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Color Effects with Alpha Channel

 

Preparations:

We will need an image of a model, prefably a close-up on the face. I’m using Keeley Hazell for this tutorial.

All rights of these resources belong to their respective owners.

   

Step 1 – Setting Up Background:

Create a document of size 750 by 550px and save it as example.psd.

Fill the background with #E6D4A7.

   

Step 2 – Create Strip Pattern:

Create a new document with 3 by 3px, then create a new layer above Background layer.

Select Pencil tool with 1px and color #000000, paint 3 dots as shown on the left. Delete the Background layer. Press Ctrl+A and go to Edit > Define Pattern. Close this document w/o saving.

In example.psd, create a new layer. Select Paint Bucket tool and fill in the pattern you created.

   

Step 3 – Transparent Rainbow:

Create a new layer above the rest. Select the Gradient tool and choose Transparent Rainbow.

Drag the gradient from top-left of the document diagonally across to the bottom-right.

   

Step 4 – Create a Color Frame:

Select the rainbow gradient layer and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the radius to 250.

Create a layer mask on this layer and fill the mask with #FFFFFF. Using Soft Brush tool of size 350px and color #000000, paint center of the mask as shown on left.

   

Step 5 – Selecting Image Channel:

Open up your model image and drag it into example.psd using Move tool.

Hide the rest of layers except for the model. Go to Channels tab and choose the brightess image out of the Red, Green and Blue (for mine is Red).

   

Step 6 – Create Alpha Channel:

Ctrl+left click on the Red channel layer to load selection of those bright areas. Click on Create New Channel to generate an alpha channel and fill it with #FFFFFF.

Using Soft Brush tool of size 100px and color #FFFFFF, paint away the grey background behind the model.

Note: View animation on the left.

   

Step 7 – Gradient on Model:

Ctrl+left click on the Alpha Channel to load selection. Go to Select > Inverse. Back to Layers tab and create a new layer. Fill the selection with any color.

Right-click on the layer and choose Blending Options. Activate Gradient Overlay and choose the preset Yellow, Violet, Orange, Blue. Set its angle to -45 and scale to 150.

   

Step 8 – Enhancing the Colors:

Duplicate the model layer and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set its radius to 3px.

Right-click on duplicated layer and choose Blending Options. Set the mode of Gradient Overlay to Hard Light.

   

Step 9 – Drawing Lines:

Create a new layer and draw some white vertical lines of various sizes with Pencil tool.

You will need to hold down the Shift key while drawing so your lines will be straight.

   

Step 10 – Fading Lines:

Go to Edit > Transform > Rotate and set its value to 45.

Using Soft Eraser tool of size 150px, fade the two ends of the lines.

Repeat Step 9 and 10 if you need more lines on your model.

   

Optional:

Add some texts to complete the design. That’s all! Hope you like this tutorial.

Video tutorial is posted at Vimeo

Click here to view the final image.

   

My Deviation:

Added on 1st Sep 2008.

I have some free time so decided to do another version of Keeley Hazell and push this coloring effects further by adding in more details.

The basic techniques used are still as above.

Click here to view the larger image at DeviantArt.

 
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142 Responses to “Color Effects with Alpha Channel”

  1. mohammed says:

    thhhhhhhhhhhhhx aloot for the video

  2. Lori says:

    I really wanted to achieve this effect — it’s so cool — but sadly, the instructions are impossible to follow.

  3. Amyth says:

    doesnt d video tutorial hav audio?!

  4. Moosey says:

    This was explained very poorly and was hard to follow at imporant parts… interesting idea though.

    • Julezzz says:

      I concur. some steps were wicked hard to follow up with like the alpha channels. my photoshop is to new for this so mabey he should update this tutorial with a CS3 extended version. thanks

      ~XxXJulEzZzXbangxX

  5. matt says:

    Great tutorial, though a tutorial for your deviation is what I’m really looking for. Do you have a tutorial for that one?

  6. Amyth says:

    i din understand 6th step!
    ple help?!

  7. Harry says:

    tried the above steps – but how did you manage to save into jpg since it doesn’t support alpha channel ?

  8. Zwezda says:

    I have problems on step 6 wth Alpha channel:/ can’t go towards that. Is this may have something to do wth my Photoshop version??? As i use CS4?

  9. wiggy says:

    why aint u showing us everything you do in step 6

    • Johnson Koh says:

      Thanks Wiggy for highlighting the bad image links. I have amended them.

    • wiggy says:

      i finally got it, YEA!!!

      actually a good tutorial—makes u think!
      (it being my first attempt at a photomanipulation didn’t help :) )

      thanks again!!! and sorry about being a baby!

