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Give a dull landscape a vibrant photographic effect

This tutorial will show you how to transform a dull photo of a waterscape into a vibrant image with a photographic effect. This easy technique can be used to enhance your personal travel pictures or your photographer’s portfolio.

1. Start off by downloading this image and opening it in Photoshop.



2. Then, duplicate the layer and set the resulting layer to grayscale. Then, with a medium soft brush, mask out everything but the sky (it doesn’t have to be perfect), as shown below:



3. Next, we’re going to add some better clouds to replace this rather dull sky. Download this image and position it as shown below over the image and mask away everything but the sky. Set the layer’s blending mode to Darken.



4. Then, we’re going to create a vivid photographic effect that will bring out the best in this image, by adding several adjustment layers as follows:

Add a new Hue/Saturation… adjustment layer with the settings below:



Add a new Channel Mixer adjustment layer with the following settings:



Add a new Curves… adjustment layer and modify the RGB curves as shown:




Add a new Selective Color… adjustment layer with the settings below:



Finally, add another Hue/Saturation… adjustment layer:



At this point, the image should look something like this:



5. To add a dark vignette effect, create a new layer and paint on its edges with a very large, round and soft brush, to get something similar to this:



6. Flatten the image and add a dark gray border (exact color: #212121) by going to Image -> Canvas Size… and using these settings:



7. Go to Filter -> Sharpen -> Smart Sharpen… and use the following settings:



The final result:

Create a newspaper page

This tutorial will show you how to create an image that will look like a scanned newspaper page.



Step 1. Create a new document, size 630x900 and fill it with it a light, warm gray (color code #e4e4e4).

Step 2. To make the final result make more realistic, it’s necessary to mimic the way you can see the writing on the back page on a real newspaper.

To achieve this effect, open an image of a newspaper page you can find on the Internet (I chose this one), go to Image-> Rotate Canvas -> Flip Canvas Horizontal and then copy/paste it over the new document you just created. Set its opacity to 5%, so that the writing is only a bit visible.

Step 3. Newspaper articles often contain pictures, so I opened this one and resized it to 35%, and I placed it on the left like this:

Step 4. To convert the image to black and white, the best method is to go to Image -> Adjustments -> Channel Mixer… tick Monochrome and leave all the other settings as default.

Step 5. In order to create the headlines, I used Century Old Style Std, Italic, size 40pt and 24pt respectively. You may use any other font that is very legible and simple.

Step 6. To create the subtitles, I used Century Old Style Std, Bold, size 18pt. I left some space between them and the picture, and the headlines, in order to achieve an elegant, uncluttered look.



Don’t worry if the text you’ve done until now is not properly aligned. You can easily fix that later.

Step 7. Now it’s time to create the content of the news article. You need to create a text box: using the Type Tool, click on the desired starting point of the text box and drag down to create a rectangle.



Though it’s not visible in the screenshot above, the text box doesn’t go all the way to the bottom of the page. I’ve left a blank edge on the bottom of the page, because we’re later going to add the date and day of the week there, just like on genuine newspapers.

Step 8. Paste some text of your choice into the text box you’ve created (my source was Wikipedia). The font I used is Century Old Style Std, Regular, 14pt.



Notice that I’ve used a Sans Serif font. Because of their high legibility, most magazines and newspaper articles use Sans Serif fonts for the main body of text.

Step 9. Create a second text box as shown at step 7 and paste some text, using the font at step 8.

Step 10. The final step is to create a text box and add some text in the lower part of the page. I used the font Century Old Style Std, Regular, 12pt.



In order to verify and align the way the text and pictures fit on the page, go to View -> Show -> Grid. To change the position of a certain element, use the left and right arrow keys, or the Move Tool.


The final result:

Create digital makeup

This tutorial will show you how to apply digital makeup and additionally, how to change the eye color, smooth the skin texture of a model and enhance the image.

Though the process of applying makeup in Photoshop is fairly simple, the most important thing about digital makeup is that, by all means, it must look natural. It’s always better to "underdo" it than to overdo it, so keep that in mind while following this tutorial. Less is more, therefore try to be subtle.

