Screencap Colouring Tutorial
Colouring requested by stars_fell
Program: Photoshop CS.
Difficulty: Medium.
Translatable: No. (Uses Selective Colouring.)
PSD: No, sorry.
Start by opening up this screencap, and resize it to 350 wide, or whichever size you prefer.
1. Duplicate the original layer. Sharpen, and set the opacity to 60%. I prefer this method rather than the 'edit: fade sharpen', it gives me more flexibility to change the degree of sharpness later on.
2. Duplicate the original layer again, 50% opacity, and set to 'screen' Make sure it's placed above the sharpened layer. Sometimes 'screen' layers can drain all the contrast from an image, so I'm keeping this at only 50% and using some 'curves' layers later on to brighten things up.
3. This next layer gives a soft yellow tone, and darkens the reds of the scarf.
Selective Colour:
Reds: +20, -4, +4, 0
Yellows: 0, 0, +8, 0
Neutrals: +2, +1, +5, -2
Set to 'relative' at 79%.
4. Brightness/Contrast: 0, +30. Gives some nice definition to your image, and stops it looking washed out. Leave at 100%.
5. Now we bring out the reds of Amy's hair and scarf some more, while also giving a little more contrast to her lips and cheeks. There's a slight green tinge to the wall, so I've changed those settings slightly to tone down the green. It's barely noticeable, but I'm fussy. *g*
Selective Colour:
Reds: -100, +6, +6, +8
Yellows: +7, +14, +8, +9
Greens: +11, +1, +7, +4
Cyans: +9, +8, +1, 0
Neutrals: -6, +14, +14, 0
Set to 'relative' at 27%.
6. Colour Balance: Set to 42%.
Shadows: +8, +3, -9
Midtones: +9, -7, -27
Highlights: +15, -2, -4
This gives the screencap a warm yellowy, peachy colour.
7. Curves: Set to 70%. Does what it says on the tin. Makes your image lovely and bright.
RGB:
Point 1: Input: 5 Output: 2
Point 2: Input: 35 Output: 39
Point 3: Input: 70 Output: 86
Point 4: Input: 106 Output: 131
8. Channel Mixer: Set to 27%.
I always like to add a 'channel mixer' layer to my screencaps and icons. It gives a nice 'finish' and pulls everything together, whilst toning down the contrast and bringing the background more in synch with the foreground. It dulls down the pinks slightly here too. I usually add it near the top somewhere, but here it's about half way between the layers, as it just looked better placed there.
Red: +98, -10, -10, 0
Green: 0, 100, 0, 0
Blue: 0, 0, 100, 0
9. Now for a few colour layers.
1) #FFE2C0. Set to 'colour burn' at 9% opacity. Adds a slight peachy colour, which suits this screencap well.
2) #F1A3C7. Set to 'multiply' at 9%. The pink takes the brightness down a touch, and stops the whites from looking quite so harsh.
3) #FBE9CB. Set to 'soft light' at 13%. Brightens the cap, but without drawing the reds/pinks back out.
10. Okay, nearly done. Here I add another 'colour balance' layer at 100%. It brightens the whole cap very slightly again, but you can leave this off if you think your chosen screencap is already bright enough.
Shadows: +7, +8, +7
Midtones: -2, +4, -6
Highlights: -1, -3, +6
11. And now one more 'curves' to further brighten the image. May not be necessary with certain screencaps, but, again, it's up to you.
RGB:
Point 1: Input: 36 Output: 26
Point 2: Input: 120 Output: 135
Set this to 39%.
And here's the finished colouring:
♥
And remember, this colouring won't work on every screencap, I have to fiddle with the settings on nearly every single image, so just play around until you find a colouring you like. Hope you enjoyed the tut! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. :)
Program: Photoshop CS.
Difficulty: Medium.
Translatable: No. (Uses Selective Colouring.)
PSD: No, sorry.
Start by opening up this screencap, and resize it to 350 wide, or whichever size you prefer.
1. Duplicate the original layer. Sharpen, and set the opacity to 60%. I prefer this method rather than the 'edit: fade sharpen', it gives me more flexibility to change the degree of sharpness later on.
2. Duplicate the original layer again, 50% opacity, and set to 'screen' Make sure it's placed above the sharpened layer. Sometimes 'screen' layers can drain all the contrast from an image, so I'm keeping this at only 50% and using some 'curves' layers later on to brighten things up.
3. This next layer gives a soft yellow tone, and darkens the reds of the scarf.
Selective Colour:
Reds: +20, -4, +4, 0
Yellows: 0, 0, +8, 0
Neutrals: +2, +1, +5, -2
Set to 'relative' at 79%.
4. Brightness/Contrast: 0, +30. Gives some nice definition to your image, and stops it looking washed out. Leave at 100%.
5. Now we bring out the reds of Amy's hair and scarf some more, while also giving a little more contrast to her lips and cheeks. There's a slight green tinge to the wall, so I've changed those settings slightly to tone down the green. It's barely noticeable, but I'm fussy. *g*
Selective Colour:
Reds: -100, +6, +6, +8
Yellows: +7, +14, +8, +9
Greens: +11, +1, +7, +4
Cyans: +9, +8, +1, 0
Neutrals: -6, +14, +14, 0
Set to 'relative' at 27%.
6. Colour Balance: Set to 42%.
Shadows: +8, +3, -9
Midtones: +9, -7, -27
Highlights: +15, -2, -4
This gives the screencap a warm yellowy, peachy colour.
7. Curves: Set to 70%. Does what it says on the tin. Makes your image lovely and bright.
RGB:
Point 1: Input: 5 Output: 2
Point 2: Input: 35 Output: 39
Point 3: Input: 70 Output: 86
Point 4: Input: 106 Output: 131
8. Channel Mixer: Set to 27%.
I always like to add a 'channel mixer' layer to my screencaps and icons. It gives a nice 'finish' and pulls everything together, whilst toning down the contrast and bringing the background more in synch with the foreground. It dulls down the pinks slightly here too. I usually add it near the top somewhere, but here it's about half way between the layers, as it just looked better placed there.
Red: +98, -10, -10, 0
Green: 0, 100, 0, 0
Blue: 0, 0, 100, 0
9. Now for a few colour layers.
1) #FFE2C0. Set to 'colour burn' at 9% opacity. Adds a slight peachy colour, which suits this screencap well.
2) #F1A3C7. Set to 'multiply' at 9%. The pink takes the brightness down a touch, and stops the whites from looking quite so harsh.
3) #FBE9CB. Set to 'soft light' at 13%. Brightens the cap, but without drawing the reds/pinks back out.
10. Okay, nearly done. Here I add another 'colour balance' layer at 100%. It brightens the whole cap very slightly again, but you can leave this off if you think your chosen screencap is already bright enough.
Shadows: +7, +8, +7
Midtones: -2, +4, -6
Highlights: -1, -3, +6
11. And now one more 'curves' to further brighten the image. May not be necessary with certain screencaps, but, again, it's up to you.
RGB:
Point 1: Input: 36 Output: 26
Point 2: Input: 120 Output: 135
Set this to 39%.
And here's the finished colouring:
♥
And remember, this colouring won't work on every screencap, I have to fiddle with the settings on nearly every single image, so just play around until you find a colouring you like. Hope you enjoyed the tut! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. :)