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How to Make Gritty Skin in Photshop

Adding grit to the skin with Photoshop can give the picture a rough, grungy feel; it's a popular method for adding a dark mood to pictures. As with many textures and styles that are created in Photoshop, there are a number of different ways to achieve similar results. You may need to make adjustments to achieve the look and feel that you're going for and tools may vary slightly depending on the version of Photoshop that you're using.

Things You'll Need

Digital photograph
Photoshop

Instructions

- 1
  Select the subject's skin in the digital image. Use the pen tool to create an outline around the subject. Move the mouse over the skin and right click. From the menu that pops up, click "Make Selection." If you want the whole photograph to have the gritty effect, skip this step.
- 2
  Reduce the photograph's color saturation. Click on "Adjustments" in the drop down menu under "Image," and follow by clicking on "Hue/Saturation." Move the saturation slider to the left until the value is between -40 and -50.
- 3
  Increase the image's contrast by clicking on "Adjustments" under the "Images" tab, followed by "Brightness/Contrast" in the drop-down menu. Increase the contrast by moving the slider to the right so that the shadows and highlights in the picture are somewhat more distinct.
- 4
  Click on "Sharpen," followed by "Unsharp Mask" under the "Filter" tab at the top of the Photoshop work desk. Move the Amount slider to the left to 150%. Move the Radius slider to 7 pixels. Move the Threshold slider to 0. Adjust until you're satisfied with the look of the photograph.

Photography