Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Step Three:
In the Layers panel, click on the top layer
in the stack (Layer 1 copy), then switch its
layer blend mode from Normal to
Soft
Light
(as shown here), which brings the
effect into play. Now, Soft Light brings a
very nice, subtle version of the effect, but
if you want something a bit edgier with
even more contrast, try using Overlay
mode instead. If the Overlay version is a
bit too intense, try lowering the Opacity
of the layer a bit until it looks good to
you, but honestly, I usually just go with
Soft Light myself.
Step Four:
Our last step is to limit the effect to
just our subject's skin (of course, you
can leave it over the entire image if it
looks good, but normally I just use this
as a skin effect. So, if it looks good to you
as-is, you can skip this step). To limit it to
just the skin, press
Command-Option-
Shift-E (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E)
to create
a merged layer on top of the layer stack
(a merged layer is a new layer that looks
like you flattened the image). You don't
need the two layers below it any longer,
so you can hide them from view by click-
ing on the Eye icon to the left of each
layer's thumbnail (like I did here), or you
can just delete them altogether. Now,
press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key
and click on the Add Layer Mask icon at
the bottom of the Layers panel to hide our
desaturated layer behind a black mask.
Press
D
to set your Foreground color to
white, get the Brush tool
(B)
, choose a
medium-sized, soft-edged brush from
the Brush Picker in the Options Bar, and
just paint over his face and hands (or any
visible skin) to complete the effect. If you
think the effect is too intense, just lower
the Opacity of this layer until it looks right
to you. That's it!
