- Applying "Looks" Using Creative Profiles
- Virtual Copies- The "No Risk" Way to Experiment
- Using Presets for One-Click Looks
- Creating Your Own Presets
- Creating Presets That Automatically Adapt to Your Image's ISO
- Other Places to Apply Presets
- Changing Individual Colors
- How to Add Edge Darkening (Vignette) Effects
- The "Gritty City" Look
- Creating a Matte Look
- Making Great Duotones
- Creating Black- and-White Images
- Sun Flare Effect
- Painting Beams of Light
- Making Streets Look Wet
- Quick and Easy Spotlight Effect
- Adding a Light to the Background
- Getting the "Orange and Teal" Look
- Creating Panoramas
- Creating HDR Images
- Creating HDR Panos
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Creating a Matte Look
This matte finish look has become really popular in the last couple of years, and luckily, it’s pretty easy to pull off. It’s just a simple Curves move (and even if you’ve never used Curves before, you’ll be able to do this).
Step One:
Here’s the original image we want to apply our matte look to (or upon, or some word so my sentence doesn’t end with a preposition. However, Grammarly says this: “It’s not an error to end a sentence with a preposition, but it is a little less formal. In emails, text messages, and notes to friends, it’s perfectly fine.” So, since we’re all friends here, here’s the original image we want to apply our matte look to. Drops the mic).
)
Step Two:
Go to the Tone Curve panel in the right side panels, and in the bottom-left corner of the curve grid, click on that round control point, and drag straight up, right along the left edge, until you reach the first horizontal grid line to create a low-contrast look (of course, depending on the image, you might need to drag a little higher or lower to make it look washed out and low-contrasty, so don’t get hung up on that “hitting the grid line” thing). Now, just drag that point a bit over to the right and that blotches up the blacks and gives you the look. That’s it—you’ve got the matte look, and are ready to rule Instagram like a boss!
)