#!tutorials

for example, you want to make it look pastel and soft then you raise up the curves and brightness/contrast on the image~

drag down the curves if you want it to be darker

but just this is not enough! i like to use selective coloring to color correct the images into what i want to it to look like~

i usually want the color red to pop out hence i raise the ‘black’ in the red color!

since i already upped the red, i don’t want the image to be too vibrant because of the clash between the color red and pink, hence, i soften the pink/magenta colors~

then i soften the color of the image again using neutral! raise the black if you want more contrast, reduce the black if you want it to look softer~

i usually use lots of selective coloring layer, so just play out with the coloring until you get what you want! remember, you don’t need just one coloring layer to achieve the coloring you want~

then i finished it off with raising saturation and lightness…

or alternatively, you can use vibrance too!

that’s it for the basic way of my coloring tbh- nothing too fancy and such lol

♠ okay first, here’s a beginner’s guide on how to make gifs just in case you need it (cause this tutorial also requires a basic knowledge of gif-making) ♠ i use cs5 ♠ the 4 base layers i usually use are curves, selective coloring, color balance, and vibrance. (all these layers are under “new adjustment layer” under the general “layer” option) ♠ screencaps of how each step looks in the “(x)”

1. i load the files into stack, crop it the way i want, sharpen it (a good sharpening script tutorial), make frames from layers, and then reverse it. 2. copy the first layer, add a layer (vector) mask (in case you need to delete certain parts of the copied layer) and set it to gaussian blur + 4 in radius and then set it to soft light 50% (the highlighted part of the layer, not the mask). (X) i got that little tip from a psd HERE. this can be a bit tricky on gifs since they move, so you may have to delete certain parts on the layer mask if your gif is moving too much so it’s not just stuck on that one frame. (idk if that made sense, hopefully it does if you encounter that problem on your gif)   3. add a curves layer. (X) 4. add a selective color layer and just set it to soft light 100%. i didn’t do anything else to it. 5. add a color balance layer. i usually only mess around with the midtones on a color balance layer. (X) 6. add a vibrance layer. (X) 7. add a channel mixer layer set to 70% opacity and 50% fill. (X) [red (X), green (X), blue (X)]

that’s it! well, for this one. again, it differs for whatever you’re coloring. and this one was pretty easy since he in an outside setting. also note, that this gif is big, so when working with a smaller version, you’ll have to adjust accordingly. 

for the coloring on that one i used gradient map layers a lot. and you have to choose what colors you want on here first. i try to use colors that go well together (lol those shades of yellow and pink don’t really go well together but i picked something at random :P). and then you format it however you want under the gradient map editor options. and then i set the layer to color or soft light or lighten or whatever looks the best tbh. then i adjust the opacity. keep in mind though, i also colored and cropped each cap individually before i put them on a new 250x142 size canvas and THEN i used gradient maps hahaha. so for me personally, i do a lot of stuff to it before it’s all final on a 500x425 size canvas. i also usually have one black and white cap in there for each edit, usually to balance out all the color, i guess lol. 

and then i put one last same-colored gradient map layer on all of them so they all have at least the same colored tint. and then there are the TEXTURES. i forget which textures i used for that, but i think it was one or two black/smokey screen texture. if that makes sense (probably not). 

sorry, i am SHIT at explaining, but i hope this helps somewhat and gets you started!

cause the regular cap looked like this:

and there were people everywhere and i just wanted him fkgjhfgdf. so when i make something tedious like that, i usually color it first, then cut him out. WAS THIS HELPFUL AT ALL?! am sorry, i really really REALLY suck at answering these type of questions.

i had to install xkit (idk what browser you use but i use google chrome for tumblr, but i'm sure you can find it for other browsers) i was fine with just missing e but until missing e can update their codes i had to install more things just to make my tumblr easier to use fucking A. djfhafjsd. ahem. anyway. :P

after it's installed click on the xkit icon and adjust your settings to however you want it. for the replies, just make sure this is enabled:

then i just go to the original post i made and click on the replies. and when you hover over them, they have the option to reply, and i click on the "manually". but i think you can reply on your dash too?

for multiple replies (this is where it gets stupid) i have to open two windows sometimes? one with a regular reply to one person then i go to reply to another and hit the "ctrl" button and click and it opens another window and they have all the replies in one? SOMETIMES. sometimes it doesn't work and you have to do trial and error and/or copy and paste each reply individually in one post.

HAHAHAHAHHA DON'T YOU JUST LOVE HOW TUMBLR MAKES YOU JUMP THROUGH HOOPS JUST TO MAKE CERTAIN FEATURES ACCESSIBLE?!?!?! IT'S GR9 SOCIAL NETWORKING!!1111!!