Current mood:	productive
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Entry tags:	i'm being productive, icons, icons: tutorials

Icon Tutorial; Coloring For Dark, Dull Images

this to this



Made in: GIMP
Steps: 7 (2 optional)
Difficulty: Easy
Works on: Dark, dull images.


Merge= merge all layers. Can be done by right-clicking the top layer and selecting Merge Down, or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+M.
Duplicate= duplicate the layer.


1. Duplicate. Set the top layer to screen. Merge.
why: The screen layer will make the image lighter but "washed out".






2. Duplicate. Set the top layer to overlay and the opacity to 50%. Merge.
why: The overlay layer will make the colors more vibrant and the contrast deeper. You can simply leave the opacity at 100% and skip step three and get similar (very similar) results, but using step three will get you a slightly brighter image.






3. Duplicate. Set the top layer to overlay. Merge.
why: The overlay layer will make the colors more vibrant and the contrast deeper.






4. Duplicate. Desaturate the top layer. In Gimp: Color > Desaturate. I didn't see much of a difference between the three settings, but I believe I used Luminosity. Set the layer to Divide and the opacity to 25%. Merge.
why: Setting the desaturated layer to divide makes the colors in the image brighter: dark blue to light blue, orange to yellowish-orange.






5. Duplicate. Set the top layer to overlay.
why: The overlay layer will, once again, make the colors deeper and the contrast more pronounced.






OPTIONAL

6.Sharpen: right-click > filters > enhance > sharpen (or however you sharpen in the program you're using). I believe I set the sharpness to 45.
note: How much you sharpen it (or if you do at all) really depends upon the image used and the look you're going for.





7. I used curves to make the icon brighter and the colors a bit more vibrant.




This is my first tutorial, so comments (positive and negative) are more than welcome. This tutorial involves using layer modes and opacity, and an optional last step that uses curves. I've tried to explain why I used the steps that I did, but if I wasn't clear enough please let me know and I'll try to explain it more in-depth.

This tutorial works best for inanimate objects, although it can be used to brighten images of people if you skip steps 3&5 (using steps 3&5 turns people a weird orange/red color). Using images brighter than the one I used tends to make the image too bright, but some turn out well if you use one or two multiply layers on top.