Tutorial: Easy Hair Shine

[Seagoat]

<p><b><span style="font-size: large;color: #9966ff;">Easy Hair Shine</span></b></p><p>====================================</p><p>This tutorial will walk you through the basic steps needed to bring out the shine in your character's hair in screenshots. It assumes you have a working knowledge of your graphics program of choice.</p><p>I wrote this tutorial using <b>Paint Shop Pro 9</b>, but it can be easily adapted to other programs; the tools I used are very basic.</p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">1. Select your image</span></b></p><p>Crop out the excess background areas in your chosen image.</p><p>I'll be using two shots for this tutorial, one with dark hair and one with light hair:</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/popup-full.php?file=/reference/images/hairshine01a.jpg" target="_blank"></a><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine01a.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine01b.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /></p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">2. Set up your layers</span></b></p><p>I've already cut my character out of my screenshot so that it has a transparent background. I named this layer "<b>Original</b>.".</p><p>I created a new layer named "<b>Black</b>," moved it below my "<b>Original</b>" layer, and filled it with black (#000000) using my Flood Fill Tool ("<b>F</b>").</p><p>I created another new layer on top of my "Original" layer named "<b>Shine 1</b>." (We can add more "<b>Shine</b>" layers later, if necessary.)</p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine15.png" border="0" alt="Layers Palette" width="284" height="110" /></p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">3. Set up your Paint Brush</span></b></p><p>Press "<b>B</b>" to bring up your Paint Brush tool. These are the settings I'll be using first:</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/popup-full.php?file=/reference/images/hairshine02.png" target="_blank"></a></p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine02.png" border="0" alt="" width="910" height="37" /> </p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">4. Paint the "Shine 1" layer</span></b></p><p>With the "<b>Shine 1</b>" layer active and using the brush settings above, make a pass or two. I'm using pure white (Hex #ffffff, RGB 255/255/255), but you can experiment with different colors to achieve different effects.</p><p>Notice that hair's natural shine follows the curve of the skull and can originate from more than one point. If there are already subtle highlights in your screenshot, use them as a guideline.</p><p>You can paint anywhere you like, since we'll be doing some cleanup later on. :)</p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine03a.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine03b.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /></p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">5. Intensify the highlights</span></b></p><p>Working within your existing highlights on the "<b>Shine 1</b>" layer, make several more passes to intensify certain areas.</p><p>At this point, you can reduce your brush size to 10 or 5 to give your highlights finer detail:</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/popup-full.php?file=/reference/images/hairshine04.png" target="_blank"></a></p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine04.png" border="0" alt="" width="910" height="37" /></p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine05a.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine05b.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> </p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">6. Double it up</span></b></p><p>Once you feel as though your "<b>Shine 1</b>" layer contains enough shine, duplicate the layer (<b>Shift + "D"</b>), then merge the duplicate layer down into the "<b>Shine 1</b>" layer.</p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/popup-full.php?file=/reference/images/hairshine06a.jpg" target="_blank"></a><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine06a.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine06b.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> </p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">7. Blend and blur!</span></b></p><p>With the "<b>Shine 1</b>" layer active, change your blend mode to "<b>Dodge</b>" (for dark hair) or "<b>Overlay</b>" (for light hair) and apply a Gaussian Blur ("<b>Adjust</b>" > "<b>Blur</b>" > "<b>Gaussian Blur</b>").</p><p>The actual blur settings will depend on the image and your preferences, but I've found that ideal settings for this technique usually fall between 5 and 10.</p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine07.png" border="0" alt="Gaussian Blur" width="323" height="357" /></p><p>Feel free to experiment with different blend modes until you find one (or a combination) that suits your image. Don't forget that you can add more "<b>Shine</b>" layers and adjust transparencies if you need to!</p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/popup-full.php?file=/reference/images/hairshine08a.jpg" target="_blank"></a><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine08a.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine08b.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> </p><p>In these cases, I used one layer set to "<b>Dodge</b>" at 100% opacity for the dark hair, and two layers set to "<b>Overlay</b>" at 50% opacity for the light hair.</p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">8. A little cleanup</span></b></p><p>As you can see, the Gaussian Blur has caused some of our highlights to overlap areas of our character's face or armor. Can't have that!</p><p>Press "<b>X</b>" to bring up your Eraser tool. I'm using these settings:</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/popup-full.php?file=/reference/images/hairshine09.png" target="_blank"></a></p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine09.png" border="0" alt="" width="590" height="37" /> </p><p>Erase the areas where your highlight has gone astray <i>on your character</i> -- the outer edges will be cleaned up next, so no need to bother with them in this step.</p><p>Gaussian Blur scatters particles quite a distance away, so you may have a larger area to erase than you think!</p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/popup-full.php?file=/reference/images/hairshine10a.jpg" target="_blank"></a><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine10a.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine10b.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> </p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">9. A little more cleanup</span></b></p><p>With the "<b>Original</b>" layer active, use your Magic Wand selection tool to select the non-opaque areas <i>outside</i> your character. I'm using these settings:</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/popup-full.php?file=/reference/images/hairshine11.png" target="_blank"></a></p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine11.png" border="0" alt="" width="580" height="37" /> </p><p>The resulting selections:</p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/popup-full.php?file=/reference/images/hairshine12a.jpg" target="_blank"></a><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine12a.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine12b.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> </p><p>Feather your selection by 2. I'm using the "<b>Selections</b>" > "<b>Modify</b>" > "<b>Inside/Outside Feather</b>" dialog:</p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine13.png" border="0" alt="Gaussian Blur" width="323" height="370" /></p><p>Selecting each of your "<b>Shine</b>" layers in turn, press the "<b>Delete</b>" key on your keyboard.</p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">10. All done!</span></b></p><p>Here are my shiny new coiffures (before & after):</p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine01a.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine14a.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /></p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine01b.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine14b.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="404" height="404" /></p><p>You can also use this technique for more than just hair (granted, not a great example, but you get the picture):</p><p><img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine01c.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="343" height="181" /> <img src="http://eq2.lunaclick.net/reference/images/hairshine14c.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="343" height="181" /></p><p>====================================</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;color: #9966ff;">Show & Tell!</span></b></p><p>Post your creations here so I can see how you used my tutorial!  :)</p>

