Apply vignette to a photo in Photoshop. Background Blur Tools in Photoshop
4 ways
shading in photoshop
When shooting, quite often there is such a situation when some objects turn out to be too light, while others, on the contrary, are too dark.
This is especially true for shooting on a sunny day.
No wonder professionals try to shoot either in the early morning or in the evening, when there is no such strong sun.
The problem of such images is quite easy to solve in Photoshop, there are many methods.
The photos were taken in different conditions, so one way can work for one photo, and another way for a completely different one.
In the lesson "4 ways shading in photoshop" talks about several methods for darkening the main subject, from the simplest to the more complex.
Accordingly, after watching the lesson, you will understand how, on the contrary, not to darken, but to lighten the main subject.
The lesson was made in the Russified SS 2017 program, but can be easily repeated in any version of Photoshop.
The lesson can be completed by a user with any level of Photoshop proficiency - just repeat the steps after me and you will get the desired result.
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- Author - Oleg Nakroshaev
- Duration of the video lesson- 10 min 06 sec
- Picture size - 1280x720
- Video format - MP4
- Archive size - 61 Mb
Lesson transcription:
Good day to all! Oleg Nakroshaev and the PhotoshopSunduchok website are in touch.
Looking through your photos, you often see such a problem - the main subject turned out to be too light. Like in this photo. This photo was taken in the city of Lomonosov. This is the Menshikov Palace. In general, the photo looks good, but the main subject, this part of the castle, turned out to be very bright.
In this tutorial, I want to show you several ways to darken the main subject - from the simplest to the more complex. Why several? In general, there are quite a few ways. The fact is that one way can approach one picture, and the other way to a completely different one. Our photographs are very different. Therefore, I will show you several ways.
So, let's move on to the lesson - let's start with the simplest ways.
Let's go to the "Channels" palette, holding down the "CTRL" key, I click on the "RGB" channel, I have a selection loaded and this is the selection of just the lights in the photo. Now I'm adding a Curves Adjustment Layer. I turn on the Targeted Correction tool - this is a hand with a double-headed arrow. I move over our object and see that for me it is mainly in one quarter tones and approaches semitones. Therefore, I simply, like this, will lower the curve down. For example, like this. Let's see - here was such a photo, here is such a photo we got. Thus, using this method, we darkened the main subject of the shooting. Not only the main subject, but all the lights in the photo. If necessary, you can reduce the opacity of the layer. In the History palette, I'll click on the camera icon and take a photo in history. Just so I can compare later which way is better.
Let's move on to the "Open" state and consider the second method. Let's go to "Selection", choose a command such as "Color Range". Expand the "Select" list and select "Highlight". Thus, we again highlight the light in the photo. With the help of the "Spread" and "Range" sliders, you and I can adjust the amount of light that enters the selection. For example, let it be like this. Click "OK". The selection of lights has loaded. Let's add some curves again and move the curve down to darken the highlights in the photo. For example, like this.
Again, I'll take a picture in the History palette. I will return to the "Open" state. We can already see with you - here is method 1, here is method 2. They are very similar, but the result is of course different.
Let's go to the original image and consider the third method. I will create a copy of the "CTRL + J" layer and go to "Image" - "Correction" - "Shadows / Lights". We have a photo, by default, lightened by 35%. I will remove the lightening by 0, but in the “Lights” section, I will increase the effect, on the contrary, thereby darkening the lights. Well, for example, like this. I'll click OK. There was such a photograph, here is such a photograph we received.
In the sky, we even got such a kind of “HDR” effect. But this method is not always suitable, since we get halos quite often. This can be observed, for example, in trees.
In the "History" palette, I click on the camera icon. Let's go to the original photo and we can see the results of 3 ways already - photos 1, 2 and 3 and let's look at method 4.
