True Blood Coloring
to
Program: Photoshop CS4
Number of Steps: 13
Difficulty: Intermediate
Translatable: Yes
PSD: Yes
Step 1
Here we have a screencap of Sookie from True Blood. First, I resized the screencap. I prefer to work with icons sized at 100x100, because if I start out bigger, sometimes I dislike the icon once it is scaled down. This is entirely up to you though. Image>>Image Size>>Width: 100 Pixels, Height 100 Pixels
Step 2
The next step involves a screen layer. I do this with almost all of my screencaps, however the opacity varies depending on the image. What I did with this icon is duplicated my original image of Sookie and set this layer to Screen. The opacity was set somewhere around 80-90%. This brightens the image. Then Ctrl>Shift>E to merge the layers together.
Step 3
Next, I want to sharpen the image. There are many different ways to go about doing this. The way I do it is I duplicate my new base layer of Sookie. Next, I go to Filter>Sharpen. Then go to Edit>Fade Sharpen. For this icon I believe it was faded around 62%. Again, this depends on your image. I like this method though because it's easy to avoid over/undersharpening of images.
Step 4
This next step is something I like doing with icons as well. I learned it from the amazing exp0se What I did was I duplicated my base/background layer (the merged screen layer that isn't sharpened) and I placed it on top of the sharpened layer. Then I set this layer to Soft Light 42%. It will darken the image a little so you have to be careful how you set your opacity. I like doing this though because it gives the image contrast.
Step 5
Okay, now were going to add some light back into the image. Underneath the Soft Light layer I just made, I placed THIS made by unalike
Set this to Soft Light 53% opacity and 68% fill. Depending on your image, you may need to change this up a bit. Moving the opacity and fill percentages around will bring more or less light into the image. Click HERE to see what my layers look like up to this step.
Step 6
Okay, now for the coloring process. First, I will be adding a Color Balance layer to add more Blue, a little bit of Green, and some Red. It won't be too overpowering though. Layer>>New Adjustment Layer>>Color Balance
Midtones:
8, 2, 11
Step 7
Next, I used Levels. I really like using levels to darken/brighten/add contrast to images. I just played around with the numbers until I was happy. I suggest you do the same with your image. Layer>>New Adjustment Layer>>Levels
Channel: RGB
12, 1.23, 255
Step 8
This next step is a little tricky. You may need to download some gradients. I found these from ina_ami tutorials. I was directed to them HERE so please check them out. The one you will need it titled ES Vintage 25. Layer>>New Adjustment Layer>>Gradient Map. Set this to Color Dodge 12%. This gives Sookie some light and color to her face.
Step 9
Next, I wanted to brighten her face up a little bit more. I did this with a Hue/Saturation Layer. Depending on your image, you will need to play around with this. You may want to even go into the negatives sometimes. Layer>>New Adjustment Layer>>Hue/Saturation
Saturation: +5
Step 10
Okay, this next step was really important in achieving this type of coloring. I wanted more brightens and contrast. Layer>>New Adjustment Layer>>Brightness/Contrast. Click HERE to see my layers up to this point.
Brightness: +6
Contrast: +17
Step 11
Okay now create a new layer with Ctrl>Shift>Alt>E. This will merge all your layers into a new layer on top of your layers. I wanted to add some "glow" to the image. To do this, go to Filter>>Distort>>Diffuse Glow.
Graininess: 0
Glow Amount: 5
Clear Amount: 6
Play around with the glow and clear amounts. Then set this to Soft Light 27%. Again play around with this!
Step 12
Almost done! Next, we will add some light blobs. Place these wherever you want to create more light. Layer>>New Layer. Take a medium sized paintbrush (I used somewhere around 17-19px). Place the blobs around your image like THIS. Then go to Filter>>Blur>>Gaussian Blur>>Radius 8.0. Click Ok and set this layer to Soft Light 71%.
Step 13
Now you could just leave the icon like this. However I added one more step. Ctrl>Shift>Alt>E to merge all of your layers into one layer on top of your layers. Go to Filter>>Blur>>Gaussian Blur>>1.2 (set this to whatever you like). You can also Sharpen the image slightly at the end as well.
Other Examples:
+ Remember, experiment!
+ If you try this out, post your results :)
Please direct questions HERE, as well as .psd requests. Thanks!