Source: PS Alliance Author: Sener
This tutorial introduces how to colorize hazy pastel pictures. The general process: first render the background color of the picture, and quickly use the color adjustment tool to add the desired main color. Then slowly brighten the image and render the highlights. Finally, just render the image with an overexposed and soft feeling.
1. Open the original image material, press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + 2 to bring up the highlight selection, create a new layer and fill it with pink: #F2C0B6, change the blending mode to "Screen", and change the opacity to: 60%, this step Increase the brightness of the picture.
2. Create an optional color adjustment layer and adjust the neutral colors and blacks. In this step, add midtones and dark purples.
3. Press Ctrl + J to copy the currently selected color adjustment layer, change the opacity to: 50%, and increase the blue-purple color of the image.
4. Create a Curves adjustment layer and adjust the RGB, red, and blue. This step slightly increases the brightness of the image and adds red and purple.
5. Create a new layer, fill it with pink color: #F2C0B6, change the blending mode to "Screen", and change the opacity to: 20%. Add a layer mask and use a black brush to erase the character part. This step increases the brightness of the background.
6. Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + 2 to bring up the highlight selection, and press Ctrl + Shift + I to invert the selection. Create a new layer and fill it with blue-violet: #7E1C64, change the blending mode to "Screen", and change the opacity to: 30%. This step increases the brightness of the dark areas.
7. Create a color balance adjustment layer and adjust the shadows and midtones. The parameter settings are as shown in Figure 12 and 13, and the effect is as shown in Figure 14. This step adds warmth to the dark and mid-tone areas of the image.
8. Use the elliptical marquee to pull out the elliptical selection shown in the picture below, feather it by 80 pixels and fill it with pink: #F2C0B6. Change the blending mode to "Screen" and the opacity to: 50%. The effect is as shown below. This step renders highlights to the image.
9. Create a new layer, change the blending mode to "Screen", set the foreground color to lavender: #F2B6E5, use a brush to paint the selected part of the picture below with the foreground color, and then reduce the layer opacity appropriately. This step gives Add complementary color to the highlights of the image.
10. Create an optional color adjustment layer and adjust the red, yellow, and white. This step adds a dark blue color to the highlights of the picture.
11. Create a new layer and press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E to stamp the layer. Go to: Filter > Blur > Motion Blur, set the Angle to -45 degrees and the Distance to 150. After confirming, change the layer blending mode to "Soft Light" and the opacity to: 30%. This step softens the image.
12. Create a new layer, use the Elliptical Marquee Tool to pull out the elliptical selection shown in the picture below, feather it by 50 pixels and fill it with reddish brown: #7E1D35, and change the blending mode to "Screen".
13. Create a color balance adjustment layer and fine-tune the color of the highlights.
Finally, stamp the layer, simply buff the character's skin, and then adjust the details to complete the final effect.