For so_vayne, this was one of the first icons I submitted to the Side Battle over at manga_battle. This icon really was an afterthought but it ended up being received well. XD;

to

This will be made using Photoshop CS using Color Balance and Curves.



o1. Get your image and crop it down to 100x100 or whatever dimensions you want. :)
o2. Duplicate your base and set it to Multiply at 100%.

o3. Duplicate the Multiplied Layer and change it to Screen 60%. This depends on your image, if your image was already bright-ish, play with the Screen setting some more, maybe lowering it. If your base is darker, maybe duplicate it once more and play with that layer's setting.

o4. Click on the Adjustment Layer [] button and click on Color Balance. This is the part that you really need to play with, the challenge for this icon was that it needed to be predominantly green, so this is how I achieve it:

Midtones: -81, +75, -66
Shadows: -22, +19, +42
Highlights: +11, -35, +19

Preserve Luminosity is checked

o5. Go back down to your adjustment layers, and click on Curves. My settings were 189 Output & 196 input. Really just play with curves, this layer really didn't do much but make certain areas a little darker to my liking.

This is an optional layer-

06. Duplicate your base and bring it up to the top and click on [ which created a vector mask. Brush out everything but the skin and leave it at 100%. For mine, the skin/face was too washed out but by brushing out everything and leaving in the skin, it worked out fine. :) If you do this layer, leave it at Normal 100%

And there you have it! :)

Other Examples






If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask!