How to Edit Low Quality Image in Photoshop

In this tutorial I am going to show you how to turn an ordinary misty morning photo into a dark spooky image with the help of textures, layer masks and adjustment layers. Our task will be to edit low quality image in Photoshop and to create from it something really unique. In the process of work we'll be using also Radial Blur Filter.

You can create this effect with any Photoshop version and no bother about the stock images. All photos used are from my archive. They are unrestricted stock so you can use them for your own works too.

This is what you are going to create:

STEP 1

Firstly you have to download this Misty Morning photo- for the porpose click on it to  open it in high resolution, then right click and select Save As to put it in your folder.

As you can see the photo is of no good quality- the sky is almost missing so our task is to hide this imperfection and to create something unique.

STEP 2

Open the Misty Morning image in Adobe Photoshop. It will become your Background layer. Double click on it to turn it into and editable layer (to be able to put it in a group). Photoshop will rename the layer automatically to Layer 0 so you have to restore the previous Background name. With the layer selected press Ctrl+G to place it in a group. Rename Group 1 that you'll get to Image.

Apply Radial Blur Filter and Layer Mask

STEP 3

Duplicate your Background layer- press Ctrl+J (Layer, Duplicate Layer) while it is selected then with Background copy layer highlighted navigate to the Menu bar and choose Filter, Blur, Radial Blur.

STEP 4

In Radial Blur dialog box set the Amount to 60, choose Zoom for Blur Method, select Best for Quality and slightly move downwards the Blur Centre.

STEP 5

This is my result after applying the Radial Blur Filter with the settings given above. If you want to achieve another effect, you can use your own settings.

STEP 6

Change the Blend Mode of Background copy layer to Multiply and reduce its Opacity to 60%.

STEP 7

Now with Background copy layer selected, press Ctrl+J to duplicate it. Restore Blend Mode of Background copy 2 layer to Normal and Opacity to 100%.

While Background copy 2 layer is highlighted, click on Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of Layers panel (Layer, Layer Mask, Reveal All).

STEP 8

After you have applied the Layer Mask, your Foreground/Background Color in the Tools bar should automatically be changed to Black/White.

While the Layer Mask thumbnail is selected, grab Brush Tool and choose Soft Round Brush. Set its Size to 700px.

STEP 9

Start brushing on your canvas. Remove most portions of Background copy 2 layer image, don't touch only the upper parts of the trees to leave the Filter effect visible. You should get the following result:

Add Birch Texture to Blend with the Main Photo

STEP 10

Now you have to download this Birch Texture (use Step 1 as a reference).

STEP 11

Create a New Layer on top of Layers panel and call it Birch Texture. Place it in a group named Front Effects.

Open the Birch Texture in Adobe Photoshop, press Ctrl+A to select the whole image, then press Ctrl+C to copy it. Go back to your Misty Morning .psd file, check if Birch Texture layer is highlighted and press Ctrl+V to Paste the Texture there. If the Texture is bigger than your canvas, apply Edit, Free Transform to make its size equal to the size of the Misty Morning photo. Press Enter to apply the Transformation when you are ready.

STEP 12

Change the Blend Mode of Birch Texture layer to Multiply and reduce its Opacity to 45-46%.

STEP 13

Apply Layer Mask on Birch Texture layer (see Step 7-9) then use Soft Round Brush of 700px Size and 40% Opacity to make thinner the portions of the Texture which cover the trees. You should get a similar result:

Apply Lichen Texture with Multiply Blend Mode

STEP 14

It is time to download the following Lichen Texture:

STEP 15

Create a New Layer on top of Front Effects group and name it Lichen Texture. Select and Copy, then Paste the Lichen Texture in this layer. Apply Edit, Free Transform to make the Texture fit the size of your canvas, then change the Blend Mode of its layer to Multiply.

STEP 16

Apply Layer Mask on Lichen Texture layer then use Soft Round Brush of 700px Size to remove most of the Texture. Leave only the borders intact. Play with Opacity of the Brush- use 100% to clean the middle parts of the Texture and use 40% to clean the portions closer to the border. This is the result you should get:

Add Color Balance Adjustment Layer to Create Old Photo Effect

  

STEP 17

While Lichen Texture layer is highlighted, navigate to the Menu bar and select Layer, New Adjustment Layer, Color Balance.

STEP 18

When the Properties dialog box pops up on your screen, change only the settings of Midtones and Shadows like this:

Midtones:

Cyan-Red: -18

Magenta-Green: -22

Yellow-Blue: -52

Shadows:

Cyan-Red: -11

Magenta-Green: -10

Yellow-Blue: -18.

STEP 19

Below is shown the result of applying Color Balance Adjustment layer.

If you have followed all my steps, your Layers pane should consist of these groups and layers:

1.    Image group with these three layers in it: Background, Background copy and Background copy 2 and

2.    Front Effects group also with three layers in it: Birch Texture, Lichen Texture and Color Balance Adjustment Layer.

