Dragan Effect in Photoshop

Hey guys – What’s up? I received a request from Mariya and she wants to create something like the one shown below. She saw something like this on Instagram and shoot me an email to ask if I can write a tutorial to create this effect. I said “Yes”. I don’t know what’s the name of this effect but this kind of manipulation is usually called as Dragan effect in Photoshop. This is basically used for portraits but I’d like to try it for landscape.

Related: Create Grunge Portrait in Photoshop

I am going to use few adjustment layers in this tutorial and one filter. This tutorial is easy to follow and suitable for beginners.

Final

Initial

Step 1: Create Grunge Effect

The first thing that I am going to do is to create a grunge effect. The best way to add grunginess is by using High Pass filter. Duplicate the layer by pressing Ctrl+J/Cmd+J to duplicate the layer.

Now we’re going to High Pass filter. Go to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set the radius to somewhere where you can see the edges like the one you’re seeing below. Click OK.


Change the Blend mode to Soft Light.

Related: What is Blend Mode in Photoshop.


Step 2: Reduce the Color

You can use Vibrance adjustment layer to reduce the color but that wouldn’t make the effect that we’d like to achieve. Instead, we’re going to use Gradient Map. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. Click on the place which is named as 1. This will help you change the color. Click on the Black and White gradient is named as 2. Press OK.

Reduce the opacity to 50%.

Step 3: Change Brightness and Contrast

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast. Reduce the brightness to -24 and increase the contrast to 28.

Step 4: Give Final Grunge Effect in Photoshop

We’re going to use Curves to give the final grunge effect. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves. Set the line to a point where the input is 196 and output is 255.

This is all we need to create a grunge effect in Photoshop. Here’s the final photo again.

Hope you like the image. Let me know what you think of it.

Head over to the homepage to find out even more exciting tutorials.

Create Condensed Raindrops on Wet Glass in Photoshop

Hey, guys! Welcome to my another tutorial. I had been busy with tutorials on Instagram and as I have written tutorials on every Instagram Filter, I guess it’s time to write on traditional Photoshop effects. Last time I wrote on Creating Instagram Crema Filter in Photoshop on popular demand.

Monsoon is not too far away and time to learn how to create condensed raindrops on a wet glass in Photoshop. After this scorching heat, I must say that I am very much excited about the monsoon, and why shouldn’t be I? I love rain and its smell.

So without further ado, let’s begin the tutorial. But before we begin, I’d like to show you the before and after effect.

Before and After

Before-and-After.jpg

Step 1: Blur the Image

The first thing we need to do is to blur the image. You want your viewers attention on the raindrops that we’re about to create, not on the image.

Sidebar: If you want to know how to remove glare from glasses or remove reflection from glasses, check our tutorial on how to remove glare from glasses.

Duplicate the image by pressing Cmd+J/Ctrl+J. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. The radius of blur depends on the size of photo. My photo’s size is 5616 x 3744 which is pretty much huge. If your photo is 2000 pixels wide, you’d probably like to go with somewhere near 30 pixels.

1.jpg

Step 2: Darken the Background

I guess that the image is pretty much lit. Let’s darken it a little bit.

Go to Layer>Adjustment Layer>Brightness

Reduce the brightness to -40 and contrast to -50.

2.jpg

Step 3: Paste the Raindrops Image

The biggest advantage of this tutorial is that ,unlike other tutorials, you don’t have to create raindrops.

Download the image from here: http://madetobeunique.deviantart.com/art/rain-drops-condensation-PNG-180893678

Now open the image in Photoshop, copy it, and paste it on the image you’re working on.

Activate the Free Transform Tool by pressing Cmd+Shift+T/Ctrl+Shift+T, and make it cover the whole background.

3.jpg

Step 4: Duplicate the Layer

Like me, if you think that your raindrop is not much visible, you can simply duplicate the layer multiple times. I have duplicated it 4 times. Press Cmd+J/Ctrl+J to duplicate a layer. Press it 4 times to duplicate 4 times.

4.jpg

Raindrops seem pretty much dark. Let’s increase the exposure.

Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Exposure.

Increase the exposure to 4. Make sure you also click on the eye icon to clip the layer. By turning this on, you tell Photoshop that the changes will only affect the layer that is just below it.

5.jpg

Step 5: Time to Give Cold and Rainy Effect

As we have added raindrops, made it pop, blurred the background, but still something is missing. The mood of the image is not reflecting the rainy season. So let’s change the mood.

Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Photo Filter.

Change the filter to Cooling Filter (82), and increase the density to 80%. I know it’s too much but I kinda like it.

6.jpg

And we’re done with the tutorial here. I hope that you like it.

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