Tutorial
Click on thumbnailed images to enlarge
How to turn this:
to this: 
1. We'll start off by opening an image. I used one of the amazing Keira Knightley, courtesy of here. Crop it to your liking. I think this coloring works best with bright to semi-bright celebrity photoshoot photos. To avoid confusion, try using the same image that I'm using.
2. Duplicate your base. Now set the first copy ("Layer 1 copy" or "Background copy") to Screen at 62% opacity. If your picture is already bright, you can lower the opacity. Make sure it's in between 20% to 70%. This basically brightens up your picture, you'll also see why in the next step.
>> 
3. Duplicate your base one more time. Drag it all the way to the top and set it to Soft Light at 100%. This adds some contrast to your image, and the screen we did in the last layer helps tone it out.
>> 
4.Go to Layers >> Adjustment Layers >> Curves. The Curves window will pop up.To make a point, press anywhere in the grid, and put the numbers in the little white boxes that appear in the bottom of the grid. Follow my settings:
Channel: RGB

Channel: Red

Channel: Green

Channel: Blue

This adds some warm red color to it. It will look like this now:

5. Go to Layers >> Adjustment Layers >> Color Balance. The Color Balance window will pop up. Follow my setting:
Midtones: -30 +13 +17
Shadows: +27 +16 -15
Highlights: -8 -13 -2
This makes the red a bit more subtle by adding a touch of yellow. It will look like this now:

6. Go to Layers >> Adjustment Layers >> Channel Mixer. The Channel Mixer window will pop up. Follow my settings:
Output Channel: Red
Red: +110
Green: -24
Blue: -4
Output Channel: Green
Red: +14
Green: +88
Blue: -6
Output Channel: Blue
Red: +32
Green: -2
Blue: +68
This gives the image more blue. It should now look like this:

7. Go to Layer >> New Fill Layer >> Solid Color. Choose #282c6f and set to Exclusion at 10%. This makes it a tad darker.
>> 
8. Go to Layer >> New Fill Layer >> Solid Color. Choose #fe619c and set to Soft Light at 25%. This adds a pink touch to the icon.
Your Final Icon:

Other Results using different pictures:




More Sweet Tutorials?


1. We'll start off by opening an image. I used one of the amazing Keira Knightley, courtesy of here. Crop it to your liking. I think this coloring works best with bright to semi-bright celebrity photoshoot photos. To avoid confusion, try using the same image that I'm using.
2. Duplicate your base. Now set the first copy ("Layer 1 copy" or "Background copy") to Screen at 62% opacity. If your picture is already bright, you can lower the opacity. Make sure it's in between 20% to 70%. This basically brightens up your picture, you'll also see why in the next step.


3. Duplicate your base one more time. Drag it all the way to the top and set it to Soft Light at 100%. This adds some contrast to your image, and the screen we did in the last layer helps tone it out.


4.Go to Layers >> Adjustment Layers >> Curves. The Curves window will pop up.To make a point, press anywhere in the grid, and put the numbers in the little white boxes that appear in the bottom of the grid. Follow my settings:
Channel: RGB

Channel: Red

Channel: Green

Channel: Blue

This adds some warm red color to it. It will look like this now:

5. Go to Layers >> Adjustment Layers >> Color Balance. The Color Balance window will pop up. Follow my setting:
Midtones: -30 +13 +17
Shadows: +27 +16 -15
Highlights: -8 -13 -2
This makes the red a bit more subtle by adding a touch of yellow. It will look like this now:

6. Go to Layers >> Adjustment Layers >> Channel Mixer. The Channel Mixer window will pop up. Follow my settings:
Output Channel: Red
Red: +110
Green: -24
Blue: -4
Output Channel: Green
Red: +14
Green: +88
Blue: -6
Output Channel: Blue
Red: +32
Green: -2
Blue: +68
This gives the image more blue. It should now look like this:

7. Go to Layer >> New Fill Layer >> Solid Color. Choose #282c6f and set to Exclusion at 10%. This makes it a tad darker.


8. Go to Layer >> New Fill Layer >> Solid Color. Choose #fe619c and set to Soft Light at 25%. This adds a pink touch to the icon.
Your Final Icon:

Other Results using different pictures:




More Sweet Tutorials?
Tutorial Comments
Showing latest 10 of 10 comments

this ones my favorite. i use this tutorial all the time ;)
By Peachezx on Jan 5, 2010 12:24 am
I could never understand the whole "Curv Point" thing, but now... I DO! Thank you!! :)
By JayJayBabyy on Oct 14, 2009 12:35 am
beautiful!! I've always wanted to make these kinds of icons ^.^
By kimt08 on Jul 4, 2009 3:25 pm
love itt
By diana170 on Jul 3, 2009 9:07 pm
Added to my favorites :D
By WizardMadds on Jun 28, 2009 4:59 pm
lovely.
By futura on Jun 28, 2009 4:07 am
love it! will definitely try.
By bee24 on Jun 23, 2009 4:35 pm
sweet
By forgetit on Jun 12, 2009 2:48 pm
I love this colouring, it's gorgeous.
By aliiicimo on Jun 5, 2009 12:47 pm
i love the coloring.
its really pretty. =]
By daisyy-yupp on Jun 4, 2009 12:38 pm
Tutorial Details
Author |
broken-doll
![]() |
Submitted on | Jun 4, 2009 |
Page views | 10,026 |
Favorites | 50 |
Comments | 10 |
Reviewer |
manny-the-dino
![]() |
Approved on | Jun 4, 2009 |