STEP 20

This is my final image saved in .jpg format. If you want to sharpen this .jpg file, you can apply Filter, Sharpen, Unsharp Mask of Filter, Other, High Pass.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and learned new techniques from it. Thanks a lot for reading. God bless! :)

How to Use Textures to Make Your Photo Look Wonderful

In this short tut I will show you how to add a few Textures to an image in order to achieve unique result.

All five images used to create the outcome are my own photos and unrestricted stock. You can use them for your own works without informing me.

You can achieve the effect in any Photoshop version.

This is what you are going to create:

STEP 1

Start your work with downloading this Flower image- click on it to open it in high resolution, then right click and select Save As to place it in your folder.

  

Add Water Textures to Achieve Dreamy Effect

STEP 2

Open in Adobe Photoshop the photo you downloaded in the first step and rename its layer to Flower.

Create a New Layer on top of Layers panel and call it Colorful Water. Press Ctrl+G to put it in a group. Rename your Group 1 to Textures.

STEP 3

Now download this Colorful Water Texture the same way you downloaded the photo in Step 1.

STEP 4

Open the Colorful Water Texture in Photoshop then press Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C to Select and Copy it.

Go back to your original .psd file (the one with the flower), select Colorful Water layer and press Ctrl+V to Paste there the Texture. Apply Edit, Free Transform to resize the Texture so that it covers your canvas. Press Enter to apply the Transformation.

STEP 5

Change Blend Mode of Colorful Water layer to Linear Light.

STEP 6

While Colorful Water layer is selected, click on Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of Layers pane.

STEP 7

This is how your layer will look in Layers pane after the Layer Mask has been added:

STEP 8

Check if your Foreground/Background Colors are set to Black/White then take Brush Tool and Choose Soft Round Brush- the first one in the Brush Preset Picker. Change its Size to 500px, then start brushing in the middle of the canvas (your Layer Mask thumbnail should be highlighted). Continue brushing until you remove the portions of the Texture that cover the flower. You can leave parts of the Texture on the petal ends. This is the outcome you should get:

STEP 9

It is time to download the following Golden Water Texture:

STEP 10

Create a New Layer on top of Textures group and name it Golden Water. Copy the Texture you downloaded in the previous step and Paste it in this new layer (see Step 4) then resize it using Free Transform. Change the Blend Mode of Golden Water layer to Overlay.

STEP 11

Apply Layer Mask on the Golden Water Texture and using the same Soft Round Brush of 500px Size, brush over the Flower. You can leave portions of the Texture on its petal ends.

STEP 12

Now duplicate Golden Water layer (Ctrl+J) then change the Blend Mode of the duplicate to Screen and reduce its Opacity to 65%.

STEP 13

In this step you should download this Platinum Water Texture:

STEP 14

Create a New Layer on top of Textures group and name it Platinum Water then Paste there the Texture you downloaded in the previous step. Use Edit, Free Transform to resize it so that it covers your canvas, then change the Blend Mode of its layer to Overlay.

STEP 15

Apply Layer Mask on Platinum Water layer and brush inside the Mask with Soft Round Brush of 500px Size to remove most of the portions covering the Flower. Leave only traces on the ends of the petals.

Apply Stone Texture and Soft Brush to add Relief and Vibrant Colors

STEP 16

The last photo you have to downolad is this Stone Texture:

STEP 17

Create a New Layer on top of Textures group and name it Stone Texture. Paste there the previously downloaded image and change the Blend Mode of the layer to Pin Light.

STEP 18

Apply Layer Mask on the Stone Texture layer and remove with the Black Soft Round Brush the Texture in the middle of the flower. Leave the petals ends covered with the Texture as you see on the screenshot below:

STEP 19

Create a New Layer on top of Layers pane and call it Soft Round Brush. Press Ctrl+G to place the layer in a group. Rename the group to Front Effects.

Select Soft Round Brush and set its Size to 250px. Start making dabs on the flower with colors of your choice. As you can see, I have used the following four colors: #07ccf2, #68fb5d, #f28216 and #f00e36.

STEP 20

Change Blend Mode of Soft Round Brush layer to Color and reduce its Opacity to 60%.

STEP 21

While Soft Round Brush layer is highlighted, go to Layer, New Adjustment Layer and select Color Balance. Change its Properties settings as follows:

Midtones:

Cyan-Red: -52

Magenta-Green: -31

Yellow-Blue: -51

Shadows:

Cyan-Red: +29

Magenta-Green: +13

Yellow-Blue: +37

Highlights:

Cyan-Red: -19

Magenta-Green: -11

Yellow-Blue: +24.

STEP 22

This is how your work will look so far after applying Color Balance Adjustment layer:

STEP 23

Navigate again to the Menu bar and choose Layer, New Adjustment Layer, but this time select Photo Filter. When Properties dialog box pops up on your screen, select Sepia from Filter drop down menu and increase its Density to 98%.

STEP 24

Change the Blend Mode of Photo Filter Adjustment layer to Multiply and reduce its Opacity to 40%.

STEP 25

This outcome you should get after following all my steps.

Hope you like this easy to perform tutorial and find it useful. Thanks a lot for reading. If you have questions, please leave a comment below. :)