More Photoshop Special Effects

Soft glow effect:
Creates a 'romantic' look for portraits. Here's what you have to do:

1. Duplicate layer.

2. Apply 'Gaussian blur' to the new (top) layer. Make it blurry, but leave a little detail.

3. Play around with the blend modes and opacity till reaching desired effect:

'Darken' or 'Multiply' blends darkens image details while softening features and adding a halo. Good for soft, expressive shadows.

'Lighten' or 'Screen' blends lightens the image instead. Good for adding high key or highlight glows.

'Soft Light' and 'Overlay' adds contrast and saturation. Particularly useful for landscapes and still life photos.

Black-and-white-ish:
Creates a metallic black-and-white'ish look, great for for documentary work and subdued portraits, and is achieved by setting the contrast high (curves) and color saturation low.

Color grading:
You can get the same effect in your photos as in some 'color washed' movies. The easy way is to go to 'Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation', click 'Colorize' and use the slide bars to choose your favorite grading. If your goal is well-defined color, it's better to use the 'Edit > Fill' function. Simply select the color you want and set the 'Blending mode' to 'Color'.

Whichever way, it's advised first to duplicate your layer before you start. This will allow you to safeguard some of the original colors by turning the color grading down. Use the 'Opacity' slider in the layer box to do this. If you want a duotone image, just make 2 duplicate layers and give them different color gradings. Mix them together, again with the 'Opacity' slider and the different 'Layer blending mode' options in the layer box.

One example: To give your image a cool green-blue color tone, first create two duplicate layers. Use 'Edit > Fill' to make the first one green and the second one blue. Set opacities to 30 and 60% respectively and select the 'Multiply' blending mode for the top (blue) layer. Adjust levels to get it exactly like you want. Also try adding a soft glow, as described above.

Micro contrast:
This is a fun technique to improve your contrast and draw out texture details in your photos. You can even use it when your overall contrast is already maxed out, using all tonal ranges from pure black to pure white.

The process is comparable to the normal 'Unsharpen Mask', but with some special settings. Go to 'Filter > Sharpen > Unsharpen Mask' and set the 'Amount' to around 20-30%, the 'Radius' to 50-100 pixels and zero on the 'Threshold'. You will get a understated contrast enhancement that, for some pictures at least, works well.

Using any of the above outline effects can enhance your photos and make them works of art. Knowing when to use them however, and when not to use them is just as important as learning how to use them. When to use special effects in your photos is a matter of personal taste and opinion. Many times less is best, so just make sure not to over-do what you do.

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