The HDR Toning command in Photoshop CS6 can be used to give an image a stylised HDR effect. Youd be forgiven for thinking it should only be used on landscapes, but in fact it can also give portraits an eye-catching stylised finish.
- You'll need Photoshop CS5 or higher for this tutorial.
The HDR Toning command will only work on a flattened document, but for greater flexibility wed like the effect on its own layer, with the original image underneath. So we need to work around the problem by making a duplicate document.
Well show you how here. The effect will tease out detail in the shadow areas, so once its applied, you may find that you need to use other retouching techniques such as spot removal and skin smoothing to perfect the look.
Now just follow these three simple steps to create a stylised portrait using HDR Toning...
Click here to download your start image
01. Make a new document
Open your start image, then go to the Layers Panel. Right-click the Background Layer and choose Duplicate Layer.
In the Duplicate Layer Dialog Box, choose Destination New and hit OK. Make sure that youre working on the new untitled document, then go to Image>Adjustments>HDR Toning.
02. Apply HDR effects
In the HDR Toning box, set Radius 81px, Strength 1.75, Detail 110%, Highlight +10%, Saturation -100%, then hit OK. Next right-click the layer in the Layers Panel and choose Duplicate Layer again. This time, set Destination: hdr_toning_before.jpg and hit OK. Go to the hdr_toning image.
03. Blend with the original
Go to the Layers Panel and change the Blend Mode of the top layer to Luminosity. Next, hold down Alt and click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the panel. Grab the Brush tool and paint with white at 40% Opacity to gradually reveal the stylised effect over the face.
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