TUTORIAL: Blue-Pink Colouring
to
In Paintshop Pro 8 (translatable)
Select the picture you want to use and crop it down to icon size. I'm using this one, a cap from Firefly. It and all other Firefly caps in this tutorial are from jadeleopard.
STEP ONE: MAKING YOUR BASE
This cap is very dark, so I like to use a curve I made while working with a Doctor Who episode that was set at night (and thus very annoying).
Make a curves adjustment layer. Settings:
RBG
Click 1: I: 255 O:255
Click 2: I: 163 O:242
Click 3: I: 64 O:178
Click 4: I: 0 O: 0
This should brighten your picture right up. If it's too bright, lower the opacity on the curves layer until it's right. Mine ended up at 100%, but yours may vary. Also, this curve can wash out colours, so if your picture looks too dull, go to automatic saturation enhancement and play around with the settings until it looks right.
Duplicate your base and drag it to the top. Set it at screen 50%.
Note: This is just how I have set up my base, you can do whatever you want to set yours up.
STEP TWO: COLOURING
Alright, I am now going to reference creamsodas wicked tutorial that my colouring is based on. We thank her profusely for the inspiration. You'll want to use her settings for the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and the Colour Balance layer.
New Hue/Sat Adjustment Layer:
Change the Saturation settings (if it's not listed, don't change it):
Reds: 45
Yellows: 20
Greens: 30
Cyans: 13
New Colour Balance Adjustment Layer:
On shadows: -96, 19, 23
Which looks lovely as it is, but I find sometimes the colours look too bright and garish, so I'm going to add an exclusion layer on top to tone them down a bit and also add a bit of pinkish colour that I like. Make a new layer and flood fill it with a dark navy blue.
= #031B35
Set the layer to exclusion.
Merge your layers. Sharpen once, or if this is too strong, use an unsharp mask:
Radius: 1.00
Strength: 30
Clipping: 3
And you're done!
STEP THREE: FIXING STUFF
1. "It's too pink/blue!"
If the pinks/reds are standing out too much, lower the opacity on the hue/sat layer. If the blues are standing out too much, lower the opacity on the colour balance layer.
ex.
+ Less Sat =
2. "It's too green!"
If the colouring ended up green instead of blue (which I prefer, you may prefer the green), add a levels adjustment layer and switch to the greens. Set the middle Input Levels: box to something around .7, it should make the blue and pinks stronger. You can experiment by moving the middle diamond around on the line too.
ex.
+ levels layer =
3. "It's too monocromatic!"
If the colouring ends up just being various shades of one or two colours, try this:
Mono-Blue:
Add a colour balance layer above the screen 50% layer. I have one saved called 'redify', which, dun-dah, adds red:
SHADOWS: 14, -12, -21
MIDTONES: 30, -13, -29
HIGHLIGHTS: 11, 0, 14
You may have to fiddle with the opacity level to get the right look.
ex.
+ redify layer at 50% =
Mono-red:
I also have a 'blueify' layer saved for such emergencies requiring more blue.
SHADOWS: -19, -20, 19
MIDTONES: -20, -20, -11
HIGHLIGHTS: 0, 0, 0
Again you made need to fiddle with the opacity. Also, putting these two layers one atop another gives kinda a cool effect.
ex.
+ redify & blueify layer =
4. "But her hair isn't supposed to be blue!" AKA, "Mal is not a purple-coat."
This is a result of the colouring, it sometimes makes things funny colours. Just take a small eraser and brush out the part you don't want on the colour balance layer, if it is a major problem.
+ eraser on colour balance layer over her hair =
Alright, I think that's everything. Remember to experiment and play to make your own style. If you have and questions, feel free to ask. I also love to see what people have made with my tutorials, so don't feel shy about showing me.
Thanks for dropping by!
Joincitadel_icons