Using Replace Color to Fix LQ Bases
I make a lot of icons using screencaps, and often, the caps aren't the highest quality. Screencaps are also often dark and blurry, and when I try to lighten them, I end up getting funky patches of color. I recently discovered how fabulously easy they are to fix with the "replace color" feature. This tutorial will take you the process step-by-step. I'm assuming at least a basic knowledge of Photoshop, or whatever program you use--you should know how to copy layers, create fill layers, blah blah.
I'm using Photoshop CS 2 for this tutorial, but it should easily be adapted to older versions. I know nothing about Paint Shop Pro, so sorry, can't help ya there.
1. We start with this base:
All I did was crop the cap--no touch-ups or anything yet. As you can see, it's very dark and blurry. First, we're going to lighten things up a little. Press ctrl+J (or highlight the layer in the layers palette and drag to the
icon). Set the copy to the "screen" blend mode. Merge all layers (shift+ctrl+E or layer >> flatten image). For this particular base, I left the opacity at 100%, but you might want to tinker around with the opacity a bit before merging, depending on your base.
2. Better, but the coloring was too blueish for my tastes. I used a curves adjustment layer (layers >> new adjustment layer >> curves, or click the
icon on the layers palette and select "curves"). I clicked the drop-down menu at the top of the curves dialog and chose the blue channel. I dragged the line around a bit (not going to give values since it varies with each base... just do like me and drag points around till you find something that works). I hit OK and got:
3. The difference is really subtle, but trust me, it's there. The base looks less bluish now, but we've still got some slightly funky skin coloring. Because the cap wasn't great quality to begin with, some parts of the skin are pinkish and some are kinda yellowish (at least, that's how it looks on my monitor). We're going to fix those parts using the Replace Color tool.
Merge the curves layer with the background. You should have only one layer now. Go to image >> adjustments >> replace color. Now, this part I can't really give values for, since it depends on your base. In general, you want to target those yellowish patches as specifically as possible. Here's what I did. Click on the eyedropper icon in the dialog, the one farthest on the left. Move the cursor over your base (not the image in the dialog...the actual base) and click on the yellowest part of the face--in this case, that patch on the chin. This should select the color you want to replace.
4. Next, under the thumbnail in the dialog box, make sure "selection" is ticked rather than "image." You should have a black-and-white and rather funky-looking thumbnail now. Adjust the fuzziness slider so only the yellowest parts of the thumbnail are selected--those sections should be white. The rest of the image should be black. In general, the fuzziness will probably be at a value between 50-100. In this particular case, I chose 70.
5. Now, you're going to go to the "Replacement" section on the bottom of the dialog. You should see a little square there with a swatch of the color you selected in step 3 (labeled "result"). Click on the swatch to launch the color picker dialog box. Move the cursor over the base to select which color you want to match. In this case, I selected a lighter part of the cheek. Once you click, the effect will be previewed on your base. If you're not satisified, keep tinkering until you get a result you like. Once you've finished with the color palette, click "OK." The following screencap is of the "Replacement" section after I finished with the color palette.
If that works for you, click "OK" in the replace color dialog box. The result I got on my base is:
Much better, no? Those funky yellowish patches are gone. Now we have a nice base and are ready to make it all pretty and stuff.
I have found that this technique works very well on unevenly colored screencaps, and it's really quick and easy, too. There are no foolproof values to plug, however... it's all about experimentation. What works on one base might not work on another, etc. In this tutorial, I tried to give some general guidelines and help you feel more comfortable working with the replace color tool. I hope I was able to help, and good luck!