Quick Tips: Color Overlays

by | May 7, 2011 | Final Moves | 24 comments

 

Layer blend modes in Photoshop are something that I use for every rendering I do. I often will add a color overlay to change the mood of the illustration and provide cohesiveness to the different elements of the illustration. This process is quick and the results are dramatic.

 

 

 

 

To begin, open the image in Photoshop. The image I am using has almost no color, however an image with lots of color will work as well.

 

thesis_interior_untouched_small

 

 

 

Create a new layer and move it to the top of the layers pallet.

 

new_layer_color_overlay

 

 

 

Next, select the “paintbrush” tool. At the top, switch the brush type to a soft brush and lower the opacity to below 50%. Choose a color for the paintbrush and begin painting. I usually paint color in areas of bright light first with less color in the areas of shadows.

 

orange paint_paint_cropped

 

 

 

Once paint is applied, go over to the layers pallet and set the layer blend mode to “Overlay.” If the color is too strong, you can lower the opacity of the layer as needed. Overlay works most of the time, but it is worth experimenting with some of the other blend modes for different looks.

 

choose_color_overlay_cropped

 

 

 

In just a few seconds, the illustration has changed drastically. Even if the layer’s opacity is extremely low, a subtle hint of color will go a long way.

 

orange_overlay_small

 

 

 

And with blue and green tint.

 

blue_overlay_small

 

 

 

24 Comments

  1. javier on May 14, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    Fantastic tip! Thanks for publishing all this stuff, Alex. It's very helpful for improving our renders. I'm a fan of your blog!!

  2. senolivia on June 5, 2011 at 9:58 pm

    Thank so much for these tutorials!!!!

  3. carlos on November 9, 2011 at 4:59 am

    Thank you so much. I am an architecture student and I will share this with my classmates. Anything that can take the sterility out of my base renderings is great.

  4. Crevard on February 11, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    Respect !

  5. Sirey on September 20, 2012 at 5:29 am

    I appreciate for this awesome tutorial.

  6. cyril on December 21, 2012 at 4:03 pm

    Thank you so much Alex for all the tips that you compare! 🙂
    your blog is soo helpfull !!

  7. Soum on December 24, 2012 at 6:21 am

    Thank you Alex. Keep up the good work!

  8. Neil on August 20, 2013 at 3:17 pm

    Thank you for sharing your experiences.

  9. phil84 on June 7, 2014 at 6:18 am

    Man your tutorials are god like! very nice!

  10. Jaime on July 20, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    Excellent tip! Thank you much for sharing!

  11. arjun on January 2, 2015 at 6:06 am

    this is amazing stuff. thanks a lot alex.

  12. RAUNA on December 8, 2015 at 9:14 am

    Thanks!!!

  13. Bandung on March 1, 2016 at 11:10 am

    Thank you alex!

  14. Terry on December 25, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    Fantastic tutorial thanks Alex!

  15. Claudio on February 21, 2017 at 6:45 am

    Thanks

  16. AKIN on May 16, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    THNX

  17. alimaulana on September 26, 2017 at 10:47 pm

    Jempol

  18. naif on October 19, 2017 at 7:49 am

    wow amazing, simple and aplicable. thanks

  19. Gius on February 17, 2018 at 11:28 pm

    Amazing! Alex, you’re my guru!!!

  20. Purushotam on February 27, 2018 at 1:12 am

    Packers and movers banaglore

  21. Purushotam on February 27, 2018 at 1:12 am

    Transmoving movers

  22. asuman on March 30, 2018 at 6:16 am

    i just realised your web site and tutorials. They are awesome. You are explaining all tips very clearly. thanks for all of them

  24. ZoixS on August 26, 2019 at 7:48 am

    This tutor is so helpful!
    I can always find my shortage in visualization through reading ur blog
    Many thx!!

    A landscape architecture student from China

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