How to go from this
to
THIS COLORING DOES NOT WORK WITH ALL IMAGES!!!!
Start out with your image. I'm going to start out with a screencap of Tyra from Friday Night Lights. Screencaps are from
In A Dream.
Crop it how you would like and resize it to 200x200 (Or 100x100, I just like starting larger because it makes the image more crisp in my opinion)
Pretty picture of Tyra, but wayyyy too dark. So, let's lighten it up a bit eh? Duplicate your layer and set it to screen. You now have this...
Brighter, but not contrasted enough... So select all of your image and go to Edit: Copy Merged then paste and set this layer to Soft Light
Next we want to add some coloring, so we're going to add a selective coloring layer with these settings:
CYANS;
Cyan: 100%
Magneta: -100%
Yellow: -100%
Black: 100%
BLUES;
Cyan: 100%
Magneta: -100%
Yellow: -100%
Black: 100%
NEUTRALS;
Cyan: -33%
Magneta: 12%
Yellow: 26%
Black: -11%
You should end up with something like this...
Looks better already, but I'd like to have it a little sharper. So, go back to your screen layer and sharpen. I like to sharpen the screen layer because you can sharpen it without over sharpening the whole icon.
We're getting there, but I feel the icon is still too dark, so I duplicate the screen layer (keeping it under the softlight layer)
Then just for fun, I sharpen the new duplicated screen layer once.
Now we're in the home stretch. Resize your icon to 100x100
Now, just for my own personal preference I like sharp, crisp icons. So I sharpen the screen layer one more time.
Then, again, for my personal preference, I dont like how sharp the background is so I use the smudge tool to sharpen it on the base layer. Not that much of a difference, but I like it better.
VIOLA. NOW YOU HAVE A BRIGHT, SHINY, CRISP ICON :]
Enjoy and Feel free to ask any questions you have! :]
Other Friday Night Light Examples:
EXAMPLES OF THIS COLORING IN VARIOUS FANDOMS!
some are modified a little :]
arrested development
bones
grey's anatomy
lost
the oc
the office
prison break
smallville