[Cythen]

<p><span style="color: #ff3300;">Nicely made!Great job Seagoat!</span></p>

[Sapphirius]

Awesome! Hair is the one thing that I struggle with to get just the right sheen on. I'd been dry brushing it and then smudging the dry brush, but it still gives a kind of harsh effect when I do that. Now to go play around with this technique!

[Megumiko01]

That's a very useful technique! Thanks for sharing!

[Littleflame]

That is a great tutorial! Thank you, a completely new way to do things for me. I must try that soon.

[Sapphirius]

<p>I've been unexpectedly busy this weekend, but I'd thought I'd break for a minute to show you what I did with your turtorial. Hair has always been my <i>weakest</i> point when manipulating. I got the rest of the stuff down pat, but I struggle with making good-looking hair. I did have to make some slight adaptations to the methods for Fireworks (which uses different tools), but the end result was, in my opinion, just as beautiful.</p><p><img src="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/Sapphirius/Image%20Alterations/ElyjiaAlteration.png" alt="" width="622" height="573" border="0" /></p><p>Thank you so much, Seagoat!</p><p>EDIT: for new image link</p>

[Seagoat]

<p>Awesome!!  /thumbsup</p><p>Looks like you used my <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=378760" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">eye tutorial</a> too, hehe.  It's those little things that really make a difference!</p>

[Sapphirius]

<p><grins> Actually, I used Kaethen's <a rel="nofollow" href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?start=60&topic_id=367619�" target="_blank">color burn tutorial</a> for shading, only I reversed it for luminosity. The effect really brought out the green in her eyes (which looked brown in all the screenshots except one). I also enhanced the shadows along her chin, nose, cheeks, and ear, and enhanced her lip color (adding a slight pinkish glow to them). I enhanced the glow of her crown as well using your hair shine tutorial.</p><p>OH, and BTW. I'm hijacking your <a rel="nofollow" href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=378644" target="_blank">spell effects turtorial</a> to duplicate the Verdict graphic for her husband. <winks></p>

[Seagoat]

<p>Oooh, can't wait to see how it turns out!</p><p>I hate how the eyes in the game look beautiful until you take a screenshot, hehe.  However you enhanced them, they look great now!</p>

[Sapphirius]

Tee Hee! Everything about her had to be perfect. You should have heard this guy describe his wife. He's <i>so</i> in love with her. How do you even make a sig for the most beautiful woman in the world?