In this method, we will use "Channels". Let's go to the Channels palette and look at the red channel. I look at the main subject - in the red channel, the object is too light, the green channel, the blue channel. Here, in the blue channel, the object is more or less darkened and some details appear. Therefore, I will use the blue channel. Although, of course, there are not very many details in it either. I'll go to the Layers palette. I'll add a new layer. Go to "Image" - "External Channel". I open the "Channel" list, select "Blue", "Overlay" - "Normal", 100% opaque. I click "OK". With this action, we have placed a blue channel on a new layer. Now, I'll add another Curves adjustment layer and darken the main subject. This will refine the blue channel. Let it be like this. The top layer is active. While holding "Shift", I click on layer 1 and merge the two layers into a group - "CTRL + G". I set the blending mode for this group to Burn.
Now, my task is to make it so that I put this resulting image on the lower background layer, and put it only in the red channel. We will do this with the help of Layer Styles. I double-click on group 1 with the left mouse button, the “Layer style” window opens and here I give the command - to superimpose the resulting image on the background layer only in the red channel. To do this, I uncheck the green channel and the blue channel. I click "OK". This is the photo we got. Let's restore the colors now. I made the background layer active. I press the key combination "CTRL + J" and transfer the "Background copy" layer to the very top - I press the key combination "Shift + CTRL +]", the picture returned to its original state. Now, for this layer, I simply set the blending mode to "Color". Let's take a look - here we have the original photo, this is the photo we got with you. main object the shot darkened quite well, details appeared, but at the same time the lower right part of the photo darkened too much and the roses that we have in the foreground became too dark. Well, this is natural, since we darkened the red channel.
So what's now? Let's tweak our result a bit. I make the background layer active. Duplicate this layer - "Background copy 2" and place it again on upper layer- "Shift+CTRL+]". Hold down the ALT key and click on Add Layer Mask. A layer mask has been added - it is black. The image is back to its original state. Now, I simply select the Gradient Tool. In the options bar, I'll expand the list of gradients and select the very first one, which is called Foreground to Background. I choose "Linear Gradient" - this is the first icon, among these five. Don't forget to press the "D" key, that is, make your colors default. And now, I'm going to draw the gradient across the bottom right of the image, like this, for example. It didn't work out very well. Therefore, I will draw again and make the gradient a little more authentic. The new gradient will replace the old gradient with us - this is very convenient.
And that's what we got - that's the picture was, that's the picture you and I got. In the "History" palette we will take another picture and now we can already compare - here we have the original picture and 4 results - here is 1, here is 2, here is 3, here is 4. Choose the one that you like best. And as I already noted at the beginning of the lesson, for some photo this result is suitable, for some - another, for the 3rd a completely different way may be suitable.
This lesson is over.
In this tutorial, we looked at 4 ways to darken the main subject.
Thank you for your attention!
Oleg Nakroshaev and PhotoshopSunduchok were with you.
DOWNLOAD SOURCE AND LESSON "4 WAYS DARKNESS IN PHOTOSHOP Back
Tools Clarifier (Dodge Tool), Dimmer (Born Tool) And Sponge Tool refer to the toning tools, as they serve to lighten or darken certain areas of the image. In terms of purpose, these tools are similar to those from the arsenal traditional photography, with which exposure errors are corrected. Using them, you can achieve lightening or darkening, as well as influence the color saturation of individual parts of the image.
Working with these tools is both simple and complex at the same time. On the one hand, in order to lighten any area, you need to use the Dodge tool on this area accordingly. At the same time, it is important not to overexpose the brightener, otherwise the image will be spoiled, so to speak, underexposed, or, in the case of working with the Burner tool, overexposed.
Toolbar.
Tools Clarifier (Dodge Tool), Dimmer (Born Tool) And Sponge Tool on the toolbar are combined into one group. In order to choose right tool, you need to right-click on the tool icon, and select the desired tool from the menu that opens. You can also activate the tool using the hotkey ABOUT(Latin).
Description of the tools.
1. Tool Clarifier (Dodge Tool) designed to lighten certain areas of the image. The brightener is well suited for correcting photographs that have exposure defects. Its use gives good results, since the Dodge analyzes the entire set of image brightnesses and selects the most appropriate correction option. In fact, the tool allows you to produce a local increase in brightness in the area to which it was applied.
2. Tool Dimmer (Born Tool) in action it is completely opposite to the Brightener and is designed to locally reduce the brightness in the area to which the tool was applied.
