Paint Shop Pro: Two Color Colorization
Monday, December 1, 2008
Hi, I am back from my overseas trip from the States.
I am kinda worn out and I am doing this post at the very moment I get back to my beloved computer.
This post shall be on a basic trick in Paint Shop Pro. How to colorize a image in two or more colors.
Take a look at this picture.
Notice it is in 2 shades of color? Blue and Orange. But the original image is actually a real photograph.
Here is an image of a swamp I found by Google Images.
Firstly, copy and paste the image you want to edit into Paint Shop Pro.
We gonna make duplicate the background layer. Right click on the background layer in the layers panel and click on "Duplicate".
You need to have 2 duplicates of the background layer, one copy for each shade of color.
So, duplicate the layer another time and you should get three separate layers.
Its a good practice to have an backup layer. This is so that you can use it for other purposes later or have it in case something goes wrong.
Now, lets colorize the top layer. Go to Adjust -> Hue and Saturation -> Colorize.
Lets make it a shade of blue. Shift the Hue slider to a desirable shade of Blue, and shift the Saturation slider to a high level, just a bit lower than the maximum. (In my case its 226)
Go to the 2nd Layer by clicking it in the Layer panel.
Colorize it like the top layer. But this time, give it a hue that is different. For this example, orange is used beacuse it complements blue very well. After you have colorize it, go back to the top layer.
(If you are not so experienced with Paint Shop Pro, don't worry that you don't see the layer being colorized in the main view. It's still there, just hiding under the top layer.)
Now, select the eraser tool. The trick here is to erase some parts of the top layer, so it shows through into the 2nd layer which is in a different hue.
The settings I used for the eraser are: Circle, Size 334, Hardness 0, Step 25, Density 0, Opacity 45.
The important things here are the Hardness and the Opacity. The Hardness should be very low, so as to make the Hues fade into each other. The Opacity should be moderate, so the erasing won't be too strong to control.
Erase the parts you want to be the other Hue. Do it till you get a satisfactory result.
If you want to examine the source file, you can download it here: twocolor.psd (2.87Mb)
Some suggestions:
- This effect is usually nicer if combined with other effects. You can try playing around with some brushes to add patterns on top of that. Those two are commonly used together to make grungy pictures.
- You can use this effect on natural scenery pictures to create surreal environments. The example I provided is surely not good enough. Maybe with a little trial and error, you can create a much better surreal landscape.
Labels: Graphic Tutorials
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