#ask-a-holic

oh most definitely uwu

OH MY GOODNESS SWEETIE THANK YOU ;___________;

so happy 2 have u as a friend

frands 4ever

5ever

you'll have to excuse me, anon, because i really don't remember:(

uwu

heh, i still struggle with this, mostly because there's no really //perfect// way to go it, but i can definitely give you some tips!!!!!!

make sure that whatever you're using is HQ, otherwise the color quality won't be easy to mess with and something that might otherwise look very nice will look like crap

SMART SHARPEN SMART SHARPEN SMART SHARPEN 

^^^ these are the settings i use; unless the picture is terribly blurry, don't mess with any other sharpening settings.  this simple set up is all you really need (assuming your picture/gif/etc. is HQ) ^^^

USE CURVES AND LEVELS.  a lot of the time, i don't really have to do anything after this.  curves are beautiful because they're entirely yours to manipulate, and levels are fantastic because they allow you to mess with tiny bits of brightness/contrast at a time.

use a very small amount of Hue/Saturation.  when it comes to posting on tumblr, you have to be very careful with this setting, because too much and your gif won't post.  it isn't necessary to have a pretty coloring, but i use it to add just a layer of richer color

Gradient Maps!!!!!!!!!!!  i almost always use a black&white gradient map.  if you're making a black and white gif, then you should be set after this step (i don't recommend using the black & layer itself, because it doesn't usually give the same effect).  if you're making a colored gif, then keep the gradient map, but change the layer to 'Multiply.'  then, change the opacity depending on how you like it.  this step gives the image an advanced step in terms of brightness/contrast

 touch it up one last time with curves!!!!  

this is all i do, really:P it seems a lot more complicated than it is.  i spent a lot of my time on photoshop tumblr accounts, just trying to get the hang of it, only to start doing it myself with ease!