Technique: "Glow Effect"

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Author Message   Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz New member Username: Tarlika Post Number: 48 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Sunday, February 01, 2004 - 10:46 am:    I found an interesting PhotoShop technique, which can be translated into PWP very easily. It works with backlit, sunny subjects, where it gives a "glow effect"; it can also have a pleasing, softening effect on portraits. Just for reference, here are the original PhotoShop instructions: 1) Take 24bit image. Convert to .PSD if necessary. 2) Lighten with curve (input 127, output 166) 3) Duplicate this layer (now you have two pale images) 4) Apply the same curve to duplicated layer; the second image becomes even paler. 5) Apply Gaussian blur to 2nd (paler) layer, radius 20 6) Blend layers using "multiply" 7) Flatten layers "Multiply" darkens the image. The darker the corresponding pixel is in the 2nd layer, the greater the darkening effect. If the pixel in the 2nd layer is white, Multiply is without effect. The blending results in a more saturated image. The blur is what gives the glow effect. In PWP, this can be achieved as follows: 1) Take a suitable image (24 or 48 bit) 2) Lighten with brightness curve using RGB colour space 3) Apply the same curve to the brightened image; the second image becomes even paler. 4) Apply Gaussian blur to 2nd (paler) image, radius 20 6) Combine first pale image with blurred image using Composite transform, operation "Filter" "Filter" seems to correspond to PhotoShop's "Multiply". It is important to use colour space RGB when brightening the images! How to translate PhotoShop numbers: PhotoShop usually works on a scale from 0-255, whereas PWP works in percentage values, ie on a scale from 0-100. When you see PhotoShop instructions as the above calculate values for PWP as follows: a' = a/256 * 100 On PWP's curves tools, which consists of 10 by 10 squares, you can roughly guess the grid position this way. Best Regards, Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz PWP Brightness Curve glow effect curve.png (10.0 k)   Tarlika Elisabeth Schmitz New member Username: Tarlika Post Number: 49 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Sunday, February 01, 2004 - 10:52 am:    Oops, I just noticed the curve in the previous posting doesn't display. This curve is equivalent to PhotoShop's curve: input = 127 --> x = 50 output = 166 --> y = 62   den Unregistered guest Posted on Monday, February 02, 2004 - 03:26 pm:    Thankyou for doing this. I was struggling with "CleanSkinFx" [freeware from www.mediachance.com/digicam/cleanskin.htm ] and not getting the control I wanted with it or satisfactory results with blur and smudge, so I tried what you posted. The original is on the left. After applying the PWP "glow" technique to masked skin areas, I cloned the eyes, glasses, mouth, ear-ring details back into the processed image... although not yet complete to my satisfaction is the result on the right... Thanks again.....   dreticus Unregistered guest Posted on Monday, February 02, 2004 - 07:42 pm:    The girl will certainly thank you for this! ;-)