Final Fantasy X tutorial
For this icon: 
which won 3rd place at 
ffmelody.
Translatable. I even provided an alternative that does not use Selective Color.
Take this screencap:
Crop and shrink to get this. It's pretty dull, huh?
Add a Hue/Saturation layer and up the saturation a good bit. I upped it to +45.
Add a Color Balance layer and for Midtones, drag the sliders towards Red, towards Magenta, and towards Blue. This creates a pink tone. My numbers were +29, -9, +24.
Now for Selective Color. If you don't have Selective Color, follow the alternative below.
I wanted to make it lighter and bluer, so under Neutrals, I imputed these numbers: Cyan, +3. Magenta, +8. Yellow, -11. Black, -21.
*Alternative* using Curves. This one produces a little more vibrant result.
RGB: Drag the curve a little upwards to brighten the picture. Input: 131 Output: 155.
Red: Do the same thing to make it redder. Input: 148 Output 170.
Green: Do nothing.
Blue: Make 2 anchor points. The first is Input: 243 Output: 217. The second is Input: 162 Output: 157.
Now take this texture by
spooky_window, flip it vertical, and place it on top of everything else. I've in a love affair with Pin Light, so set it to Pin Light at 65%.
-> 
Another texture byspooky_window, rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise, and flip it vertical. Paste it on top, set to Darken.
-> 
Now a Brightness/Contrast layer on top of everything. Up the Brightness to +30 and the Contrast to +14. It really works wonders.
I wanted to make it even paler, so I copied the base layer and put it on top to Screen at 16%.
Now I wanted to create some contrast by making the lower right corner dark. Therefore I made another Brightness/Contrast layer and just upped the Contrast to +19. On the layer mask, I blacked out everything except Tidus and Yuna's bodies in the lower right corner.
Finally I added text (font: Pea Jenny Script) and erased the part over Tidus' head. Done!
I hope you like this tutorial and it helps you.
which won 3rd place at ffmelody.Translatable. I even provided an alternative that does not use Selective Color.
Take this screencap:
Crop and shrink to get this. It's pretty dull, huh?
Add a Hue/Saturation layer and up the saturation a good bit. I upped it to +45.
Add a Color Balance layer and for Midtones, drag the sliders towards Red, towards Magenta, and towards Blue. This creates a pink tone. My numbers were +29, -9, +24.
Now for Selective Color. If you don't have Selective Color, follow the alternative below.
I wanted to make it lighter and bluer, so under Neutrals, I imputed these numbers: Cyan, +3. Magenta, +8. Yellow, -11. Black, -21.
*Alternative* using Curves. This one produces a little more vibrant result.
RGB: Drag the curve a little upwards to brighten the picture. Input: 131 Output: 155.
Red: Do the same thing to make it redder. Input: 148 Output 170.
Green: Do nothing.
Blue: Make 2 anchor points. The first is Input: 243 Output: 217. The second is Input: 162 Output: 157.
Now take this texture by
spooky_window, flip it vertical, and place it on top of everything else. I've in a love affair with Pin Light, so set it to Pin Light at 65%. -> Another texture by
spooky_window, rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise, and flip it vertical. Paste it on top, set to Darken. -> Now a Brightness/Contrast layer on top of everything. Up the Brightness to +30 and the Contrast to +14. It really works wonders.
I wanted to make it even paler, so I copied the base layer and put it on top to Screen at 16%.
Now I wanted to create some contrast by making the lower right corner dark. Therefore I made another Brightness/Contrast layer and just upped the Contrast to +19. On the layer mask, I blacked out everything except Tidus and Yuna's bodies in the lower right corner.
Finally I added text (font: Pea Jenny Script) and erased the part over Tidus' head. Done!
I hope you like this tutorial and it helps you.