1. Open Photoshop. 2. Go to File>Open (Command O). 1
3. Navigate to your file, select it and open it. 2
4. Fix your photo. If it s too light, darken it. If it s too dark, lighten it. To do that, add a Brightness and Contrast adjustment layer. It s the first icon in the Adjustments Panel. As you hover over the Adjustment Layers, it will tell you what each Adjustment Layer does. My photo is dark so I ll lighten it a little. 3
5. Now, adjust the sliders so that your image looks good. Remember, you still want the proper tonal contrast of pure blacks and pure whites. 4
6. Here s how I adjusted my photo. 5
7. Now, every photo needs sharpened. DO NOT OVERSHARPEN. There are many ways to sharpen an image, but I prefer this style. To sharpen your photo, right click on your Background layer and duplicate it and click OK. 6
8. Now, select the Background copy layer and navigate to Filter>Other>High Pass. 7
9. Adjust your Pixels slider until your image is visable but not too dark, then click OK. 8
10. Your image will be totally gray. 9
11. Now, go to the Blending Modes drop down and select Linear Light. 10
Central Photography 12.You will see that your image has been sharpened significantly. Try turning the Background copy layer off and on by clicking on the eyeball to the left of the layer. 11
13. Turn your image black and white by adding a Black and White adjustment layer. Select the Background copy layer and click on the Black and White adjustment layer. 12
14. When you add the Black and White adjustment layer, a pop up will appear. You have the option of playing with the Presets or adjusting your image manually using the sliders. Experiment and adjust your photo to your liking. Remember that your image should have good tonal range, which is an even mix of blacks, whites and grays. 13
15. I selected the Neutral Density preset because it made my cat s eyes pop. 16. To do the effect, select the focal point and that s what you want to keep in color. I selected the cat s eyes to keep in color. 17. You ll notice that Photoshop added a white box to the right side of your adjustment layers. These boxes are called Masks. White reveals the mask and black hides the mask. 18. Be sure to select your mask, as shown above. 14
19. To hide the mask over the cat s eyes and show the color underneath the mask, we need to select a Brush Tool in the Tools Pallet. 20. Now, go to the Color Picker at the bottom of the Tools Pallet. Because your mask is selected, it should be black and white. However, you want black on top. The color on top is called the Foreground color and the color below is called the Background color. We are going to paint a hole in your white mask, so we want black to be our Foreground color. If needed, switch black to the Foreground color by clicking the arrow in the Color Picker box. 15
21. Change the size of your brush in the tool bar at the top left of the panel. 16
Central Photography 22.Now, zoom in on your subject and paint on black to reveal the color underneath. 23.If you mess up painting on black, simply use the arrow in the Color Picker box to flip back to white. Use the white brush to correct your mistake. Then flip back to black to finish your color splash. 17
24. When you are done, save your file for the web. Go to File>Save for Web. 18
25. In this panel, select JPEG. Then look at the file size at the lower left of the panel. Your goal is to get your image close to 100K. It s better to be too big than too small. My camera is full frame and high resolution, so getting my files to 100K is hard. So I set my quality to LOW. You may need to adjust the quality to get your file the right size. 19
26. Now, click Save and save your file in your folder. I like to name my files with web in them so I know which file to add to the website. 27. Add your assignment to your website for grading. Be sure to label your assignment. 20