3. Tool Sponge Tool allows you to simultaneously change the saturation and contrast of the image with minimal effort.
Tool settings panel.
Tools Clarifier (Dodge Tool) And Dimmer (Born Tool) have similar settings. For them, settings such as brush options, selection of areas of influence of tools, exposure option and airbrush selection button are available.
1 . Brush
2 . Range. This parameter is for setting the tool mode. In mode Midtones (Midtones) dark and light pixels are processed with the same intensity. In mode Shadows the dark pixels of the image are processed more strongly. In mode Light (Highlights) light pixels are processed more intensively.
3 . Exposure. This parameter determines the degree of influence of the tool on the selected area of the image. The higher the setting, the sharper and more visible areas will be lightened and darkened. Changes from 0% to 100%.
It is very important to correctly set the force of impact. Many, when experimenting with Photoshop, try the Lighten and Burn tools 100%. And, darkening the image, they get black "holes", and brightening - continuous overexposure. Of course, getting such a result, they no longer return to this tool. But the dodge and dodge tools are a subtle tool. If you are working on shadows or highlights, try an exposure strength of 7-10%, and if with neutral areas - 10-20%. For each case, the impact force is selected separately, but after working a little with this tool, you will begin to feel what kind of impact is needed in each specific case.
4 . Airbrush. The last parameter allows you to enable and disable the airbrush mode. When it is disabled, the tool acts like the Brush tool, that is, when the mouse cursor stops moving, the tool stops its action, even if the mouse button is pressed. When you turn on the airbrush mode, the tool acts like the airbrush tool, that is, the tool has its effect as long as the left mouse button is pressed, regardless of whether the cursor is moving or not.
Tool Settings Panel Sponge Tool has the following form:
1 . Brush. The parameter determines the settings for the shape, size and hardness of the tool's brush.
2 . Mode. This parameter allows you to switch between the operating modes of the tool. When using the tool Sponge Tool in mode Reduce saturation (Desaturate) the saturation of the original colors of the image decreases, and when working in Y mode increase saturation (Saturate)- increases.
3 . Pressure (Flow). The parameter is responsible for the force of the tool. Changes from 0% to 100%.
4 . Airbrush. When the button is pressed, the tool starts to work in spray mode.
So, we looked at the three toning tools and got acquainted with their properties and settings. Summing up, it is worth saying that the toning tools are most suitable in cases where you need to make subtle corrections, depict shadows or enhance highlights. To improve the visual quality of graphic information, use these tools in small doses.
Peripheral dimming or "vignette" used by masters to focus the viewer's attention on the central part of the image. It is worth noting that vignettes can be not only dark, but also light, as well as blurry.
In this tutorial, we'll talk specifically about dark vignettes and learn how to create them in different ways.
For the lesson, a photo of a birch grove was selected and a copy of the original layer was made ( CTRL+J).
Method 1: manual creation
As the name implies, this method involves manually creating a vignette using a fill and a mask.
Opacity is selected individually for each work.
Method 2: Feather Selection
This is a method using feathering an oval area, followed by a fill. Do not forget that we draw the vignette on a new empty layer.
1. Choose a tool "Oval Region".
2. Create a selection in the center of the image.
3. This selection must be inverted, since we will have to fill with black not the center of the picture, but the edges. This is done with a keyboard shortcut. CTRL+SHIFT+I.
4. Now press the keyboard shortcut SHIFT+F6, bringing up the feathering settings window. The value of the radius is selected individually, we can only say that it should be large.
5. Fill the selection with black ( SHIFT+F5, black color).
6. Deselect ( CTRL+D) and reduce the opacity of the vignette layer.
Method 3: Gaussian Blur
First, let's repeat the initial points (new layer, oval selection, invert). Fill the selection with black without feathering and deselect ( CTRL+D).
1. Go to the menu "Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur".
2. Use the slider to adjust the blurring of the vignette. Note that too large a radius can darken the center of the image. Don't forget that after blurring we will lower the opacity of the layer, so don't be too zealous.
3. Lower the opacity of the layer.
Method 4: Lens Correction filter
This method can be called the simplest of all of the above. However, it is not always applicable.
There is no need to create a new layer, since the actions are performed on a copy of the background.
