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How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

In this tutorial I will show you how I created a colorful photo manipulation using Photoshop brushes, different adjustment layers, and more. Let’s get started!

Final Image Preview

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4

Create a new document (Ctrl+N) in Adobe Photoshop with the size 1920px by 1200px (RGB color mode) at a resolution of 72 pixels/inch. Select then the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to fill the new background layer with #EBF4F3 color.

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Then choose the Rectangle Tool (U) to draw a rectangle, like the next one:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Set Fill to 0% for this layer in Layers panel:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Select Add a layer style from bottom part of the Layers panel and click to Gradient Overlay:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Click in the color bar to open the Gradient Editor and set the color stops as shown. Click OK to close the Gradient Editor dialog box.

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
We’ve got the next floor:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Find a stock photo with a model represented on it, I used this photo from deviantart. I would like to thank the author of this photo:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Remove the background using your favorite tools like Pen Tool (P), Magic Wand Tool (W), Magnetic Lasso (L) or even a simple Filter>Extract. Make a copy of this layer (Ctrl+J), click the visibility button on this copy, we’ll need this layer later:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Click on the bottom part of the Layers’ panel on the next icon Create new fill or adjustment layer and select Levels to make some color corrections

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Raise the contrast of the picture:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Put the mouse cursor between the layers and hold on the Alt button while clicking on the left button. The top layer will be transformed into a mask:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Next we’ll add another adjustment layer. Click on the bottom part of the Layers’ panel on the Create new fill or adjustment layer and select Hue/Saturation:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Reduce the color saturation:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Transform it into a mask too. Click on this layer on the Layers’ panel, select the mask and using a brush from the Brush Tool (B) of black color paint the opened zones (skin) on the girl’s body:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Add another adjustment layer. Click on the bottom part of the Layers’ panel on the Create new fill or adjustment layer and select Curves:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Set the options for raising the contrast. Paint the body’s zones in the mask too and a little on the girl’s clothes, only on those places with a high contrast.

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
This is the result we should get:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Make the girl’s reflection on the floor. Let’s activate the copy of the girl’s layer and turn it around, applying Free Transform (Ctrl+T). Choose the Eraser Tool (E) to erase the same places demonstrated below:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Then select a Soft Round brush of black color with the Opacity of 20% and represent a shadow on a new layer:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
The brush’s settings:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Create a new layer, representing here the shadow around the girl. Choose the same options applied before for the Soft Round brush, but enlarge the brush’s size, using the button ].

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Create a new layer select a Soft Round brush and insert here a spot of the color #6DCFF6. Opacity20%.

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Create a new file with the size 500px by 500px (RGB color mode) at a resolution of 72 pixels/inch. Select the Soft Round brush of black color and set the next shown options for it:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Let’s put a brushstroke, like the next one:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Then choose Filter>Pixelate>Color halftone and set the next demonstrated settings:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
It’s the result we’ll get on this stage:

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4
Select this layer and place it on a new layer on our basic document, changing the Blending Mode to Darker Color and set Fill to 40%.

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4

How to Create a Colorful Photo Manipulation in Photoshop CS4

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