coloring tutorial
to
program: Photoshop CS2
translatable: yes
01) Duplicate your base, sharpen it (filter > sharpen), and set to normal @ 60% (more or less depending on your base.)
Not everyone sharpens their icons, or they wait until the end, I just think this will make the end result clearer and better quality.
02) Curves layer (layer > new adjustment layer > curves)
RGB: I: 108
O: 138
lower the opacity to 80%.
This will brighten your icon. You may need the opacity higher or lower than what I chose, so play around with the opacity of this layer.
03) Color Fill layer (layer > new fill layer > solid color)
#ffe8e8 (light pink) > color burn @100% opacity
This will give your icon a very light, soft pink-ish tone. I prefer to use light pink because it's not as overwhelming of a color as a deeper pink is, and it allows you to try different colorings easily.
04) Color Balance layer (layer > new adjustment layer > color balance)
Midtones: +10, -10, -10
Shadows: +11, 0, +12
Gives the icon (in mine, mainly her hair) a pink-ish tint. Basically, it enhances what you did in the last step.
05) Paste this texture (
) by sanctuarylight and set it to soft light @25% opacity.
This will add more red tones, now mainly in the skin. If you feel that in the end your result is too red, you can probably lower the opacity of this even more, as it gives off a very strong red tone.
06) Duplicate base, bring to top of layers, and set it to soft light @100% opacity.
Since I still felt that a really low opacity the last layer made the icon a BIT too red, I duplicated the base to help reduce the effects of it.
07) Photo Filter layer* (layer > new adjustment layer > photo filter)
Choose the Underwater filer, and lower the density to 10%
This slightly enhances her skin tones.
* This option is only available in CS2 and above, but if you can't do it, your icon won't be too drastically changed in the end.
08) (optional) Paste this texture (
) by me, and set it to soft light @100% opacity
You don't NEED to do this, I just like the effect it gives the icon in the end. (: