The main problem that you have to face when simulating a tan using Photoshop is not the choice of a suitable method of coloring the skin in the picture, but how to limit the area of application of the effect. A flooded layer, Channel Mixer or Hue / Saturation filter is fine for adding tan.
Necessary
- - Photoshop program;
- - Photo.
Instructions
Step 1
Open the snapshot in a graphics editor using the Open option of the File menu. Using the Solid Color option of the New Fill Layer group of the Layer menu, create a fill layer over the image. Choose any shade of brown as the fill color. If the selected color does not give the result you wanted, double-click on the layer thumbnail and select a different shade from the palette. Apply a fill to the processed photo in Overlay or Soft Light mode.
Step 2
The tanning effect can be obtained by adjusting the skin color with an adjustment layer. If you prefer this method, add a new layer to the photo using the Channel Mixer or Hue / Saturation option from the New Adjustment Layer group of the Layer menu.
Step 3
For Hue / Saturation, select the Master option in the Edit field. Decrease the value of the Hue and Lightness parameters by no more than ten units. If the image quality allows, increase the value of the Saturation parameter by ten to fifteen units. In a photo with a lot of noise, increasing the color saturation can make the noise even more noticeable.
Step 4
If you created an adjustment layer with a Channel Mixer filter, select the Red option in the Output Channel field and increase, focusing on the condition of the skin in the image, the amount of red and green in the selected red channel.
Step 5
Turn off the visibility of the adjustment layer and click on the photo. Using the Color Range option from the Select menu, open the selection tool preferences and click on the skin in the image. If a small area is selected, increase the value of the Fuziness parameter or add a different color to the selection using the medium eyedropper. Turn on the Invert option in the filter settings.
Step 6
Turn on the visibility of the adjustment layer, click on its mask and fill it with black color in the selection area using the Paint Bucket tool. With a good combination of circumstances, the tanning effect will only be visible on the skin. If the result of the correction is noticeable in other parts of the image, paint the mask in these areas with black using the Brush tool.
Step 7
Merge the document layers with the Flatten Image option from the Layer menu and save the photo using the Save As option on the File menu with a different name from the original file.