The initial image (credits to sxc.hu):

The final result:




Step 1. First of all, we’re going to smooth the skin texture of the model. This will give the whole image a professional feel and improve its overall aspect.

Duplicate the background layer and go to Filter -> Noise -> Median and insert a value of 3. Next, go to Filter -> Blur… -> Gausian Blur … and insert 3 again.

Add a layer mask to the layer you just blurred, fill it with black and start painting with white over the skin, with a soft brush, varying the size according to the area. Make sure you avoid the lines of the face, eyes etc. because you don’t want to blur those, just the skin.




Step 2. Now we’re going to change the lip color to mimic a light pink lipstick. First, press Q in order to enter the Quick Mask editing mode, and then choose a soft brush, choose black as the color and then zoom in and paint over the lips. You’ll notice that instead of black, it will seem as if you were painting with red; this is because you’re in the mask mode. Make sure you don’t go over the edges. If you make any mistake, just choose white and paint over that part.



Switch back to Standard Mode by pressing Q again and you’ll notice a selection appear. The advantage of using the mask mode to select is that you have far more control over the selection than by using the Lasso Tool.

Go to Select -> Inverse and then to Image -> Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation… (or simply press Ctrl+U for the dialog box to appear) and insert the following settings:



Press Ctrl+H to hide your selection (this will not deselect the area, it will just make the marquee around it disappear), so that you can see clearly the edges of the selection. If you notice that an unwanted area around the lips turned pink, simply press Q to enter the Quick Mask Mode again, zoom in and carefully paint with black over that area. Then switch back to the standard mode by pressing Q again and take a look at the result.

Add a subtle highlight on her lower lip by using the Dodge Tool, a small soft brush, exposure set to 70%. With a slightly bigger brush you may highlight her upper lip, again in a very subtle way.

When you’ve finished, make sure the area of the lips is deselected to continue to the next step.


Step 3. To change the eye color, select the eyes by using the same method you used for the lips, and then press Ctrl+U to bring up the Hue/Saturation dialog box, check Colorize and use the following settings:



Press Ctrl+H and check for any mistakes. If there are any, fix them as previously shown with the lips.


Step 4. Now we’re going to do the eye makeup. Select the eyelashes on her lower eyelid by using the Lasso Tool, with a feather setting of 5. Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast… and lower the Brightness to -10. Deselect the area.

Create a new layer and paint with a purple, soft brush on it, over the area between her eyebrows and eyes.

Set the layer blending mode to Overlay and the Opacity to 35%. Then refine the edges of the area by erasing with a large soft brush around it, making sure it blends in well and looks natural.



Step 5. To enhance the effect of the image, we can now adjust its color cast to better match the changes we made.

Add a Selective color adjustment layer with the following settings:

Reds: -43 0 -22 +7
Yellows: 0 0 0 -41
Neutrals: 0 0 0 -7


Step 6. Add another Selective color adjustment layer, in order to change the color of her dress from cyan to purple:

Cyans: -100 +100 -100 +100

You will notice that this layer will slightly affect the color of the eyes. I actually liked it better that way, so I didn’t change it.

If you don’t like that, then choose a soft brush and paint with black on the layer mask of the adjustment layer (I’ve highlighted it with yellow on the following screenshot).



Finally, go to Image -> Adjustments -> Auto Levels to really bring out the colors of the image and remove the somewhat reddish color cast it had.


The final result:

Transform a normal image into an artistic one

One of the reasons why Photoshop is so popular nowadays is the unbelievable control it gives you over the images you want to edit. By using the right filters and techniques you can easily transform any bland, lifeless shot into an impressive, artistic dreamscene. It only takes a few steps to turn this image:



into this:




So let’s begin!

Step 1. Open the original image and Duplicate the background layer. Set the resulting layer to Soft Light, 100%. Then go to Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur and insert a value of 5.

Step 2. Duplicate the second layer and press Shift+Ctrl+U to desaturate it. You should now have something that looks like this:



I normally avoid using blurs in my artwork, but in this particular case this effect is very welcome because it gives the entire image a very soft, dreamy glow.

