Supernatural Coloring
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Program: Photoshop CS4
Number of Steps: 15
Difficulty: Intermediate
Translatable: Yes
PSD: Yes
Step 1
Here we have a screencap of Sam from Supernatural. 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 Sam 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 Sam. Next, I go to Filter>Sharpen. Then go to Edit>Fade Sharpen. For this icon I believe it was faded around 59%. Again, this depends on your image. I like this method though because it's easy to avoid over/undersharpening of images.
Step 4
Next, 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 75%. 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 50% opacity and 79% 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.
Step 6
Next, I added a Curves layer. This is a good way to lighten an image. This will be a subtle change for this icon. You should play around with these settings.
Output: 86 Input: 77
Output: 175 Input: 166
Step 7
Next, I'm going to use a Color Balance layer to bring more color to Sam's face. My settings make the image more yellow. The settings that I chose were as follows:
Midtones: 0, -15, -35
Step 8
To bring down the redness just a little, I used a Hue/Saturation layer. But I put the settings in the negatives. The higher the number for this layer, the redder the image.
Saturation: -9
Step 9
The next layer is a Levels layer and it will brighten the image even further. It will add a glow on Sam's face. Again, play around with the settings.
20, 1.34, 234
Step 10
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 11%. I like the way this colors Sam's face.
Step 11
Next, I added THIS and set it to Color Burn 33% Opacity and 48% Fill. This will darken your image. You may want to rotate the layer until you get the desired effect.
Step 12
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: 6
Clear Amount: 7
Play around with the glow and clear amounts. Then set this to Soft Light 68%.
Step 13
Next, I added a Gaussian Blur layer. First, you will need to make a new layer. Ctrl>Shift>Alt>E to merge all of your layers into one layer on top of your layers. Go to Filter>>Blur>>Gaussian Blur>>1.8 (set this to whatever you like).
Step 14
Almost finished! After the Gaussian Blur layer, I decided to slightly sharpen the image. Filter>Sharpen. Then go to Edit>Fade Sharpen. I faded this to 20%.
Step 15
This step is optional. I added some light blobs around the left side of the image. Filter>>Blur>>Gaussian Blur>>Radius 8.0. Click Ok and set this layer to Soft Light. You can then decide on the Opacity settings. I chose 58%.
Other examples:
Please direct questions HERE, as well as .psd requests. Thanks!