Create a High-Contrast Portrait Look?

Duplicate your Background layer twice by pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) twice. You should now have three layers in the Layers panel that all look exactly the same. Click on the middle layer, then press Command-Shift–U (PC: Ctrl-Shift-U) to completely desaturate this layer, making it black and white. Of course, you can only see this black-and-white version in the layer’s thumbnail because it’s covered by another color layer above it. Now, click on the top layer in the layer stack and, near the top left of the Layers panel, change the layer’s blend mode from Normal to Soft Light to complete the effect. If you wanted to apply this look only on your subject’s skin to get another type of the desaturated skin look (like we did on the previous page), then first press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to merge the two duplicate layers into one single layer. Press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key and click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel (it’s the third icon from the left), and now the effect is hidden behind a black mask. Get the Brush tool (B), choose a soft-edged brush from the Brush Picker up in the Options Bar, and then paint in white over just the skin areas to apply the desaturated skin look.