fifty eight
to
Photoshop CS4
Medium
10 steps
This coloring works best with darker blue images, as i can tend to make images a little too white, if the images start of bright. However if you play with the setting you should be able to make it work with other images.
1. Duplicate your base and set to Screen 75% Opacity.
The image i was using was generally dark all over, so i used a screen layer to just brighten it up as a whole. You could use a curves layer here, if there where certain colors that needed brightening. You may need to alter this layer, depending on your original image.
2. Create a fill layer using #f9b0c6 and set to Softlight 100% Opacity.
I wanted to brighten the image again, but also add some more pinks, purple and reds into the image. So i used my favourite layer, the pink softlight layer! If you follow me, you will know i use this type of layer loads. In this image I wanted to add some natural colors back into the image, as the orignial was very dark and very blue/green. So this color add everything i waned. You can change this color up, depending on your image, if you image has alot of reds in, try a blue layer, or a green one to naturlize the reds.
3. Duplicate your base base, drag to the top and set to Softlight 82% Opacity.
Birght screen layers tend to take some of the contrast out of images, so i added this layer to put some that contrast back in. This layer also made make some of the colors in the image pop alittle more. You may need to lower the opacity of this depending on your image.
4. Create another fill layer using #ffc189 and set to Color Burn 30% Opacity.
Color burn layers, do pretty much what they say on the tin. I've used an orange, as i wanted to bring out the orange tones in her skin, and the background. So i used the orange color to make the original oranges pop, and to add more orange to the reds. Again if you want other colors to pop, simply change the color!
5. Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance
SHADOWS -24 -9 +9
MIDTONES +12 0 0
This layer is only really here becuase of the last layer, it helps normalise the orange alittle, and add some more contrast back into the image. You may find you don't even need to use this layer, if so, just remove it, do however wait till the end result.
6. Create another fill layer using #fddb99 and set to Normal 20% Opacity.
As this layer is set to normal, its quite a matt and opac. Becauase i used and orange color it brightens the image up. It also again adds some more orange to the image.
7. Take this:
(by ? sorry i forgot who made it) texture and set to Softlight 50% Opacity.
Because of the last the image can tend to lose any contrast, as the image is made very matte. So i used this texture to add some more depth to the image, using textures is the new SC. Because of the color of the texture it makes some of the reds and purple pop alittle more.
8. Duplicate your base, drag to the top and set to Screen 37% Opacity.
The last few layers can darken the skin tones a little too much, so i used the original image to brighten the result up, this layer can be un-necessary so if you don't need it, don't use it.
9. SHIFT + CTRL +ALT + E the Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen
I always sharpen my images, i think it helps to finish the image. The coloring i used can sometimes take the contrast and definition out, so add it back. You may need to lower the opacity of this layer, you can do this by fading the sharpen, SHIFT + CTRL + F which should bring up and box where you can minus the sharpen.
10. Take this:
texture (made by me) and set to Screen 30% Opacity.
I wanted to brighten up a particular part of the lower image, so i took a light orange, to go with the image and set it to screen to brighten the image in particular way.
And you're done!
This coloring will not work on every image, you will have to play with the setting to see what you can make. This is simply a tutorial showing you how i achieve something, so please don't stick to the coloring rigidly.
I like to see what you achieve, so please post what you make!
exmaples