  10. Russell says:

    Hey, cool effect…but a lil know how was required to get through some of the steps…

    anyway…here is my version…

    http://photoshop-pinups.blogspot.com/2009/10/keeley-hazell-alpha-channel-color.html

    yeah…mine is with Keeley as well… always a good model to use!!!

  11. VinX says:

    my was a phail imo , take a look at the screenshot b3l0w :

    http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/7476/fab4.png

  12. Just smile says:

    very very very wounderful
    thank you so much my brother

  13. nice creativity, looks lovely.

  14. naz says:

    i can’t do the stuff on step 4.. when i used the brush tool, it just paints the color and it doesn’t show the pattern… :| why does that happen?

  15. Xavier says:

    Thanks for the tuts. I have learned so much about photoshop from your website. Great job. Keep it up.

  16. Johnson Koh says:

    You may wish to try out the Face Shattering Effect? :D Thanks for your support!

  17. Steele says:

    was there any suggestions you could make for my photo? Thank’s ahead of time if so

  18. Steele says:

    Thanks Johnson, I am starting on your next tut now I just cant decide which one to do lol

  19. Johnson Koh says:

    @Steele : I think you have done a great job for just the 2nd attempt :D

  20. Steele says:

    I decided to tackle your second version of this pic and love what I came up with and am curious to know what people think . This is my 3rd photoshop chop ever beyond removing the occasional scar. I take criticism well (somewhat :) )
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/40140882@N02/3693473628/

  21. Steele says:

    WOW AMAZING I JUST GOT DONE AND LEARNED SO MUCH. I PLAN ON COMPLETING ALL OF YOUR TUTORIALS. 2 DOWN LOTS MORE TO GO

  22. eva says:

    hi, may i know what is the final step after fade the line?because my image faces (eyes & mouth) r not clear.

  23. Johnson Koh says:

    Nice job done, Begginer! And thanks for sharing what you found with the rest of the community :)

  24. begginer says:

    well, I have already discovered how to simulate perfect blending and colorization in ps elemnts 6
    1.blending
    In step 7 you have to change layer mode to linear darkness (it’s my translation from polish, I don’t know how is this exactly named in english version) and then you’ll see exactly the same effect as in the picture illustrating this step.
    2.colorizing
    To avoid colorizating model with gradient blending (what’s not avaliable in pse) you just have to use simple soft brush to colorize the layer with model.
    And that’s all :D I hope I helped a bit all of ps elments users. I would be thankful if you could add some remarks for pse users in step 7, to help them succesfully achieve the complete effect

  25. begginer says:

    colud anyone help me simulating step 8 in ps elements 6 please? :D I don’t have cs3 and i wonder if there’s any way to do similar trick in my program

  26. iCe says:

    my problem is with step 7. I’m done brushing the alpha channel with all white. Have selected the dark areas, after going back to the layers section, my picture still remains the same and not the brushed-white version like yours. please help

  27. Johnson Koh says:

    Much appreciated! ;)

  28. jessa says:

    sure sir..i have many friends who are also crazy over photoshop like me…i will probably share this because this is very helpful for our projects!!

  29. Johnson Koh says:

    That’s very motivating Jessa :D I’m pretty poor at promoting my own site. Do help me to share around your friends if you think they will like it as well.

    Have a good day!

  30. jessa says:

    haha..yay!!but really you are good…of all the sites that teach photoshop tuts i think your site is the best!!

  31. Johnson Koh says:

    Thanks Jessa. You are a great supporter :D

  32. jessa says:

    you are very good..keep it up!

  33. jessa says:

    thank you…especially with your patience..:)

  34. Johnson Koh says:

    Hi Jessa, I have the video of this tutorial at http://vimeo.com/groups/10steps/videos/1745833

    See if it is clearer? :D

  35. jessa says:

    stuck on number 6..the animation thing..tnx for your patience:)

  36. Anna says:

    PSD file, please :)

  37. Johnson says:

    Thanks Bashir. I am constantly looking out for ideas. Do drop me a note if you have any suggestions too :D

  38. bashir says:

    it is very nice and a great job. Keep it up. congratulation for this tutorial hopefully u will again appear with a great job. again congratulation. if any useful tips, tricks may please be informed me via mail. i shall be highly grateful for your kindness.

  39. Johnson says:

    Hi all, for those who encounter problems with Step 6 and Step 7, possible to pass me a screen-shot of what you have on your screen via email? This is because everyone seems to land up with different results.

