Soften Exposure and Colour in Photoshop

August 16, 2008

In this Soften Exposure and Colour in Photoshop Tutorial I hope to explain how you can create the similar effect.

The “before image” is perfectly fine, but I often find I want to soften the hardness in photographs and also the deep, often glaring colouring. With this tutorial I hope to explain how to soften the harsh colouring and exposure in Photoshop - it only takes a few minutes, but it makes all the difference.

Once you’ve picked up these few things I do here, you’ll be able to transfer them onto any photograph, graphic etc. Good luck!

Feel free to request something similar to this Soften Exposure and Colour in Photoshop.

Before

After

Soften Exposure and Colour in Photoshop - The Steps

Firstly open up the image you want to use for this tutorial (you can use the image above to try this out), if you don’t know how check this tutorial out.

Duplicate your layer -> Layer -> Duplicate Layer…

Now you should have two layers. Then go -> Image -> Adjustments -> Auto Color - then go -> Image -> Adjustments -> Auto Contrast and then -> Image -> Adjustments -> Auto Levels

Merge your layers -> Layer -> Merge Visible and once that’s done
duplicate your layer -> Layer ->
Duplicate Layer…

Now go -> Image -> Adjustments -> Photo Filter - Once the box has appeared change the following. Make sure ‘Preserve Luminosity’ is ticked. That the opacity is 50% and on the little drop down that you’ve selected ‘Sepia’ it’s towards the bottom.

Merge your layers -> Layer -> Merge Visible and once that’s done
duplicate your layer -> Layer ->
Duplicate Layer…

Next you need to go -> Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur - and change your settings to 6.0

Now go -> Filter -> Noise -> Dust & Scratches… and change your settings to mine which are displayed below!
Radius: 12
Threshold: 0

Go -> Layer -> Layer Mask -> Reveal all once that’s done get your eraser tool, pick a round default brush, I suggest the size should be 100 or higher… set the opacity to 50% and erase everything - eg… erase the whole layer. Once that’s done set your layer opacity to 50% and if you’re not happy with that you can lower it or higher it - it’s personal preference.

Now go -> Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Color Balance and change your layers to mine which are below (Make sure the ‘Preserve Luminosity’ is not ticked):Midtones: +52 +38 +32
Shadows: +100 +32 +100
Highlights: -43 +7 -12

Lastly, if you look at the image before you started editing it and then look at the image at this point you’ll notice that the girl’s eyes are not as blue.
I thought it was a shame and so I did the following:
Create a new layer -> Layer -> New -> Layer… and change the opacity to 30% and layer to overlay

Now that you have a new layer select your brush, make sure it’s hard black default one, not the one that’s soft at the edges - change the size to 16!
Once that’s done select a blue - I used the blue from the background on the right hand side - add the blue to her eyes and then change the colour blue to black and do the same - she should now have more blue-ish eyes.

Aaandddd you’re done. I hope this Soften Exposure and Colour in Photoshop Tutorial was helpful - however if you have any questions regarding this tutorial then please leave a comment below and I’ll happily reply.