Photoshop Gradient Map Tutorials for Beginners

One of the most useful Photoshop adjustment layer is the Gradient Map that you can use to enhance your photos. You can use a gradient map as a non invasive method in which you can change the color map of your image, adding multiple color effects. Using Photoshop gradients(GRD files) you can create virtually unlimited number of color effects.
I will start this tutorial by saying that I am not a Photoshop master so I get a little confused sometimes; for example in this tutorial I will explain for all the Photoshop beginners a quick way to enhance a photo by using a Gradient Map. As you will see if you open the fill or adjustment layer tab we have to gradient options: the Gradient (Fill) and the Gradient Map; so the question is which one to choose and use? And of course what is the difference between the two of them. For the first question I will choose the first option, the Gradient (Fill) instead of the Gradient Map. For the second question I have no answer.

Gradient Map and Gradient Fill Adjustment Layers

A Gradient Map is in fact an adjustment layer that can be applied to a layer/multiple layers and to enhance the image result. Learn more about adjustment layers from this tutorial.

So let's start with a beautiful premade background. Add a Gradient adjustment like shown in the image.

Click on the gradient to open the Gradient Editor; there you can change the existing gradient, create one yourself or you can load and use one of the many Photoshop gradients available for free on the internet.

Now set the Blend Mode of the gradient map to Overlay and the opacity 45%

You can play with different gradients and you can obtain beautiful results in just a few minutes using Photoshop gradient map adjustments. In the same way you can use the Gradient Map instead of the Gradient (Fill) and see which of the results suits you best.

A Photo Inside a Photo

In this Photoshop tutorial, we are going to create a photo inside a photo in Photoshop. This effect will bring the main subject of your photo in the spotlight by creating the illusion of a smaller, cropped version of the photo within itself.

1. Open whatever image you would like to work on in Photoshop. This is the image we will be using for creating a photo inside a photo:

2. Duplicate the background layer.

3. Go to: Filter > Blur > Radial Blur and make the following changes:

4. Create a new layer. Name this layer as Photo.

5. Use the Rounded Rectangle Tool to draw in a rectangle.

6.  Right click on the shape and choose Fill Path.

7. Choose 50% Gray and click OK.

8. Double click the Photo layer to open Layer Style.
    Make the following changes:

9. Right click the Photo layer and choose Delete Path.

10. Duplicate the Background layer once again and place it over the Photo layer in the Layer Panel.

11. Right click on the layer thumbnail of this new background layer and choose Radial Blur.

12. Go back to the Photo layer.

13. Press CTRL+T to rotate the Photo layer.

14. Now create an Adjustment layer and choose Curves. Then make the following changes:

That’s it,

Final Picture:

Sin City Style Photoshop Tutorial

Beautifull Sin City Art photoshop effect video tutorial .
Sin City Style Photoshop Tutorial - The best free videos are right here

How to Smooth Skin Without Losing Texture in Photoshop

There are several ways to smooth skin in Photoshop. All to often, however, skin can appear too smooth, fake, and synthetic. Today I will demonstrate a straightforward technique to help you smooth skin fairly quickly while preserving the texture of the pores. Let’s get started!

Final Image Preview

Take a look at the final image that we will be creating.

Original Image

Before we begin, let’s take a look at the original image.

Step 1

First, open your image and duplicate your background layer. Simply drag the layer onto the new layer icon in the bottom right of the layer palette. Now set the blending mode of this newly created layer to "Vivid Light."

Step 2

Now, let’s invert this layer. Do this by pressing Cmd + I or Image > Adjustments > Invert. Then, apply a Gaussian Blur by selecting Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Applying a blur filter to an inverted picture will make it look shaper. Use the slider until you can see the pores on her face.

Step 3

Now let smooth the skin! Go to Filter > Other >High Pass. Move the slider until you are happy with the smoothing. You may notice some ghosting and other weird stuff around the eyes – just ignore it for now. Concentrate on the cheeks, forehead and nose.