[Seagoat]

<cite>Sapphirius wrote:</cite><blockquote>Tee Hee! Everything about her had to be perfect. You should have heard this guy describe his wife. He's <i>so</i> in love with her.</blockquote><p>Aww!  *gets all mushy*  How sweet is that?!</p><p><cite>Sapphirius wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>How do you even make a sig for the most beautiful woman in the world?</blockquote>Very, very, carefully!  <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Ryden]

<p>Just so you all know, I'm a MAJOR noob at this!!  I'm sure you can tell.  I don't even have Photoshop, I'm just using the trial.  I've been using tutorials from the forums to figure things out and a little 'googleing' as well.  I'm just learning, so with that said, here is my attempt at your tutorial for hair shine.  As you can see, I did a little armor shine as well.  This is a rough draft before I did my final cut outs and touch ups.  I'm enjoying this stuff so much, I'm going to have to buy the photoshop someday!!!<img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />  Thank you pros for all of your tutorials and help!</p><p> I'm not used to this posting in forums either, so I hope my pics show up.</p><p>This is my before and after.<img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/1cfd6e2a9a2c0cf8e74b49b35e2e46c7.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p><p><img src="http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/28024/2000186933358002092_rs.jpg" alt="" width="619" height="264" border="0" /></p>

[Sapphirius]

For a major noob, that is some awesome work, hun.

[Ama]

Thx for the great tutorial Seagoat i'll deffinately use it to give Amana a glossy coat. <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/49869fe8223507d7223db3451e5321aa.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="20" height="15" />

[Ryden]

<cite>Sapphirius wrote:</cite><blockquote>For a major noob, that is some awesome work, hun.</blockquote><p><span style="color: #ffcc33;">Thank you very much.  I'm having a blast with this stuff!  It's so addicting!!!  I'm dreading the day when my free trial on my Photoshop runs out <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/c30b4198e0907b23b8246bdd52aa1c3c.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />.  Well, I do have a birthday and Christmas coming up - tee hee.</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffcc33;">I'm enjoying all the tutorials and learning a lot!  You guys are great!</span></p>

[HelixStalwa]

<p>Seagoat - I have a few questions about the Hair Tutorial if you could offer some clarification please (and if any other informed parties feel like chipping in too, that would be great)...</p><p>=================</p><p><b>"In these cases, I used one layer set to "Dodge" at 100% opacity for the dark hair, and two layers set to "Overlay" at 50% opacity for the light hair."</b></p><p>Firstly, I am using Photoshop Elements 5.0 and we don't have a Blend Mode called "Dodge". What properties of the Dodge blend mode in PSP9 made you chose that blend mode, and can you (or a Photoshop user) recommend an alternative blend mode to use on dark hair.</p><p>Secondly, what made you use two Overlay layers at 50% for light hair rather than one Overlay layer at 100% opacity?</p><p>Finally, can I recommend a small clarification to step 9. A little more cleanup. I think it would be beneficial to emphasise the fact that the Feathering needs to be done on the Outside of the selected dark area (so that it reduces the shine on the *character's* edges). Again, Photoshop Elements doesn't let you choose which side of a selection to feather, defaulting to Inside, so I had to inverse the selection to achieve the desired effect. It took me several attempts to realise this was what I needed to do and it would have helped to know what effect I was trying to achieve.</p><p>=================</p><p>In closing, I'd like to say I really appreciate the effort you have made in putting these tutorials together. Here's the image that I was working on last night... original on the left, reworked on the right...</p><p><img src="http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/HelixArmour.jpg" alt="" width="656" height="328" border="0" /></p>

[Sapphirius]

<cite>Dustpaw@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><p><b>"In these cases, I used one layer set to "Dodge" at 100% opacity for the dark hair, and two layers set to "Overlay" at 50% opacity for the light hair."</b></p><p>Firstly, I am using Photoshop Elements 5.0 and we don't have a Blend Mode called "Dodge". What properties of the Dodge blend mode in PSP9 made you chose that blend mode, and can you (or a Photoshop user) recommend an alternative blend mode to use on dark hair.</p></blockquote><p>I can't answer the rest of this, but I think I can answer this part. I have an older version of PSE (4.0) on my system that I use for cleaning my images. I like the cutting tools on it better (magnetic lasso FTW!). Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that your dodge and burn tools are on the bottom of the tool bar you'll see on your left side of the screen. If you look, the last two options are "Blur" and "Sponge." The Sponge option will bring up a tool bar on the top with three options: sponge, dodge, and burn. From there, you can dodge and burn directly onto your image, though I'd recommend dupilcating the layer first so you don't have to start all over again if you mess up.</p><p>However, since I like working with seperate layers, I made a slight adaptation to Seagoat's tutorial for use in my favorite program: Fireworks.</p><p>EDIT: This is what I did using the dodge and burn tools in PSE 4.0.</p><p><img src="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/Sapphirius/Random%20Screenshots/HelixArmour.jpg" alt="" width="656" height="328" border="0" /></p>

