It has been some time since I did a demo on this blog. Below is an example of my using layers in Photo Shop Elements.

The first picture is my wife’s High School Senior Year Book Portrait. I decided to use it to learn how to tint a black and white photo.

The second picture is my first layer. In it I remove the dark circles under the eyes and clean up some of the flaws from the scanned image.

Next, I go to RGB mode, and make five more layers for the face, hair, checks, lips and eyes. I work on one layer at a time, with only the layer I am working on and the background image visible. I use strong, flat color, much more intense than in the final image.

My eighth and final layer is a gradient shade of blue to add some color to the sweater.

The last image in the column on the left is showing all the layers at 100% strength.

Next, with all layers visible, I adjust each layer to get the color effect I want. Most are between 10 and 30 per cent. The final effect is shown below. Remember that this started with a scan of a black and white year book photo.












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