Dual Lighting with Adjustment Layers in Photoshop

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1. 0:00 Introduction
2. 0:52 Working with Gradient Maps
3. 5:07 Apply the Gradient Map Just to the Main Subject
4. 7:28 Apply The Second Gradient Map
5. 8:14 The Benefits of Applying the Color Blending Mode
6. 8:47 Selectively Apply The Secondary Light
7. 9:53 Tablet Pressure Sensitivity
8. 11:10 Painting The Secondary Light
9. 12:18 Advantages of Painting with a Layer Mask on a Group
10. 12:40 Control the Brightness of the Effect with Levels
11. 14:12 Adjust the Hue and Saturation
12. 15:15 Colorize the Background
13. 15:47 Invert a and Duplicate a Mask
14. 16:38 Change The Background's Brightness
15. 17:03 Final Thoughts

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Dual lighting with adjustment layers adds a blue main light and an orange side light to a portrait while keeping each light under your control.

This popular effect is fantastic for portraits. It can turn an ordinary photo into a cool, dramatic image.

Instead of one adjustment layer, you build the effect from several. Two Gradient Maps add the colors, a Levels layer handles brightness, and a Hue/Saturation layer fine-tunes one light.

Splitting the work this way separates color from brightness. You can change one without breaking the other.

If you want a quicker version, the simple dual lighting effect tutorial uses Gradient Maps in the Hard Light blend mode. This method takes a few more layers but gives you total control.

This is a beginner tutorial. The video was recorded in Photoshop 2021 (version 22.x), and every step still works in the current version.

What You Will Learn

• How to set up a Gradient Map as the main light color.
• How the Color blend mode separates color from brightness.
• How to mask several adjustment layers at once with a layer group.
• How to paint a second light onto the model with a black layer mask.
• How to adjust brightness, hue and saturation on separate adjustment layers.
• How to color the background with an inverted copy of the mask.

Requirements

Keyboard Shortcuts

Step 1: Add a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer for the Main Lighting

First, decide what color your main light will be. This tutorial uses blue, but any color works.

Click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Gradient Map.

Photoshop turns the image black and white. That happens because black and white were your foreground and background colors when you created the layer. Different colors give you a different result.

A Gradient Map maps a color to your image based on its luminance values. The darkest areas take the color on the left of the gradient. The brightest areas take the color on the right.

Click the gradient in the Properties panel to open the Gradient Editor.

Click one of the color swatches under the gradient bar, and a small midpoint appears between the swatches. Its Location reads 50 percent, so that point sets the color of the 50 percent gray in your image. Drag it to change how the light falls across the scene.

You only need two swatches for this effect. If you have more, drag the extra swatch away from the bar to delete it.

Set the left swatch to black. You don’t need a different color in the shadows, because all the magic happens on the right side.

Double-click the right swatch to open the Color Picker. Choose a blue, since blue is the main light color. Click OK, then click OK one more time to close the Gradient Editor.

Step 2: Set the Gradient Map to the Color Blend Mode

You could create this effect with one or two adjustment layers. Dual lighting with adjustment layers uses several instead, because they separate tonality from saturation. That gives you more control over the image.

With the Gradient Map selected, change its blend mode from Normal to Color in the Layers panel.

The Color blend mode keeps the hue and saturation of the current layer, in this case the blue. It takes the luminosity from the layers below.

So you can adjust the color and saturation of the light without affecting the brightness.

To see this, open the Gradient Editor again, double-click the right swatch, and drag the brightness of the blue all the way down in the Color Picker. The image only turns black and white, because a black swatch has no saturation. The luminosity of the image doesn’t change.

You can still colorize the image with any color you want. The layer below keeps control of the luminosity.

Click Cancel to keep the blue you picked earlier, then click OK.

Step 3: Mask the Lighting with a Layer Group

Right-click the layer mask thumbnail on the Gradient Map and select Delete Layer Mask. This step is not necessary, but it makes the next steps easier to see.

Next, confine the effect to the model. You want to adjust the model and the background separately instead of using one global adjustment layer.

Go to Select > Subject. Select Subject uses artificial intelligence to analyze the image and make a selection around the model.

If Select Subject misses an area, switch to the Quick Selection Tool. Drag over the missed area to add it to the selection.

Now put the layer mask on a layer group, not on a single layer. Every adjustment layer you place in the group then shares one mask.

This pays off later. If you want to adjust the mask, you only make one change instead of refining several adjustment layers.

1. Click the Create a new group icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and name the group gradient.
2. Drag the Gradient Map into the group.
3. With the selection still active, select the group.
4. Click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Everything inside that group is now controlled by one layer mask.

Step 4: Duplicate the Layer for the Second Lighting Color

With the main color in place, add the secondary color. This is the light coming from the left side and hitting the model.

To keep things organized, rename the Gradient Map layer blue. You can also give it a color label: right-click the layer and select Blue. The label makes the layer easier to find in the Layers panel.

With the layer selected, press CtrlJ (Windows) or CommandJ (macOS) to duplicate it. Name the copy orange, then right-click it and label it Orange.

The orange layer is still blue, so change its color. Click the gradient in the Properties panel to open the Gradient Editor.

Double-click the right swatch to bring up the Color Picker, and choose an orange. Red or any other color works too. Click OK, then OK one more time.

This is a good moment to see why the Color blend mode matters. Hide the blue layer, and the orange is not affected at all.

Now imagine the blue layer set to Normal. The orange would change, because the blue gradient would also map the brightness of its color. The Color blend mode keeps the brightness out of it.

Step 5: Add a Black Layer Mask to the Orange Lighting

The orange light should only land on certain parts of the model, so you’ll paint it on.

Select the orange layer. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the Add Layer Mask icon. This creates a black layer mask that hides everything on the layer.

With a layer mask, white reveals and black conceals. A black mask hides the whole layer, which is exactly what you want here. Now you can paint the orange back in.

Select the Brush Tool from the toolbar and make sure white is your foreground color.

You can paint with a mouse, but a Wacom tablet gives you more control and makes the job easier.

If you have a tablet, click the Always use Pressure for Opacity icon in the Options Bar. Without it, every stroke paints at 100 percent, or whatever opacity you set. With it, the opacity follows how hard you press, so you can build up the light gradually.

Made a few test strokes? Fill the mask with the background color by pressing CtrlBackspace (Windows) or CommandDelete (macOS). With the default colors, that background color is black, so the strokes disappear.

Step 6: Paint the Lighting Where It Hits the Model

Think about the light coming from the left and where it creates highlights.

Nothing on the right side of the model gets any orange. Her hands, her shoulder and her face catch the light, so they get orange.

Even parts of her far hand catch some of that light, so paint those too.

Paint over those areas with white. With pressure sensitivity on, build the effect up slowly with several light strokes. Take your time on the small details.

The mask on the layer group gives you one more advantage. You don’t have to worry about going over the lines, because your strokes stop at the model’s edges.

To see this, hold Shift and click the layer mask thumbnail on the group. That disables the mask and shows the brushstrokes outside the model. Those strokes would look bad on the background, but the group mask hides them.

Shift-click the thumbnail again to turn the mask back on.

Step 7: Control Brightness in Dual Lighting with Adjustment Layers

Here is where multiple adjustment layers start to pay off. First, you can control luminosity on its own.

Create a Levels adjustment layer, or a Curves adjustment layer if you feel more comfortable with it. Levels tends to be easier for beginners.

Place it below the blue gradient, but still inside the group. The indent in the Layers panel shows the layer is inside the group.

With the Levels thumbnail selected, go to the Properties panel. Drag the sliders to brighten or darken the image, and the colors of the light stay the same.

Compare that with a gradient set to Normal. You would have to change the brightness of the color swatch itself.

That causes a problem. One color swatch controls the hue, saturation and brightness of the pixels below. Change one, and you might change the other two by accident.

Split those components into separate adjustment layers, and each one changes on its own. You can adjust the hue without worrying about the saturation or the brightness.

Step 8: Shift the Hue and Saturation of One Light

Maybe you like the gradient, but it is too saturated, or you want to shift the hue a little. A Hue/Saturation adjustment layer handles that.

Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above the orange layer. Then click the clipping icon at the bottom of the Properties panel to clip it to the layer below.

A clipping mask means the layer below controls the visibility of the current layer. So this Hue/Saturation adjustment only applies to the orange gradient.

Drag the Hue slider to push the light toward yellow or red, or change it to something else completely.

If the effect is too saturated, lower the Saturation until it fits your scene.

That is the real strength of dual lighting with adjustment layers. The more adjustment layers you have, the more control you have over the image.

Step 9: Color the Background with an Inverted Layer Mask

Now work on the background. Create a Solid Color fill layer and choose a blue similar to the one in your gradient.

Change its blend mode to Color, and place it below the gradient group.

The fill layer should only affect the background, not the model. So it needs the model’s layer mask, inverted.

Delete the fill layer’s own layer mask so it is easier to see. Then hold ShiftAlt (Windows) or ShiftOption (macOS) and drag the group’s layer mask onto the Solid Color layer.

Photoshop duplicates the layer mask and inverts it. One thumbnail shows a white silhouette and the other a black silhouette.

The mask on the gradient group applies the effect only to the model. The new mask applies the color only to the background.

Keep fine-tuning the layers until you like the result. If you made a background group, name it background so your Layers panel stays organized.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

You now have dual lighting with adjustment layers: two Gradient Maps in the Color blend mode, one group mask, and separate layers for brightness, hue and saturation.

Each part of the effect lives on its own layer. You can recolor a light, brighten it or move it to the background without starting over.

Watch the video for every brushstroke, and comment on the video if you have a question.

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Related Links

• Simple Way To Apply a DUAL LIGHTING Effect In Photoshop!
• Trick To Change Specific Colors in Photoshop!
• Blending Modes Explained – The Complete Guide to Photoshop Blend Modes
• Mastering the New Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer in Photoshop

Final Image

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