Hey everyone!


Today we'll be going from
this to this

Program used: Photoshop CS2
Translatable: Should be, at least for GIMP users.
Difficulty: Medium.


1) Take your base, I suggest using an image with cold colors (blues, light blues, purples etc etc.).

2) Contrast your image by +11, but fiddle with the settings, see what suits your image best.

3) Make a new Hue/Saturation Layer and increase the saturation by +33

4) Make a Color Balance layer and apply these settings;

+12; +1; -9

5) Make a new fill layer and use this color - #480000 and set it to Exclusion at 30% opacity.

6) It’s time for selective coloring, use these settings;

Reds: +8; -10; +12; -19
Whites: -100; -3; -32; -39

For people who don’t have the selective coloring feature, you can get a very similar result with color balance; just apply the following settings;

Midtones: +22; 0; -25
Highlights: +7; +3; -3

Note: I suggest fiddling with your settings depending on the image.

After that I suggest to brighten and contrast the image a bit;

+5; +1

7) Make a new color balance layer and apply the following settings;

-4; -1; +27

8) Make a new Curves layer with the following settings;

Reds:
I: 80
O: 113

9) Make a new levels layer and apply these settings:

20; 1.18; 255

10) Make a new Gradient map and select the black and white gradient, which should have been already selected already.

11) New Brightness and Contrast Layer;

-2; +7

12) Make a new Hue/Saturation layer with the following settings;

+6; +15; +6

(this step is optional if in the end your image appears to be too yellow or too red)

13) This step is pretty much optional too, use this texture by phaantasia over at dustypaper (the color was changed by me) and set it at soft light with 73% opacity.
And you’re done!

Tell me if there are any mistakes and I'll fix them gladly :)

Other examples:



I'd love to see your results! And as always, comments are love.