1. Day turns into night
In order to better reflect the atmosphere of Christmas night, the first thing we need to do is to adjust the color tone of the picture material to make it look more mysterious and beautiful.
The first step: color preparation. First of all, we need to colorize the picture materials prepared in advance to make the picture darker and colder. Start Photoshop CS2, click the "File → Open" command in the menu bar, find the prepared picture material from the pop-up dialog box, and import it into the workspace, as shown in Figure 1. The current picture shows that it is during the day. Our next job is to adjust the color tone of the photo to turn day into night.
Step 2: Adjust brightness and contrast. In the Layers Panel, drag the "Background" layer to the "Create New Layer" button below to create a new layer - the "Background Copy" layer. Next, click the "Image→Adjustment→Brightness/Contrast" command in the menu bar to open the "Brightness/Contrast" dialog box. Adjust the "brightness" parameter value to -83; adjust the "contrast" parameter value to 57, as shown in Figure 2.
Step 3: Continue to adjust the color tone of the picture material. Click the "Image→Adjustment→Curve" command in the menu bar to open the "Curve" dialog box. Adjust the "output" parameter value to 126; the "input" parameter value to 145, as shown in Figure 3. Click the "OK" button to return. At this time, the picture scenery already has the "flavor" of Krishna.
2. Add flying snow
Adding the effect of flying snow to the picture material can highlight the festive atmosphere and make the picture more beautiful.
Step 1: Add the noise effect. Click the "Create New Layer" button below the layer panel to create a new layer - the "Layer 1" layer. Next, set the "Foreground Color" to black and the "Background Color" to white in the toolbox, then click the "Paint Bucket" tool in the toolbox and set layer 1 to black. Then click the "Filter → Noise → Add Noise" command in the menu bar to open the "Add Noise" dialog box. Set the "Quantity" parameter value to 400%, select "Gaussian Distribution" in the "Distribution" area and check the "Single Color" checkbox in the lower left corner of the dialog box, as shown in Figure 4.
Step 2: Set the snowflake effect. Click the "Filter→Others→Custom" command in the menu bar again to open the "Customize" dialog box. Enter the value 300 in the upper left corner, enter the value -300 in the lower left corner, set the value in the middle area to 5, and the surrounding values are -100, as shown in Figure 5, click the "OK" button to return. In actual operation, you can change these values according to the size of the actual picture. The ultimate goal is to make the noise become small dots, like small stars.
Step 3: Further set up the snowflake effect. Click the "Rectangular Marquee Tool" button in the toolbox, draw an area on layer 1, press the shortcut keys Ctrl+C to copy, and press the Ctrl+V keys to paste, so that a new layer is automatically created-- Layer 2. Click the "Edit → Free Transform" command in the menu bar, enlarge the picture in layer 2 to the same size as the stage, and press Enter to confirm. Then set the "Layer Blending Mode" of layer 2 to "Screen" in the layer panel, then click the "eye" icon in front of layer 1 to hide it, so that the prototype of the snowflake appears, such as As shown in Figure 6.
Step 4: Follow the above operation method, then select a part of the area in layer 2, copy and paste it to form layer 3, and press the shortcut key Ctrl+T to freely transform it, enlarge the copied area, and at the same time, Change the "Layer Blending Mode" setting of layer 3 to "Screen". Next, click the "Add Layer Mask" button below the layer panel to create a layer mask for layer 3, click the "Gradient Tool" button in the toolbox, and set the foreground color to "black". The "Background Color" is white, then set the gradient type to "Linear Gradient" in the properties toolbar that appears, and then pull a gradient line vertically from the top to the bottom of the image, as shown in Figure 7. Follow the above method, then add a layer mask to layer 2 and perform a linear gradient. In this way, the snowing scene is completed.
3. Add lights to the Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is an indispensable part of Christmas. Our job below is to hang an ordinary tree with countless colored lights to create the effect of a Christmas tree.
Step 1: Choose a color and add colored dots. Click the "Create New Layer" button below the layer panel to create a new layer - the "Layer 4" layer. Next, set the "Foreground Color" to yellow, then click the "Brush" tool in the toolbox, set the size and hardness of the brush from the pop-up property toolbar, select a tree in the picture as the Christmas tree, and put it on top Put on colored dots, like lanterns. The color and size of the brush can be appropriately changed during the point process, as shown in Figure 8.
Step 2: Set up the lantern effect. Click the "Add Layer Style" button below the layer panel, select the "Outer Glow" command from the pop-up menu, and enter the "Layer Style" dialog box. In the "Pixel" area of the "Outer Glow" layer style, set the "Expand" parameter value to 3% and the "Size" parameter value to 70 pixels, then check the "Inner Glow" option and enter Among them, set the "Blocking" parameter value in the "Pixel" area to 2%; the "Size" parameter value is 70. You can adjust other parameter values according to the actual situation of the picture, as shown in Figure 9.
Step 3: Add lighting effects to the house. Judging from the overall picture effect, the dark house is obviously a little out of place. Next, we will add lighting effects to the house. Click the "Filter→Rendering→Lens Flare" command in the menu bar to open the "Lens Flare" dialog box, set the "Brightness" parameter value to 27%, then select a lens type, and then preview Move the light focus in the window to the appropriate position in the house, as shown in Figure 10. Click the "OK" button to return and the lighting effects will be added to the house. If you think one light is less, you can add a few more lights according to the above steps.
Through the above, we have produced the Christmas Eve effect, and the final effect is shown in Figure 11.
