Partial Desaturation with Mask in Photoshop

You can use a Mask in Photoshop to desaturate half of a photo, while keeping the remaining in color. It is quite simple to do. I learnt this from a Photoshop expert, Tennessee_Gator who runs a Photoshop group in Flickr. 

 

Step 1 : I have opened this image in Photoshop. This is a free stock image belonging to *fa-stockFay

You can use any image.

 

Step 2 : Click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button. From the pop up click on Black & White.

 

Step 3 : The Black & White Adjustment Layer has been added.

 The image has been desaturated.

Step 4 : Press g on the keyboard. The Gradient Editor comes up when you click where the arrow points to.

 Step 5 : The Gradient Editor is revealed. Click on the third Preset in the top row.

 Step 6 : Press SHIFT and drag to the left. You can of course drag from the other direction too. It will give you a different effect.

 This is the effect.

 Another free stock image with the same effect. It belongs to ~Eden-stockEden Dawn

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Dark to Light, Light to Dark in Photoshop

Suppose you have a dark image, you can change the tone with Levels in Photoshop, but you can do it another way too. Similalry, if you have an image which is light in tone, you can always darken it. 

Here is a free stock photo. It belongs to *FullBodyShotsHelping manipulators everywhere

The image has dark tones and may be purposefully so.

 Step 1 : Go to the Channels palette.

Step 2 : Rotate through the Red, Green and Blue channels. See which is the lightest. Here the Red channel is the lightest.

 Step 3 : Press CTRL+A (Select All), then press CTRL+C (Copy).

Step 4 : Click on the RGB channel.

 Step 5 : Go over to the Layers palette.

 Step 6 : Press CTRL+V (Paste). The selection is pasted into a new Layer1.

 Step 7 : Click on the Blend Modes and change it to Screen from Normal.

 And here is the effect that I wanted. It works all the time and is very simple to do.

 Step 8 : You can lower the Opacity a tad. I have reduced it to 90%. This is optional.

 This is how the image looks after lowering the Opacity to 90%.

 Now let us take an image like this, where there is excess of light. This is a free stock image. It belongs to =Falln-Stock

 

Step 9 : Go over to the Channels palette. Click on the channel with most contrast or the darkest by clicking each in turn. Here I have chosen the Green channel.

 This is how the image looks after selecting the Green channel.

 Step 10 : Press CTRL+A (Select ALL), then CTRL+C (Copy).

 Step 11 : Click on the RGB channel.

 Step 12 : Click on the Layers palette.

 Step 13 : Press CTRL+V (Paste). The selection is pasted on a new Layer 1.

 Step 14 : Change the Blend Mode to Multiply.

And here is the image.

 Step 15 : Lower the Opacity. I have decreased it to 90%.

 The finished image.

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Rembrandt Style of Lighting with Photoshop

There is a style of Photography called the Rembrant Style. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn  was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age.He had a certain style for painting the light in his images. 

This is a self portrait. You can see that his lighting is special. Photographers have replicated his style calling it the Rembrant Style. The secret of this is to keep half of the face lighted. Added to this is a triangular shape of light on the side which is in shadow.

This is a free stock image that I will be using for this tutorial. It belongs to AngellofFyre

 In photoshop you do not have a model or able to set the lights for the effect. All you have is a 2D image.

Let us see if we can give this image a Rembrant Style of lighting.

Step 1 : Unlock the Background Layer by pressing ALT and double clicking the layer. The Background Layer will change to Layer 0.

Step 2 : Click the Lasso Tool.

 

Step 3 : In the top panel I have set the Feather to 25 pixels. 

 

Step 4 : With the Lasso Tool draw a selection taking care to see that the selection passes through the middle of the face.

Step 5 : Click the Add New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon and select Levels from the pop up.

Step 6 : In the Levels dialogue, drag the White slider at left and the Gray slider in the middle towards the left

gradually. This portion of the image brightens.

This is how the image looks.

Step 7 : CTRL+Click the Mask on Levels 1 Layer.

Step 8 : The selection of marching ants reappears.

Step 9 : Press CTRL+SHIFT+I. This will inverse the selection.

 

Step 10 : Click back on Layer 0.

 Step 11 : Click on the Add New Fill or Adjustment Layer. Click on Levels from the pop up.

 Step 12 : In the Levels dialogue, drag the Black slider at the left and the Gray slider in the middle towards the right which will darken the right portion of the image.

 This is how the image looks.

 

Step 13 : Make sure that the Foreground/Background Colors are set to the default Black/White. Press b to bring up the Brush Tool and brush over the pupil and the whites of the eyes.

 This is how the image looks.

 

Step 14 : Click on Layer 0.

Step 15 : Click on the Lasso Tool

 Step 16 : Draw a rough triangle with the Lasso Tool on the right cheek.

 Step 17 : Click the the New Fill or Adjustment Layer Button and click on Levels.

 Step 18 : Drag the White slider at right towards the left as also the Gray slider in the middle till a glow appears on the cheek. Tweak all the Levels Adjustments layers till you are satisfied.

 And here is my Rembrant Style of lighting in Photoshop.

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