Quick image effect

So what makes the difference between an ordinary image that you take with your digital camera and a really great image that you may see on a good website or magazine. The answer... not much at all. You would be surprised at how easy it is to take an plain image and spice it up to make it look like a professional took it. Here is a quick image effect that can really help out when you're in a bind and you need something fast.

Step 1: Start with an image with good color. Also, try to pick one with good highlights and shadows or just use this one here.

Step 2: Place the image on a layer. Then duplicate that layer and apply a 2-4 pixel gaussian blur to it. Don't get too blurry though.

Step 3: Next change the layer blend mode of the blurred layer to Overlay.

Step 4: Now duplicate that layer 2 more times so you have a total of 4 layers. You should really see the blacks becoming more black and the whites becoming more white.

Step 5: Still looking kind of plain though - we have a lot of different colors floating around in it. Create a layer above the others and fill it with a blue (I used RGB 64:172:255). Then change that layer blending mode to Color Burn. This creates a common tone throughout the image but still keeps the important color differences.

Step 6: I think it looks pretty cool already but you can create some lines to spice it up. Create a new layer and with the rectangular marquee tool, add some lines. I used the same blue that I used in the previous layer and a lighter blue.

Step 7: Change the layer blend mode of the lines layer to Hard Light.

Step 8: Add some text so that you can call it your own and you're pretty much done.