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Making Photos Look More Dramatic/Sexy

Posted by kasrak
Created Jun 8, 2007
Category Special Effects
Views 49,859
Favourites 6  


Here is a technique for exaggerating the light and shadows in your pictures.




Step 1: Open your image. For this tutorial, we'll be using this photo from Flickr by ruguay:

Step 2: Duplicate the image's layer 3 times so you end up with 4 identical layers:

Step 3: Select the first duplicated layer (I've called it "No red"). Then go to Colors > Components > Channel Mixer (It's Filters > Colours > Channel Mixer for GIMP 2.2). Make the settings in your channel mixer match the following and click OK:

Step 4: Now select your second duplicated layer ("No green") and repeat the Channel Mixer procedure again; except this time, set Red to 200, Green to -200 and Blue to 200.

Step 5: Select the final duplicated layer ("No blue") and again repeat the Channel Mixer procedure: Red: 200, Green: 200, Blue -200

Step 6: Set all the duplicated layers' modes to Overlay. You're done!

If your image looks too dramatic, you can experiment with different opacity levels for the duplicated layers. Enjoy.

RSS Feed 5 Comments

  1. Jun 12, 2007, nuomi said:

    Thanks kasrak, this is exactly what I want

  2. Jun 13, 2007, kasrak said:

    Glad it helped you!

  3. Jul 12, 2009, paucolpitts2 said:

    This is brill. Suppose I wanted to apply the finished effect to a bunch of photos - do I need to go through the process step by step each time?

  4. Aug 31, 2009, NyuNyu said:

    Thanks, this worked great :]

  5. Aug 28, 2010, Xerox said:

    Its not how i expected it to turn out, but i loved it it gave my picture i nice shadow thanks

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