    I will try my best to help and reply everyone individually.

  40. Marco says:

    i really like this tutorial..
    but..im i run in to problems at step 6
    pls help
    i look at the animation to the left but its not helping
    an i would like 2 know how you did the other picture
    if you could explain that too..thnks

  41. PennyLane says:

    I love this! Now I wish someone could work it out in Gimp so I could try it out. Any takers?? =)

  42. Luca says:

    Hi,
    very good work! keep on ;)

    I have some troubles on Step 6 and 7 (as everybody)…
    My problem is that is not clear which layers and channels has to be selected in those 2 steps…
    In step 7, after selection + inverse on Alpha channel and then creation of the new layer, which channels has to be selected?

    Thanks a lot

  43. Erica says:

    Great tutorial and final work….but i’m having problems getting there. I think i’m stuck on step 7. I’m having problems with the color preset and angle options. I have CS4 and don’t have those options. Any suggestions?

  44. Michaela says:

    Hi there!! awesome tut and I got through kinda well, until step 7… yeah, in ur picture the striped background comes back, but i only see my model with the gradient on and a completely white background. i have 4 layers by now… do u know what i did wrong?

  45. Camilla says:

    Hi! great tutorial but in my case my brightness image is the blue channel ¿?

  46. Camilla says:

    Hi! great tutorial but in mi case my brightness image is the blue channel

  47. AdamZP says:

    гляди! Я ржал – http://ibigdan.livejournal.com/4243319.html – тема дня :) )
    Фото на тему кризиса..
    да, и спасибо за пост) добавил в избранное

  48. Johnson says:

    Let’s chat in email then :D

  49. einA says:

    Hi Johnson,

    I’ve tried to follow this tutorial,
    but in step 6 I’ve understanding problems sorry …
    I would prefer, if you could write me a mail …
    and sorry for my bad english

    thx

  50. Johnson says:

    Great work Triet!
    Nice picture you’ve there ;)

  51. Triet says:

    btw thank you for this awesome tutorial :D

  52. Johnson says:

    Hi Emily, you are doing correctly from the screenshot :) When you reach this part, you can try filling up the selection with white by using either Paint Bucket tool or pressing Alt+Backspace (if your foreground is set to #FFFFFF)

  53. Emily says:

    Hahaha woops; heres the right link ..

    http://i38.tinypic.com/2utrgy9.jpg

  54. Emily says:

    Just like some other people im as well stuck on step 6, i cant seem to make the black go away after ive done everything else, and i will also show you a screen shot, because im totally stuck ahha!

    Thank you! This is a great tutorial! If only i could figure it out ahha!

  55. Johnson says:

    Thanks guys! Woah… Bill Gates was here before :D

  56. Ritu chauhan says:

    it is very nice pic..i really want to see my pic on ur chennel or ur webside..
    i hope u to like my pic..
    with regards
    ritu

  57. Crystal says:

    Loved this tutorial!! Thanks for the tips!

  58. Bill Gates says:

    This tutorial is not rily clear to me.. tsk tsk tsk.. “F”

  59. Kristy says:

    I got lost at step 5…
    will you help me?
    I moved the picture… but after that, it doesn’t look like yours…

  60. willie says:

    haha, wow. this tut is… confusing to say the least. my outcome was pretty shitty.

    http://i36.tinypic.com/x5qntv.jpg

  61. Santiago says:

    this is another one I just finished!

    Im starting to feel really proud of myself =P
    hehehe, once again thanks for a great tutorial!!

    |*||

  62. passerby says:

    ehs how to fill the page with colour uh?

  63. Johnson says:

    Hey Olivia, or how about trying this way -
    Go to Channels tab, click and drag the Red Channel layer to hit the Create New Channel button at the bottom of the panel. You should see a new channel layer named Red Copy appearing.

    Then get the Brush tool and paint the surroundings in #FFFFFF. You can carry on to Step 7 from here :)

  64. olivia says:

    hello johnson. i am having trouble with steps six too. and i dont really know from ur video as it is not fit screen. mind explaining?

  65. Johnson says:

    Great idea! Let me work something on that :D

  66. sumti says:

    my pleasure, i wonder if you could do a tut on hair selection using channel, i really wanted to learn that..

  67. Johnson says:

    Great work Sumti! ;)
    Thanks for supporting this tut.

