Thursday, June 01, 2017

CoffeeShop "Golden Bokeh" Fine Art Photoshop/PSE Action & Texture Kit!


Today I am excited to post my newest action and texture kit called "Golden Bokeh". This download includes a fine art Photoshop/PSE action and four high resolution bokeh textures. 

I have a full tutorial posted below, and I would suggest reading it before using this action. You can use the action alone to apply a beautiful afternoon sun-effect to your images, add the bokeh textures in this download, or even add a different texture.

I made the bokeh textures using this original image.

This action/texture/tutorial works in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements (PSE). If you don't have either program or a really outdated version of PSE, you can pick up (affiliate link) the newest PSE15 for only $70 right now! If you are on a budget, PSE is the way to go. You can do so much creative editing in PSE and almost everything I have on my blog can be used in that program. 


Original image by Jill Wellington (Etsy ShopFacebook, Blog, YouTube Videos, Pixabay)







CoffeeShop "Golden Bokeh" Photoshop/PSE Actin Tutorial:




Run "Golden Bokeh". When the "Surface Blur" pop-up comes up, adjust the  Radius/Threshold setting to smooth skin.

If your image is not a portrait just press OK.


This is what the image looks like after the action finishes. I will walk you through how I edited it.

"Matte Effect" and "Lighten Darks" are turned off. You can turn these layers on and make adjustments.

If you don't want to add any bokeh and simply want a pretty late-afternoon tinted image, then you can stop right here and adjust the layers to taste.


I added one of my CoffeeShop Bokeh textures above the "Smooth  Skin" layer.


Then I put it in Screen blending mode. I sometimes use Soft Light or Overlay, but Screen usually looks best.

Two copies of the bokeh layer, one in Screen and one in Soft Light blending mode can be very beautiful. *I have an example using these bokeh textures in two layers toward the bottom of this post, please look at it!


Then I added a layer mask and used a soft black brush to paint the bokeh texture off the couple and the sky.

You can also adjust the opacity of the bokeh layer if needed. I am keeping it at 100% for this tutorial so you can easily see the changes on your screen.


I turned up the "Glorious Afternoon" tint layer to 51% and used a soft low-opacity black brush to paint some of this layer off their skin.


Then I turned down the "Lower Contrast" layer to 49% opacity.


I wanted to add some light to the upper left corner, so I clicked on the "Add Light" layer mask and grabbed the white-to-black gradient tool (G) and pulled it across the top of the image and then lowered the opacity of that layer to 39%.


If you want  to add some color to the bokeh lights, then group the Color Fill layer in the action with the bokeh texture and adjust the color to taste. In this image I added some light yellow.


Then I clicked on the  "Smooth Skin" layer and used a soft white brush to paint that layer on the woman's skin, avoiding her hair, eyes, mouth, and nostrils.


I turned on the top "Matte Effect" layer and adjusted the shadows and left output level slider to add a subtle matte-effect to the image.

Now I am finished with this edit. It is very dreamy, right?


I decided to add one more texture (CoffeeShop Cracked Glass) in Soft Light blending mode. I think this is so gorgeous!!!

*BOKEH TEXTURE TIP:


One more tip: In this image I added the bokeh texture at Soft Light bending mode, 100% and painted it off the little girl. Then I made a copy of that layer and put it in Screen blending mode at 45%. Using this texture in a combination of Soft Light and Screen and playing with the opacities can give you a gorgeous result.

Download the CoffeeShop "Golden Bokeh" Fine Art Photoshop/PSE Action and Texture Kit!

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.


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12 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you so much Rebecca! I hope you have fun playing with this one.

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  2. Ooh. Very cool. I look forward to having time to go through the tutorial. Thanks so much for the action & texture kit!

    I hope you guys have a great weekend!

    Lisa D.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so welcome Lisa!!! I hope you are having a great week!!!

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  3. Very odd...I get a message saying 'The command "Make" is not currently available' after I hit okay on the surface blur...
    Patty

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    Replies
    1. If you have an older version of PSE or Photoshop this action might not work. If you have a newer version reset your Photoshop preferences, that usually does the trick. :-)

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  4. I have PSE 14 and recently downloaded this action. I was trying it out for the first time today and following the tutorial but there is now Bokeh layer above the 'smooth skin' it just says "add bokeh layer here"

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    Replies
    1. You have to add the texture yourself, the action does not do it automatically.The texture is included in the downloaded file. :-)

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  5. So im really struggling with the instructions on this one. Im a beginner so the jargon is confusing me. Ive ran the action and Ive got to the stage where the bokeh layer comes into play, but Im stuck on how to actually get it on there. Can you help?

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    Replies
    1. You just open the texture, click on it to select it, and drag it on your photo. Make sure you place it where I did in the tutorial!

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    2. Ive tried that. Its not allowing me to. Its just coming up with the black circle with the line through it. Im dying to use this preset.

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    3. Are you adding it to a jpg/png that is 8-bit? I don't know what is going on otherwise, that is so odd! Try opening a simple jpg file in 8-bit and try running the action. If that doesn't work, reset your photoshop preferences, maybe they are corrupted. Hope this helps!

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Rita