[HelixStalwa]

Thanks for the quick reply and it's nice to see Mister Helixson the dwarf get another makeover. I have had occasion to use the dodge and burn tools before, but I was particularly interested in finding a substitute for the PSP9 "Dodge Blend Mode" since I will have a layer of highlights to apply a the dark hair layer. I assume, from the name, that the Photoshop Lighten or possibly Colour Burn blend modes may be the closest. If no one knows for sure, I'll give it a go and see which looks best.

[Sapphirius]

Sadly, my knowledge of PhotoShope and PhotoShop Elements is... lacking. I use PSE just for cutting my images and Fireworks and Flash for everything else.

[Cythen]

<span style="color: #cc3300;"><bashes head against wall>  If my computer wasn't packed up in tiny boxes, I could try and help you out with different blending modes.  Hopefully someone answers you by Friday!  If not, I'll do my best to try and help. <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span>

[SapphireSnip]

Photoshop does have dodge blend modes.. it has color dodge and linear dodge. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Cythen]

<p><span style="color: #cc3300;">... :X</span></p>

[Seagoat]

<cite>Dustpaw@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Seagoat - I have a few questions about the Hair Tutorial if you could offer some clarification please (and if any other informed parties feel like chipping in too, that would be great)...</p><p>=================</p><p><b>"In these cases, I used one layer set to "Dodge" at 100% opacity for the dark hair, and two layers set to "Overlay" at 50% opacity for the light hair."</b></p><p>Firstly, I am using Photoshop Elements 5.0 and we don't have a Blend Mode called "Dodge". What properties of the Dodge blend mode in PSP9 made you chose that blend mode, and can you (or a Photoshop user) recommend an alternative blend mode to use on dark hair.</p></blockquote><p>Sure thing!  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>I chose "Dodge" for the dark hair because it provides greater contrast while utilizing and enhancing the underlying hair color.  On the dark-haired images above, "Dodge" was the blend mode that gave me what I felt was the most realistic sheen.  On light hair, "Dodge" was way too intense, even at lowered opacity.</p><p><cite>Dustpaw@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Secondly, what made you use two Overlay layers at 50% for light hair rather than one Overlay layer at 100% opacity?</p></blockquote><p>Mostly because the two layers are different.  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  The bottom layer contains the overall shine, while the top layer provides more intense highlights in certain areas.  Using them both at 100% would have been too harsh, and merging them into one layer wouldn't have given me the "blend mode-on-blend mode" intensity I was looking for in the highlights.</p><p><cite><a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/mailto%3Cimg%20src=" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Dustpaw@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Finally, can I recommend a small clarification to step 9. A little more cleanup. I think it would be beneficial to emphasise the fact that the Feathering needs to be done on the Outside of the selected dark area (so that it reduces the shine on the *character's* edges). Again, Photoshop Elements doesn't let you choose which side of a selection to feather, defaulting to Inside, so I had to inverse the selection to achieve the desired effect. It took me several attempts to realise this was what I needed to do and it would have helped to know what effect I was trying to achieve.</p></blockquote><p>Well, I wrote the tutorial for PSP9; in PSP9, the steps can be followed verbatim.  <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  If you (collective, not specific) are using a different program, it's a given that some steps will have to be changed, added, or omitted depending on the program you're using.  I leave it up to the user to determine their own comfort level when it comes to altering the tutorial to suit their needs.  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Of course, if someone wanted to translate any of my tutorials so they can be used with another program, they're more than welcome to do so as long as they provide a link to the original tutorial on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2.lunaclick.net" target="_blank">my website</a>.  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p><cite>Dustpaw@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>In closing, I'd like to say I really appreciate the effort you have made in putting these tutorials together.</p></blockquote><p>You're quite welcome!  I enjoy doing them, and if they inspire the people who read them, that's even better.  <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>