Photoshop - Fun with Colors

Ever looked at some of those really cool avatars and wonder just how they got the colors to look like that? Well here are a few easy ideas to add more of that cool-ness to whatever it is you want to make. These quick tutorials can be done with nearly any version of Photoshop and really just include colors/gradients plus the original image. Note: Most of these affects will highlight the darker areas of the image. The image I've used has a good balance between light and dark. These affects will work on any kind of image, but generally the more dark there is in the image, the more the affect will show up. With that, enjoy.

Orange

  1. Duplicate the image and set it to screen.
  2. Duplicate it again. Desaturate it (Ctrl+Shift+u) and set the layer to soft light.
  3. Make a new layer and fill it with #BF7373. Set it to screen.
  4. Make another new layer and fill it with #171D48. Set it to exclusion.
  5. Duplicate the blue layer and set it to overlay.
  6. Make a new layer. Fill it with #5EA62E and set it to screen at 50%.
  7. Again, make a new layer and fill it with #BF7373. this time, set it to color burn at 50%.
  8. Duplicate the original image again, move it to the top layer, then set it to soft light.

Orange (vivid)

  1. Duplicate the image, desaturate it (Ctrl+Shift+u), and set it to overlay.
  2. Create a new layer and fill it with #954654. Set it to color at 30%.
  3. New layer. Fill it with #939546 and set it to overlay.
  4. Fill another new layer wtih #B0E05D and set it to pin light at 40%.
  5. Make a new layer filled with #A707B1. Set it to overlay at 60%.
  6. Last one. Make another layer, fill it with #BCCC4E, and set it to darken at 80%.
  7. Duplicate the original image again, move it to the top layer, then set it to soft light.

Magenta

  1. Duplicate the imageand set it to screen.
  2. Duplicate it again, desaturate it (Ctrl+Shift+u), and set it to soft light.
  3. Fill a new layer with #82234D and set it to screen.
  4. Make another new layer, fill it with #1D1B4E, and set it to exclusion.
  5. Duplicate the blue layer. Set it to overlay.
  6. Duplicate the grayscale (desaturated) version of the original image, set it as the top layer (keep it at soft light) at 70%.

Brown (newspaper)

  1. Duplicate the image and desaturate it (Ctrl+Shift+u). Change the brightness to -10 and the contrast to +40.
  2. Make a new layer and fill it with #1B4E1E then set it to screen.
  3. Fill another new layer wtih #A2B61F and set it to screen at 40%.
  4. Make another layer, fill it with #1B1D4E, and set it to exclusion at 50%.
  5. Now that you've worked so hard to make a nice green color, make a new layer, fill it with #E48BA6, and set it to color burn.
  6. If you want to add in a bit more of the original color, duplicate the original image again, move it to the top layer, then set it to soft light.

Blue/yellow

  1. Duplicate the image and desaturate it (Ctrl+Shift+u). Set the brightness to -50 and the contrast to -25, then set the layer to soft light.
  2. Make a new layer filled with #A8A8A8 and set it to soft light.
  3. New layer. Fill it with #1F68B6 and set it to color at 60%. (This layer you can change around to whatever color you want. I prefer the blue, but red or pink looks nice, too).
  4. Fill another new layer wtih #052259 and set it to exclusion.
  5. Create a new layer, fill it with #BEA400 and set it to color burn at 20%.
  6. Last one. Make another layer, fill it with #BCCC4E, and set it to darken at 80%.
  7. Fill the last new layer with #593C05 and set it to overlay at 20%.

Orange (faded)

  1. Duplicate the image and set it to screen.
  2. Make a new layer, fill it with #EEC155, and set it to color burn at 60%.
  3. Fill another new layer with #590512 and set it to exclusion. (You can change around the color on this one, but other colors besides red, blue, or pink may look odd.)
  4. Fill the last new layer with #EE556E and set it to darken at 40%.
  5. Duplicate the original image again, move it to the top layer, then set the contrast to +30 and the layer to soft light.

Blue/yellow (vivid)

  1. Duplicate the image, desaturate it (Ctrl+Shift+u), and set the brithness to +30 and the contrast to +60.
  2. Fill a new layer with #052259 and set it to exclusion.
  3. Duplicate the original image again, move it to the top layer, then set it to soft light. (That one was easy, huh? And it's one of my favorites.)

Gradient 1 (vivid)

  1. Duplicate the image, desaturate it (Ctrl+Shift+u), and set the contrast to +50.
  2. Create a new layer and set it to darken at 80%. Now, you can either fill the layer with #B28F5A (or a color close to it), or fill it with this gradient (in the pastels preset).
  3. Set the next new layer to hard light. This layer you can fill with almost any gradient, but I'm using my favorite one (also in the pastels preset).
  4. Duplicate the original image, move it to the top layer, then set it to soft light at 50%.

Gradient 2 (color dark parts)

  1. Duplicate the image, desaturate it (Ctrl+Shift+u), and set it to screen.
  2. Set a new layer to color. This layer can be filled with whatever color or gradient you want to show up on the dark parts of your image. I'm going to use this gradient (in the default presets).
  3. New layer. Fill it with #B2B2B2 and set it to luminosity.
  4. Fill another new layer with #414810 and set it to exclusion.
  5. Create a new layer, fill it with #000000, then set it to overlay at 80%.
  6. Duplicate the original image, move it on top of the black layer, and set it to exclusion.
  7. Fill a layer above that with #F0DB68. Set it to multiply at 50%.
  8. Duplicate the original image again, move it to the top layer, then set it to soft light at 30%.