  68. xxxtim ;]] says:

    okkk im stuck on step 6 like everyone else.
    this is what i got so far

    http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d78/pigkrew/Picture3.png

  69. b says:

    could u plz make one 4 me..
    *wink*
    i cant get it right doing it myself

  70. Helmut says:

    I saw this effect 2 month ago, on Corey Barker´s website

  71. Jay says:

    Hey Johnson,

    I’ve been having trouble with creating the alpha channel in step 6.

    “Ctrl+left click on the Red channel layer to load selection of those bright areas. Click on Create New Channel to generate an alpha channel and fill it with #FFFFFF.

    Using Soft Brush tool of size 100px and color #FFFFFF, paint away the grey background behind the model.”

    I get up to ctrl left click on the red channel and the selection is loaded then i create a new channel and i have trouble from there.

    1) I am unsure on how to fill this with white
    2) it says no pixels were selected.

    It all goes from there… :(

    I was hoping if it were okay if i had a step by step on this section for dummies *blushes* i kinda had trouble with the video tutorial on this section.

    Thank you so much for your time, I love your tutorial!
    Please continue to make more like this one :D

    - Jay

  72. Steven says:

    you should do this again but more in depth. i keep trying but can’t get it right. Or do a video maybe? It’d help a lot.

  73. ultradmitrenko says:

    i`l tried, but there is no shadows…

    http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6092/53324395fx5.jpg

    thanks anyway

  74. Johnson says:

    Hi ultradmitrenko,
    Seems like you have got it all correct. You just need to hide your layer 3 by clicking on the Eye icon besides it :)

  75. ultradmitrenko says:

    i can`t “paint away the grey background behind the model”. where i should do it? on alpha channel? or red channel? or whole rgb?

    or i should create a multichannel document before?

    all i get is this

    http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3500/69242609wh3.jpg

    it`s driving me mad!

  76. Johnson says:

    Hi Sandra, congratulations! ;)

  77. Sandra says:

    Okay, so I dragged the red channel to the create new channel button and then I got a red copy channel, I painted the background white like you said.. Then I did Cntrl+left mouse click to load the areas.. So far all good, then select > inverse and then I went back to the layers tab, only the original white background of the image was still there.. I created a new layer, filled it with a color I liked and did the gradient overlay thingie.. I have no idea what went wrong with the background.. Anyway I tried something different, I hid the original image layer and THEN i got something similar to your example.. So I skipped step 8, the enhancing of the colors, it wouldn’t do any good cause I hid the original image and this is the final result:
    http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj240/TaladarkieJJ/Creative%20work/heath-ledger-alpha-coloring3.jpg
    I’m pretty happy with the result :)

  78. Sandra says:

    Okay thanks, i’ll give it a try.. see if that works out.. :)

  79. Johnson says:

    Hi Arika, when you switch back to the layers tab, you will need to inverse the selection (Select > Inverse) before you fill the color :)

    Hi Sandra, yup you did right actually. Or you can also try dragging the Red Channel layer to hit the Create New Channel button so you will get a new channel call Red Copy. Then paint away the background with white. This is equivalent to Step 6.

  80. Sandra says:

    Well i’m stuck at step 6..
    I selected the brightest image (also red here), then I did cntrl+left mouse click to select those areas, next I created the alpha channel (image was still selected) but then I lost it.. I got a black alpha channel, then I filled it with #FFFFF or did I do something wrong there, how do you fill it cause I just clicked on the black square of the Alpha chan. and then just selected the white color but it definitely doesn’t look anything like your example.. This is what I got..

    http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj240/TaladarkieJJ/Other%20stuff/screenalphachannel.jpg

    Help needed! :)

  81. Arika says:

    I get through everything to step 6, then I get to step 7 where you go back to the layers tab and it looks NOTHING like it’s supposed to…it goes back to color and looks like this after the grandient overlay:

    http://i38.tinypic.com/2v27h3b.jpg

    obviously its wrong and i have no idea whats going on.

  82. Rick says:

    Thanks for the video tutorial, brilliant I’ve manage to do it, thanks again its fantastic.

  83. monkey says:

    after a few tries i was finally able to do it..not as good though..i love this style..great tut..couldve been more specific in some parts though..but still great..^^

  84. Johnson says:

    Hi Rick, you can find the video here.

    I’ve been trying to find out a good way to add VimeoRSS on the side bar. So it will be more visible to everyone.

  85. Rick says:

    Hi . I really like this effect, have tried to reproduce it but with no success, is there a video tutorial for it and if so where could I find it ?

  86. miragana says:

    Good day!
    It is very informative and has a very good quality in it.
    I like it…

    Thank you very much for your time.

  87. Johnson says:

    Hi Kelsey, Sorry to inform that this tutorial is done in Photoshop CS3. I think version CS and above is fine but not for Elements.

