty much all of the non-black & white Star Trek icons in my last icon post were made with some variation of curves layers like this.
Play around with the settings and see what you get. It's a very imprecise thing, but once you get the hang of it they become very easy!
I hope that was helpful! I don't provide psd files, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!