PS:CS 6 - Darkening a white area in my layer

[Luulune]

Hello,

I have been trying to do something that you'd think would be relatively simple. Unfortunately I must be stupid cause despite countless googles and hours of work, I did not manage to get the desired result.

I have a layer, where there's a lot of white and a purpleish border. I want this white to be darker. The one way I have managed to make this happen is by saving this layer as a seperate file, and then "Open As... Camera Raw" and using the Shadow brush to get a very nice result.

Unfortunately when I then complete the work, the now wonderfully edited image is put on a white background, and cutting it out simply degrades the quality I am after.

For your benefit I included both a part of the original layer that needs editing, as well a part of the edited version, so you know better what I want (they're really very wide, that's why I only cut a part out to show you). The white one is original that needs editing, the greyer one is the one I edited using the "Open As... Camera Raw" 'workaround' (seeing as PS 6 does not have a Camera Raw filter option) - note that this is not a very polished version, but it's to give you an idea. Ideally, the purple border would remain as purple as it is, something that is possible to do with that Camera Raw if I had taken a bit more time. I left the background layer visible so you can see why the Camera Raw version is unusable. How would I go about achieving a similar result with normal tools provided by CS6? Something like the Colour replacement tool would be cool, however I did not manage to make that work with the white.


Thank you for your assistance.

 

[IamSam]

Hello and welcome to PSG.

Do you have a larger image? This is too small.

I'm thinking that you could add a 50% Grey layer beneath the image and then use Blend If to darken.



Although I can't tell from this impossibly tiny image..............I have eye strain now! LOL!

 

[Luulune]

Hello and thank you for your reply.

Included you will find a .PSD file with the entire thing. Note that the background must at all times be transparent. I included a jpg in case you think I'm uploading a virus or something

 

[IamSam]

How does this look?




Here it is with a slight gradient...

 

[Luulune]

Yeah that looks great! I want this in my life How did you do it? With the layer below it and blending and..... can you walk me through it?

 

[gedstar]

Here's maybe another method you could try, I just made a Selection with the Color Range Tool and added a Gradient to that selection



Result

 

[IamSam]

Here's what I did.

I first copied the original layer naming it Copy 1. Turn all layers off.
I added a new layer above the original layer and below the Copy 1 layer.
I filled that layer with 50% gray..........you can use any color or any percentage or opacity of that color you desire.

With the Gray layer on and selected, I then held Cmd/Cntrl and clicked on the original layers thumbnail in order to make a selection.


I then added a layer mask (with the 'add layer mask' icon). Which confined the gray color to the strip.


Select and turn on Copy 1 layer.
Double click the layer to open a 'Layer Style' window.

Under 'Blending Options' in the 'Blend If' section, press the Opt/Alt key and click and slide the light gray "slider" on the bottom right side of the "Underlying layer".
This will split the slider allowing for finer control.
I adjusted the split slider to about 17/255
(NOTE: This screenshot does not have a gradient, it's the drop shadow of the Layer Style GUI/window)

Without widow...



This darkening is now done.



Adding the gradient would be another tut. (You didn't mention which one you wanted)