Step 4

Almost done! Create a new mask for the layer and fill it with black to hide the image. Switch your color to white, select the mask and start drawing on the skin with a soft brush. Start at the cheeks, move over to the forehead, the nose and stop on the chin. If the effect is too strong for your liking, just lover the opacity of the brush and you’re good to go!

Final Image

We’re finished! I hope that you learned a few new techniques here. If you have a different approach, let me know in the comments!

Pixelated Portrait Effect

In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to add a subtle and stylish pixelated effect to portrait photographs.

With your photo open in Photoshop, first duplicate it's layer by dragging it to the new layer button at the bottom of the layer's panel.

 

Select the copied layer and go to Filter>Pixelate>Mosaic.

The Cell Size you use will depend on the size of your photo, for this one I've used 25.

Next give the layer a layer mask by clicking on the layer mask button.

Select the Gradient Tool and use a black to white Linear Gradient.

With the layer mask thumbnail selected, draw the gradient horizontally across a small part of the front of the face, or wherever you want the pixels to begin.

Finally set the Layer's blending mode to Hard Light, and take it's Opacity down to 70%.

Here's the Final Result..

Taking Memorable Photos of Children

By Nancy Hill

Children are a favorite subject for many photographers. Advertisers know a photo of an adorable child will grab people’s attention. Fundraisers know an image of a sick, wounded, or sad child will bring in donations. And parents cannot imagine a better subject than their child. Parents take cameras to sporting events, school functions, and parties. It seems like every moment of a child’s life is documented either in a still photograph or in a video. But how many photos of children are truly memorable?
Here are some tips on getting shots that draw total strangers into your photographs of children.

Take Time to Get to Know the Child
Most children let you into their world quickly. Before you start taking a picture, spend at least 10 minutes talking to the child. Ask questions about things that interest the child. Good openers include:
“Do you like bugs?”
“Would you rather be a giraffe or a butterfly?”
“What’s your favorite game?
Pay attention to how the child responds. Does he/she make eye contact? Capture that confidence when you take his/her picture. Does the child laugh at the questions or seriously contemplate them? Look for that sense of whimsy or pensive side when you take the picture. Does the child doodle when he/she responds? Then look for ways to show the child is creative. Does the child twist her hair while she’s thinking? Great. Include that in a photo.
If you’re taking photos of your own child, you already know your child’s personality traits, his/her habits, his/her facial expressions. Capture those instead of (or in addition to) a posed in-front-of-the-camera smile.

Observe, Observe, Observe
After you talk to the child, explain you’re going to get your camera ready and back away. The child will soon lose interest in you, giving you a chance to observe the child relating to the world. Inquisitive? Intent? Distracted? Capture that in your images.
If you’re taking photos of your own child, try observing your child as if you don’t know him/her at all. You’ll probably see some things you haven’t noticed before.

Be Unobtrusive
Use a telephoto lens. The best photographs of children are those when a kid is acting like a kid. To capture that and all the emotions that go with it, you need to be an unobtrusive as possible. Use a telephoto lens so you can have some real distance between you and the child. This will help the child tune you out and do whatever he or she does best, whether it’s play, dream, run around, make up stories. Capture that.
Alternately, move in close to the child to capture a curve of the cheek, curls tumbling down a forehead, eyes deep in thought.

Show the Child’s Environment
Try to take your photographs in a place that means something to the child. A bedroom, playroom, playground, field – all of these say something about how the child relates to the world. Does the child run freely across the open field or sit quietly reading a book? Does the child see how high he or she can climb a tree or does he/she prefer to lean against it and pet his/her dog? Is the child’s room spotless, showing the child’s organizational bent, or is it a wild jumble of clothes and toys?

Look for the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
Take photos of the child doing everyday things like eating breakfast, elbows on the table, hair not yet combed; sleeping, curled up with a favorite animals or spread eagle, blankets off, bold even in sleep; doing homework, scowling over a difficult problem or with one eye on the TV. These say a whole lot about who the child is, which is way more moving than a posed photo with perfectly combed hair and a brand new outfit.