1. Go to the menu "Filter - Distortion Correction".
2. Go to the tab "Custom" and set up the vignette in the corresponding block.
This filter will only apply to the active layer.
Today you learned four ways to create darkening on the edges (vignettes) in Photoshop. Choose the most convenient and suitable for a particular situation.
Instruction
Photoshop is known to be professional graphic editor with very large tools, so the options for dimming the background are countless. You can just use a dimming brush on the picture, you can select the main characters on a separate layer with the help of a lasso and dim the brightness of the background layer, or just use some kind of light filter. We want to offer you another way. At first glance, it looks a little complicated, but in fact, nothing difficult or unusual is necessary, and the result of such darkening looks very natural and beautiful.
For successful work we need the Quick Mask and the Gradient located on the toolbar. The kind of gradient you choose will depend on the shape of the main element of the photo. For example, when working with a portrait, choose gradient two with rays radiating from the center, but in our case it will use gradient number 4, which will give us a smooth transition along the entire main element.
Click the Quick Mask button. Go to the Gradient Tool, select the one that suits you best and apply the gradient to the image so that the main element is filled with red. It should look something like this.
Press the Quick Mask button again to exit its mode. Use the keyboard shortcuts CTRL + J to copy the selection to a new layer. Go to the menu items Image - Adjustments - Brightness / Contrast. Move the sliders to decrease the brightness of the layer and increase or decrease its contrast. It all depends on how you would like to see the future photo. If it also darkens areas that you would like to leave light, there is nothing to worry about. Turn on the layer mask and, alternating white and soft brushes, remove or add darkening to the desired area of the image.
Today it is already hard to believe, but there was a time, and not so long ago, when cameras were not digital, and photo processing was carried out in a laboratory, and not on a computer.
Digital cameras and Photoshop have taken photo editing from the darkroom to your living room ( Or where is your computer), but many of Photoshop's tools and features are rooted in traditional developing.
Two clear examples This one is Photoshop's Dodge and Dodge tools, both of which are located in the Tools Palette. The terms "lighten" and "darken" refer to methods that have been used to either lighten ( Dodge) or dim ( Burn) specific areas of the photo, increasing or limiting the exposure of reagents to certain areas.
Photoshop's Dodge and Burn tools are digital versions of these methods and are often used to either lighten underexposed areas of a photo or darken overexposed areas.
Although these two tools are very useful, however, both have one very serious drawback: they can permanently distort your image. It's best to save a copy when you start working in Photoshop so you can always get the original photo back. This is often referred to as "non-destructive" work in Photoshop, and you should always apply it whenever possible.
Luckily, Adobe has provided us with a variety of non-destructive methods for working on images, and in this photo editing article, we'll cover one of them. We'll look at a great technique for selectively controlling the exposure of a photo, by lightening and darkening specific areas.
It produces results very similar to what we could achieve with the Dodge and Burn tools, but without compromising the pixels in the image.
We have a photo of one of the very common problems. The newlyweds should be in the main focus of the image, but due to the direction of the sun and the lack of a fill flash effect, the couple looks too dark, while the background came out too bright:
original photo
Using only Photoshop's Dodge and Burn tools and a layer's blend mode, we can easily fix the flaws in this image:
Photo after lightening and darkening specific areas
Let's get started!
Step 1: Add a New Layer
Open the image, then press and hold the Alt key ( Win) / Option ( Mac) and click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:
Hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and click on the New Layer icon
Thus, we add a new layer on top of the current one. But holding the Alt key ( Win) / Option ( Mac) when clicking the New Layer icon, we are telling Photoshop that we need to open the New Layer dialog box before the layer is added.
This will give us the opportunity to give the layer a name, and it will also allow us to change a few important parameters. Since I'll be using this layer to lighten and darken some areas, I'll name it "Dodge and Burn". You don't have to name the layer separately if you don't want to, but naming layers is a very useful habit:
Name the new layer "Dodge and Burn" (optional)
However, what we really need the New Layer window for is to change the option at the very bottom of the window - Mode. "Mode" is an abbreviation for " Layer blend mode”, and by default it is set to “Normal”. Change " Blend Mode» to «Overlapping»:
Change the "Blend Mode" of the new layer to "Overlay"
In short, the Overlay blending mode belongs to the Contrast mode group and is often used to increase the contrast of an image. Any parts of the layer that are lighter than 50% gray ( refers to a shade of gray exactly in the middle between black and white) are used to lighten the image.