    Video tutorial for this effect is added at Vimeo ;)

  88. kelsey says:

    I get stuck at Step 5, I don’t see a Channels tab anywhere. I have Photoshop Elements 6.0.

  89. tommy says:

    hi johnson: if you have the .psd file for this tutorial ? I’m trying but can’t get like final iamge…!!!

  90. MANNY says:

    hi johnson: i really love this effect and i really want to be able to do it. i’m usually pretty good at figuring out things but i’m having a lot of trouble with step #2. i didn’t think i’d have trouble so early in the tutorial but i did. hopefully i can figure out all the rest.

    thanks manny
    wonderful tutorial by the way

  91. Johnson says:

    Thanks Kathy ;)

    No prob egy, I’m glad you made it. Cheers!

  92. egy says:

    Finally I could do it, thanks again Johnson :D I will try another tutorial.

    I´m sorry for my english is very poor :(

  93. Kathy says:

    thank you for this great tutorial! i got a very good result!:))

  94. Johnson says:

    Thanks Maddy for highlighting this error in my writings. I missed out a line (Go to Select > Inverse) in Step 7. Very sorry for those who went through the tutorial earlier.

    I’ve amended the texts at Step 7 and followed up with an animation. Hope that will help. Thanks!

  95. egy says:

    I give up :( , I have the same problem that Alan.
    Could be the order of the layers? Or the opacity?
    Thanks anyway.

  96. Johnson says:

    Thanks Ronald. I love your site too!

  97. very nice tutorial.keep it up:)

    Ronald

  98. Johnson says:

    I’m considering doing so already ;)

  99. nighthawk says:

    can u convert this tut to vedio or flash tut…??

    I’m trying but can’t get like final iamge…!!!

  100. Johnson says:

    Don’t mention it :) It does takes awhile to experiment here and there. Cheers.

  101. Alan says:

    My problem is that I never get something like this http://10steps.sg/wp-content/uploads/photo9/8.jpg

    Thanks for the replies =)

  102. Johnson says:

    No worries at all, Alan :D
    I’m glad you went through the efforts to capture these screenshots. I’m not sure if there is any difference between the versions of Photoshop. I’m using CS3 here.

    Actually you are pretty close to getting the effect. See if the steps below helps:

    Ctrl+left click on the Alpha Channel to load selection. Go to Select> Inverse. Back to Layers tab and create a new layer. Fill the selection with any color on that layer.

    Right-click on the layer and choose Blending Options. Activate Gradient Overlay and choose the preset Yellow, Violet, Orange, Blue. Set its angle to -45 and scale to 150.

  103. Alan says:

    Well. I came through it. Now my problem is on step 7:

    Ctrl+left click on the Alpha Channel to load selection. Back to Layers tab and create a new layer. Fill the selection with any color.

    http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/4599/junto1xv5.jpg (this is what I get)

    Right-click on the layer and choose Blending Options. Activate Gradient Overlay and choose the preset Yellow, Violet, Orange, Blue. Set its angle to -45 and scale to 150.

    http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7392/junto2wl7.jpg (and after that, this is what I get)

    I am so sorry If I am beeing too anoying =/

  104. Johnson says:

    Hi Alan, Thanks for helping me understand the problem.
    I can see from your screenshot that your alpha channel is created with White Background.

    In this case, fill your selection on the Alpha Channel layer (shown in your screenshot) with Black. You should be getting something that looks like a negative.

    Clear all selections on that layer and go to Image> Adjustments> Invert.

  105. Alan says:

    Johnson this is the problem I’ve got:
    When I create the alpha channel, all I get is this http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/7695/livbs0.jpg

    I don’t know how to go on after this =/

  106. Johnson says:

    Hi all,
    Thanks for trying out the effect.
    I’ve replaced the diagram for Step 6 with a flash animation. Hope it can help everyone understand better on that part.

  107. Mark says:

    I created an alpha channel, but like Kayne – I can’t seem to brush away the dark background. Any ideas?

  108. Alan says:

    I can’t do the stop 6. When I create the new channel I get a new black layer. What am I supossed to do? =/

  109. Johnson says:

    Hi Kanye,
    Thanks for your support to the tutorial.
    Did you manage to create an alpha channel as shown in the Step 6 diagram?

  110. damir says:

    I don’t get the part with the alpha channels … if you can explain it a lil’ bit more? I always get the effect like the pic is inverted :S

  111. Kanye says:

    I tryed but i can’t paint away the dark background on step 6, can you help me out ?

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