Try Shooting in Black and White
This really adds drama. Check it out. You can have black and white prints made from color negatives. You can also turn digital prints into black and white either in your camera (depending on which camera you use) or in a photo software program.

Above all, respect the child’s world. It is complex, compelling, and very, very deep.

How to design Blog Calendar Icon in Photoshop

In this Photoshop tutorial you will learn how to design Blog Calendar Icon. We will be using some tools like Rectangle Tool, Marquee Selection Tool, Horizontal Type tool etc. We will also learn some Layer Styles techniques like, Gradient Overlay, Inner Glow, Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow etc. Nice tutorial for those who are new to Photoshop and wanted to learn Icon Design technique. Lets start.

Step 1:

Let’s start out by creating a new file. I used a 200×200 pixels canvas set at 72dpi, and I filled my background with #D0E8EA color shade. In a new layer, draw a gray rectangle with #A7A7A7 color shade and 96 x 63 px dimensions.

Step 2:

Under Layer add a Gradient Overlay blending option to your gray rectangle layer.

Result:

Step 3:

In a new layer, draw a white rectangle with 92 x 45 px dimensions. Then cut the bottom left corner as shown below.

Step 4:

Under Layer Style (Layer > Layer Style) add a Gradient Overlay blending option to your white rectangle layer.

Result:

Step 5:

In a new layer, draw a light gray right triangle on the cut out corner of the white rectangle. Then in another layer, draw a red rectangle with #FF0000 color shade and 92 x 17 px dimensions.

Step 6:

Under Layer Style (Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Glow blending option to the red rectangle layer.

Result:

Step 7:

In a new layer, draw a small gray rectangle with #D2D2D2 color shade and 6 x 12 px dimensions as shown below.

Step 8:

Under Layer Style (Layer > Layer Style) add a Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, and Gradient Overlay blending options to the small gray rectangle layer.

Result:

Step 9:

Duplicate the small gray rectangle design and place it as shown below. Now select the Horizontal Type Tool then set the font family to Arial, regular, 12 pt, none and white color shade. In a new text layer type the month on the middle of the small gray rectangle designs.

Step 10:

In a new text layer add the day using font Arial, bold, 20 pt, smooth, and #6D6D6D color shade. Then in another text layer add the month below the day with smaller fonts.

Results:

So here is our Final Clean Blog Calendar Icon Design which we just made in Photoshop, hopefully you like working on it and learn something by following this tutorial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pure White Portrait Retouch

Learn how to whiten skin and hair in this quick Photoshop tutorial.

The original photo is a little bit warm, so first we’ll add a Photo Filter adjustment layer set to Cooling filter (80) with a Density of 60%.

Next we”ll bring the saturation way down. Add a Hue/Saturation layer and bring the saturation down to -90%.

The last Adjustment Layer we’ll add is a Curves layer.

Add two points to the chart, one at the dark side, one at the light side. Arrange them as shown above.

Next we’ll slowly start to bring back some colour.

Click on the Hue/Saturation layer’s layer mask.

Take a large black brush with it’s Hardness at 10% and it’s Opacity at 5%. Paint over the whole model in one stroke.

Then paint over the model again, but this time leaving out the hair.

Next paint over the area around each eye.

Now reduce the size of the brush and paint inside each eye and around the edges.

And then paint over the lips, not quite up to the edge.

Decrease the size of the brush again, and bring the Opacity up to 30%. Now paint over the iris of each eye.

Finally using a brush only a few pixelas wide and set to 10% Opacity, paint over the darkest parts of the eyes and lips.

With the brush set to 50% Opacity, paint over the necklace.

Now go back to the Curves layer and click on it’s layer mask.

Take a small black brush set to Overlay.

Paint over the eyebrows to darken them.

And use a smaller brush to darken the eyelashes.

And here’s the final result.