Step 3. To enhance the colorcast of the image, add a Selective color filter with the following settings:

Yellows: 0 0 0 +100
Whites: -25 -5 +100 -25
Neutrals: +10 +15 +20 0
Black: 0 +20 0 0

Then select all the layers, right click and choose Create new smart object, like this:

Step 4. Create a new layer and fill it with black, then move it (by clicking on it and dragging it) down below the smart object. Add a layer mask to the smart object you just created. Now with a very large soft brush, opacity: 35%, paint with black on the mask, around the edges of the canvas to create a dark vignette. It’s preferrable to zoom out to get some perspective over what you’re doing. Make sure you don’t overdo it, because this effect needs to be subtle.



The vignette will focus the viewers’ attention on the central part of the image, while also adding a slightly dark feeling to it.

Step 5. Go to Filter -> Sharpen -> Smart Sharpen… and enter the following settings: Amount: 40%, Radius: 1 pixel. A dialog box will appear asking whether you want to rasterize the smart object, choose Yes.
Duplicate the layer you just sharpened and go to Filter -> Blur -> Radial Blur… Choose Zoom as the Blur Method and 10 as the Amount.
Next add a layer mask to the blurred layer and paint with black on it using a large, soft brush. Make sure you leave the outer edges white. If you make any mistakes just brush over that area with white or black, according to whether you want it to be visible or not.



This will further draw the viewers’ attention towards the center of the image, especially to the bright patch of light visible in the higher left.

Step 6. To further enhance the image’s colours, add a Curves adjustment layer that looks like this:

Step 7. To give the gray background a cyan hue that will contrast with the yellow in the leaves, add a Selective color adjustment layer with the following settings:

Step 8. To add a finishing touch you may add some text of your choice. I chose a very simple message, but I encourage you to come up with something even more suggestive. The font I used for “Autumn Leaves” is Trajan Pro, 36 pts for the capital letters and 30 pts for the rest of the text. For the “by anja” part I used Vujahday Flourish, 30 pts.

I placed the text near the bright spot of light because it’s really aesthetically pleasing, since that part is the main focus of the entire image.

Step 9. Duplicate both text layers and for each resulting layer, go to Filter -> Blur -> Motion Blur (choose Yes when Photoshop asks you whether to rasterize the layer) and enter 150. Place these layers below the text layers.

Then select one of the text layers and add an Outer glow with the following settings:



Right click on the same text layer and choose Copy layer style. Then right click on the other text layer and choose Paste layer style.


The final result:

Basic Retouch and Colorization

This tutorial will show you how to do a basic retouch, change the colorcast of an image and colorize some of its elements.



Step 1. We will use this Naomi Watts image: 




Duplicate the layer then go to Filter -> Noise -> Median...and enter a value of around 3 pixels. Then go to Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur... and enter 5 pixels.

Step 2. Add a layer mask (by pressing the third button on the lower part of the Layers Palette) to the layer you have just blurred and fill it with black. Then pick a soft, medium sized brush and start painting with white on the layer mask. Make sure you avoid any lines on the face; use it only on the skin, to get a smooth, professional effect. Vary the brush size and opacity depending on the area. Avoid blurring the eyes, lips or hair.

After you finish this step, you should get something like this:





Step 3. Add a Curves adjustment layer with the following settings:





Step 4. Add a Selective Color adjustment layer with the following settings then fill its mask with black.

Reds: -55 0 0 0
Neutrals: -20 +15 –40 +5

Now paint with white over the lips and you will notice they’ll turn a light pink. Make sure you follow the edges of the lips properly.

Step 5. Add another Selective Color adjustment layer with these settings:

Yellows: -100 0 0 0
Whites: 0 0 0 –25
Neutrals: +20 –10 –50 +8

Fill its mask with black and carefully paint with white over the eyes.

Step 6. Go to Layer -> Flatten Image, then to Filter -> Sharpen -> Smart Sharpen... and use the following settings:





Finally, go to Image -> Canvas Size… and choose black as a color, 40 pixels for both Width and Height to add a stylish outer border.

The final result: