Photoshop Tutorial : How to correct very bright / too dark pictures

Here's a simple tutorial about correcting underexposed / overexposed pictures using Adobe Photoshop. Let's say that your camera didn't do well on your last photography session. Just open the picture you want to edit in Photoshop using CTRL + O / File --> Open . Correcting this type of photos is just a simple matter of changing the blending mode of simillar layers.

After you got the picture opened in Photoshop , you have to duplicate the background . Just drag the layer with your photo onto the Add a new layer button.

OK ! Once you've duplicated the layer with your photo , you have to know what's wrong with your photo . If it's too bright , first select the new duplicated layer you have created , go to the Blending Mode drop down menu , and select Multiply . Wow ! Awesome , right ? If it's way too dark , you have to change the blending mode from normal , to Overlay .

How do you go to the blending mode menu ? It's right on top of your Layer Menu !!
Click the next photo to see where it's located.
Here are a few examples of photos edited using this very method
( Please click the images to see them with decent quality )



Well , i hope you liked it ! See you on my next tutorial :)

Photoshop Tutorial : Godfather Effect Threshold

This is the second way to get the Godfather effect on a photo.
Basically , what you have to do is once you opened the image in photoshop , go to Image -> Adjustments -> Threshold . Play with it until you get the desired effect. After that , just paint the background black so it all blends together .
Once you're done with this :

THE GODFATHER LOGO

THE ROSE

Save them both to your computer , and open them in Photoshop.You should now have something like this :

For the rose:
Go in photoshop on the window where you have the rose , and press CTRL + A . This will select the whole image . Press CTRL + C after you selected the image , and then , go to your own picture window , and press CTRL + V to paste the rose image there . You might notice that it's not the proper size . While on the rose layer , press CTRL + T to free transform the rose . After you got it to the size you need , press enter. Go to the first tool from your Tools Bar . And move the rose till you get it in the right position.
For the Godfather logo:
Repeat the whole operation you did for the rose , and adjust the logo to the correct position.

Photoshop Tutorial : How to Godfather Effect / Poster

Here's how the actual Godfather movie poster looks :
Cool , right ? I'm going to teach you how to get the same effect on a photo of you.We're gonna use an image that i found on google for this test :

Save it to your computer , and open it in Photoshop , unless you already have your own photo in a suit that you wish to convert into a Godfather poster. Once you got it , use one of the many tools to select the outline of your silhouette , so you can select the subject.Here's how it should look. It doesn't have to be that perfect , but , at least try to make it convincing , at least the head.
Ok , so once you have a proper selection on your subject , right click the subject , and press Layer via cut . What this does , it splits the existing layer into the part that you selected and all the parts that remain. Now , click the layer with your subject. And do the following :
First , you have to make the subject black and white . To do this , while you're on the subject layer , go to Image -> Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation , and turn the Saturation all the way down to -100 . Click OK . Now we have to add a little bit of contrast to our subject . Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast , and pump up just a little bit the Contrast. Now , the most important part : Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Posterize . Try to adjust it while keeping an eye on the Godfather poster , to see what works a best . It's usually a low value between 2-3 and 5-6. I think 3 works best in my case. After you've done playing with it , press OK. You should now , have something close to this :

Now , change to the background layer , and get a big size for the Brush , and paint it all black , so that the subject and the black background kinda' blend in together. Don't worry if there are still some dots left . You can remove those by selecting back the layer with your subject and closely , with a medium sized black Brush , paint the outlines of your subject so it can really blend in with the black background . If you don't like the shades of the subject , click the layer with the guy , go to Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and feel free to play with the settings until you get the desired effect.

For the next part you need 2 more images.

THE GODFATHER LOGO

THE ROSE

Save them both to your computer , and open them in Photoshop.You should now have something like this :

For the rose:
Go in photoshop on the window where you have the rose , and press CTRL + A . This will select the whole image . Press CTRL + C after you selected the image , and then , go to your own picture window , and press CTRL + V to paste the rose image there . You might notice that it's not the proper size . While on the rose layer , press CTRL + T to free transform the rose . After you got it to the size you need , press enter. Go to the first tool from your Tools Bar . And move the rose till you get it in the right position. For the Godfather logo:
Repeat the whole operation you did for the rose , and adjust the logo to the correct position.

Here's the final result . This whole operation can be done in less than 2 minutes , so it's really no big deal. If you want a more detailed look , well , you have to spend more times correcting and polishing the details .

Photoshop Tutorial : How To Make Your Picture Look Better

So .. let's say you took a picture of yourself , or maybe a friend . But it's not quite the way you wanted it to be . Maybe the camera messed up the colors , or maybe you just happened to have a spot on your skin when the photo was taken. What to do ? Open your image in Photoshop , and follow my lead !
First , you have to get your skin allright.Click the Spot Healing Brush Tool in your Tools Bar.


After you've done that , change the size so it'll be just about the size of the spot on your skin. Press once on the spot you want to remove , and you'll see that Photoshop magically removes it from your face. Repeat this for all the noticeable spots that make you uncomfortable . After you're done , you'll notice that the picture really improved ! But wait , that's not all !

Now , maybe you're still not 100% happy with this photo. What you want to do is , click Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast .
When you're there try to play a little with the 2 options untill you see improvement on your picture.
Now you're really happy with it ... maybe you'll post it to your facebook account .. Hold on ! There's more !
Again , go to Image -> Adjustments and then , click Color Balance




Again , play with the options until you're satisfied . When you're done , try to change from Midtones to Shadows and then , to Highlights !

When you're done , you'll have a nice , cool looking picture , that you can be proud of ! Go ahead and post that piece of art on your facebook account. Thanks for reading , and see you on the next tutorial.

Photoshop Tutorial : Colorize and Retouch an Photo

Let's start out by saving and opening this following actress's photo. (Naomi Watts)

Duplicate this layer.If you don't know how to do that , check my previous tutorial on How to duplicate a layer.Once you duplicated this layer , you need to go to the menu and click Filter , after that go to Noise , and after , Median . Once you're there enter a value of about 3 pixels .

Once you're done there , go to Filter --> Blur , and press Gaussian Blur .

Create a Layer Mask . Go to Layers --> Layer Mask --> Reveal All. Fill it with black. After that pick a soft brush and paint with white , also changing the opacity white painting , all the skin .Don't go over the face lines , so you can have a neat , professional looking image.Do NOT blur the eyes , the hair or mess up the lips.

click this image to zoom

Now , press CTRL + M to add an Curves Adjustment. You will notice that you can change the settings from RGB to Red , Green , or Blue . Adjust each of them using the following settings :

Now , 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 , try to 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 for a professional effect.

Once again , 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 like you did with the lips.

Now that you're done with that , go to Layer --> Flatten Image, then to Filter --> Sharpen --> Smart Sharpen and use the settings from this picture:


Now that you're done , take a look on the effect you have just added ! Voila !


Pretty cool , right ? Thanks for reading , and see you on the next tutorial !