I am always looking for different ways to do B&W, and I have seen this type of enhancement around Flickr and love it, so of course I had to figure out how to do it on my own. I really love how the skin glows and the dark areas have a hint of purple. This action has several layers which can all be adjusted (play around with blending modes and opacity). Sometimes the Contrast Boost layer will blow out highlights, so I added a layer mask to that layer. Just use a soft low opacity black brush (5-10%) and paint over blown out skin or other areas you want to slightly darken. Download the free action at the bottom of this post.
For those of you who like to take apart actions, here is the CoffeeShop Splendor UnMasked Tutorial!
1. Contrast Boost Layer: Add a levels adjustment layer and adjust the contrast. I usually bring up the highlight and midtones a bit and make the shadows a little darker. The action applies a slight S curve adjustment to a copied background layer, but PSE does not have the same type of curves so just use levels if you have that program.
2. Purple Tint Layer: Add a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer. With it set to "Master" and colorize checked, set the Hue to 282 and the Saturation to 5.
3. Brownish Tint Layer: Add a Photo Filter adjustment layer. Click on "Color" and enter the hex# ac9133 on the bottom. Adjust "Density" to 50% and make sure "Preserve Luminosity" is checked. This will be a gross looking brown, but don't worry!
4. B&W Layer: Click on your Contrast Boost Layer just above your Background, and add a black to white Gradient Map Adjustment Layer. This adds additional contrast and pop (and if you did not have the other two color layers it would turn your image B&W).
5. Vignette Layer: (Check out the CoffeeShop Burn Action and Tutorial for more details!). Click on your Brownish Tint Layer. Add a Black to fade Gradient layer (not Gradient Map layer, make sure your foreground is set to Black and your background is set to white before adding this). Change the setting to Radial, the Scale to 150%, and click on Reverse. Then click on the gradient map and set the white slider on the gradient (on the right) to the middle where Location says 50 or less. The smaller you make the setting, the smaller the vignette. Press OK. You can set the vignette to multiply, overlay, soft light or vivid light blending mode and adjust the opacity to taste. Or turn it off if you would rather not have burned edges.
That is it! Hope you had fun learning how to make your own Splendor B&W image!
Download the free CoffeeShop Splendor B&W PS/PSE Action HERE!
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