Picture the scene; you’re sat at the computer looking at an image and. . . well. . . it’s just not really working. You know the composition is good enough but somehow the picture isn’t jumping off the screen.
Well, what your image needs a sprinkle of the Hollywood magic - some special image-editing tricks of the trade to really bring every pixel to life.
Before: Here's our image we need to improve
1 - Ramp up the Saturation:
Flat colours won’t impress anyone, so boosting the colours is a great place to start. With your image open in Photoshop, head over to the Layers panel and select the Create New Fill Or Adjustment Layer option, and when the drop down menu appears, select the Hue/Saturation option. When the dialogue box appears, drag the Saturation slider to the right. Remember, don’t go too far or you’ll compromise image quality.
Start by boosting the colours.
2 - Sharpen up:
Photoshop has a number of sharpening features, but one that will give your image really bite is via the High Pass Filter option. Duplicate the Layer and then select Filter>Other>High Pass. When the dialogue box appears, select a Radius of 9 Pixels before hitting OK. The image will look weird, but just change the Blending Mode to Overlay before Flattening the Layers.
Give the image some bite and reveal detail.
3 - Add black bars:
A great trick to replicate the look of a Hollywood heavy production, adding black bars to the bottom and top of the frame will give the image a cinematic feel. Head to the Layers panel, and click on the Create A New Layer option. When the new Layer appears, it will be automatically selected, ready to work on. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool and draw the bar shape at the top of the screen, then select the Brush tool, make sure it’s set to black and brush in the box. Next, Duplicate the Layer and then drag it to the bottom to create the bottom bar. Select both bar layers and click Layer>Merge Layers.
Add black bars for a cinematic feel.
4 - Add a vignette:
Adding a vignette to your images not only brings a pro touch to the scene, but also helps focus the viewer’s attention on the main focal point in the middle of the frame. Head over to the Layers panel and select the Create New Fill Or Adjustment Layer option, and when the drop down menu appears, select Hue/Saturation again. This time however, select the Lightness slider and drag it all the way to the left. The image will go dark, so select a black Brush tool and paint out all the pixels except for the corners.
Focus attention in the frame with a vignette.
5 - Add some flare:
Light is important in any image, but absolutely critical when searching for that Hollywood, high-production style. Luckily, Photoshop has some tools that can help us, and the pick of these is adding some lens flare to the scene. Head up to the Filter option, then scroll down to Render, then select Lens Flare. A preview box will help you place the lens flare precisely and you can also adjust the strength and style of the flare.
Add creative lens flare for that final Hollywood touch.
In just five quick steps the image is completely transformed.
. digitalrev.com2018-7-12 03:00