While areas darker than 50% gray are used to darken them. Any areas that are exactly 50% gray are completely ignored by Photoshop and become transparent. We will now see how this works in practice.
In the Overlay blend mode, you will see a new option in the dialog box - " Fill with a neutral color (50% gray)". Check the box to enable this option:
Check the box to enable the "Fill with a neutral color (50% gray)" option
This tells Photoshop to fill our new layer with 50% gray. Once you're done, click the OK button to exit the dialog box. If we look in the layers palette now, we will see a new layer called "Dodge and Burn" above the background.
We have the blending mode set to Overlay for this layer, and if we look at its thumbnail to the left of the name, we can see that this layer is filled with gray:
New "Dodge and Burn" layer in the Layers palette
I noted earlier that when the layer's blend mode is set to Overlay, any areas of the layer that are 50% gray become transparent. And, if we look at our image, we can see that even though the "Dodge and Burn" layer is filled with solid gray, we see our original photo. The gray color of the Dodge and Burn layer is completely transparent:
The solid gray of the "Dodge and Burn" layer is transparent in the document window
Step 2: Select the Brush Tool
We're going to lighten and darken different areas of the image by simply painting white or black areas over them. Areas painted with white will become lighter, areas painted with black will become darker. Again, this is because we'll be painting them on a layer that has its blend mode set to Overlay.
However, before we can paint over anything, we must select the Brush tool. To do this, either select " Brush"From the tool palette, or press the key" B" on the keyboard:
Select the Brush tool
Step 3: Set the foreground color to white
I want to start by lightening a few areas. This means I need to draw white areas on them. So I need to set the color foreground to white because the Brush tool paints with the color set as the foreground color. Press the "D" key on your keyboard, which resets the text and background colors to their default settings. Black is set as the foreground color, white as the background color.
To swap them, press the X key on your keyboard. If we look at the Foreground and Background color swatches side by side at the bottom of the Tools palette, we can see that white is now set as the Foreground color:
Foreground color swatch in the tool palette
Step 4: Lower The Opacity Of The Brush To 10 - 20%
It is best when working with this technique to gradually increase the amount of lightening and darkening that we apply, because even a small amount can sometimes be quite enough. So we have to work with a low opacity brush. Make sure you have the Brush Tool selected, then go to the Options Bar at the top of the screen and lower the Opacity to 10-20%. I set the value to 10%.
This way, every time I paint over the same area, I will increase the light or dark intensity by 10%, which gives me more wiggle room:
Lower the brush opacity in the options bar
Step 5: Paint Over The Areas You Want To Lighten
With the Brush tool selected, white as the foreground color and reduced opacity, simply paint over the areas of the photo that you want to brighten. The first time the effect will be quite subtle due to the low opacity of the brush.
But if you need more lightening certain areas, just paint over them a few times. You can change the brush size if needed. If you want to use a soft-edged brush, you can make the edges of the brush softer by clicking the left arrow a few times while holding down the Shift key. Pressing the right arrow while holding down Shift hardens the edges.
I want to paint over the newlywed couple themselves, so I need to paint a few strokes on them with a medium soft brush. Each time I paint over areas, I will increase their brightness by 10%. Therefore, walk over the figures of the newlyweds 3 or 4 times.
The faces in the photo look especially dark, so this area may need to be processed further.
Paint over with white the areas of the photo you want to brighten.
Step 6: Set The Foreground Color To Black
When you're done with the highlight areas, press the "X" key to swap the foreground and background colors:
Color swatches in the tool palette. Black is set as the foreground color
Step 7: Paint Over Areas That Should Be Darkened
With the foreground color set to black, paint over the areas of the photo that should be darkened. Again, each time you paint over the same area, you will increase the intensity of the darkening. In my case, I want to darken the space behind the pair, so I need to use a large brush and paint over the area around the pair a few times:
