Contrast Enhancement tutorial!

This is more of a general informer tutorial. What I'm showing helps develop contrast in the image we're using. Other images may call for additional effects, such as soft lighting, to help increase lighting in an image or may require different levels of brightness/contrast then we'll be using. That said, let's begin.

First, copy this image and paste it as a new image to Paint Shop Pro 8.

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Next, duplicate your layer. You can do this by going to Layers> Duplicate.

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You will then see a copy layer pop-up in your layer palette (ignore my background layer for this tutorial - it's irrelevent and I just forgot to delete it):



If it isn't already selected, select it. Next, we're going to bleach the image just a little. Go up to Adjust> Hue and Saturation> Automatic Saturation Enchancement.

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Once there, select the 'Less Colorful,' 'Weak,' and 'Skintones present' options.

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Next, we're going to weaken its contrast. Go to Adjust> Brightness & Contrast> Brightness/Contrast.

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Adjust your Brightness to 78 and your Contrast to 7.

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In your layer palette, select 'normal' (Copy of Raster 2) and from the options that pop-up, select 'burn.'

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(Simply so you can see what the bleaching and de-contrasting did for the image, I made a comparison for you:)



Also note that the bleaching doesn't always create dramatic differences in the image. Here it only served to darken the image a little. It's just an effect that happens to look nice with this sort of contrasting. Also, the bleaching can be done multiple times and on more than one layer (including your base) depending on the image you use.

In between 'Raster 1' and 'Copy of Raster 1' (in your layers palette), we need to create a new layer. (This is another optional effect that just happens to work well with this tutorial - the color you use may, again, differ depending on the image you use).

To create a new layer, select Raster 1 in your layer palette and go up to Layers> New Raster Layer.

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When you see the pop-up, select 'Ok.' Then, select your flood-fill tool (image on the left) and fill that layer (Raster 2) with the color '#410B14'

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Ah! Did your picture turn red?! That's ok. We aren't done yet. =P Just like we did before, find the normal option (for Raster 2) in your layer palette and change it to 'Exclusion.'

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So what did that do? If you toggle the layer on and off, you'll notice a slight purple tint. =P That's all we did. We aged the image just a little more. Next, select your 'Copy of Raster 1' layer. Go up to Adjust> Blur> Gaussian Blur.

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Set your Radius to 4 and select Ok. And for our last big effect, select Raster 1 yet again. Afterwards, go up to Adjust> Sharpness> Sharpen.

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Then, go up to Edit> Repeat Sharpen.

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This makes Yuffie and the light shining off of her look a little more edgy. Nifty yea?

Again, many of these steps are optional and some of the settings vary from image to image. Just experiment and play around. =P

If you have any questions regarding this tutorial or are unsure about something, feel free to contact me at dark_riku_765 on neopets.com