How To Get The JOKER Look in Photoshop

In today’s Copycat Wednesday, I’m going to show you how to recreate the Joker look in Photoshop!

The Joker was one of my favorite movies last year, and I really loved the cinematography and the Color Grade that was applied. In this video, you will learn to use Camera Raw to get the Joker look.

Tutorial Image

Here’s the file link to the image used in this tutorial: Man Sitting

Adjust The Brightness of the Photo

Start by right-clicking on the layer and select Convert to Smart Object.

Note: A Smart Object is a container that can hold one or more layers. It allows you to apply editable adjustments, distortions, filters, and transformations.

Choose Filter > Camera Raw Filter to control and enhance details and colors in the image entirely.

To get the “Joker look” in Photoshop, take note that the film doesn’t have any full black or full white. To replicate that, start by increasing the Contrast slider.

Reduce the Highlights.

Adjust the Details of the Photo

Increase the Texture slider as this concentrates on the image’s medium-sized details such as the hair and the skin texture.

Increase the Clarity to add contrast to edge pixels. 

Control the Darkest and Brightest Pixels Using Curves

To get the Joker look in Photoshop, you need to adjust the brightness and the contrast for a deeper, gloomy ambiance. Go to the Tone Curve tab, and from there, click on Point.

Set the Input to 0 and click-and-drag the point upward to lighten the shadows to a dark gray.  

From Input 255, click-and-drag it downwards up to the Output of 190-200.

Add a point to add more contrast to the image.

And add another point to add brightness to the image.

Use the Split Toning Controls to Apply a Color to the Shadows

Please switch to the Split Toning tab, where it allows you to add colors to your Highlights and your Shadows. 

Starting with the Shadows, adjust to Hue to set up the color of the Shadows into teal.

Increase the Saturation dramatically to amplify the color teal on the Shadows. 

Meanwhile, you can adjust the Balance slider to determine which color remains more dominant: the Shadows or the Highlights. 

Use the HSL Sliders to Fine-Tune the Color in the Image

Switch to the HSL Adjustments tab, where you can adjust each of the color’s Hue, Saturation, and Luminosity.

Adjust the Reds to look more orange.

Tweak the Oranges to remove the Yellow undertone.

Remove the green underton from the Yellows.

Switch to the Saturation tab and desaturate the Orange slider.

On the Luminance tab, brighten up the Orange slider.

Increase the Yellow slider dramatically to emphasize the skin tone. 

Blur the Image Using the Radial Filter

To mimic the shallow depth of field, select the Radial filter or press the J key on your keyboard, click on this icon and set it to Reset Local Correction Settings. 

Then, set the Effect to Outside,

And set the Feather to 25.

Click-and-drag to expand the Radial filter until it only selects his face. 

To blur the image, reduce the Sharpness slider, and you can see the effect applied when you uncheck the box for Mask.

Add Grain and a Vignette

To regain the authentic feel to the image is to retrieve the film grain. To do that, switch back to the Effects tab and increase the Amount slider to add back the Grain to the image.

When you’re done, press OK to save all the changes, and it applies the effect as a Smart Object. 

Since you are working non-destructively, you can always come back and readjust the Camera Raw filter by double-clicking it in the subject layer.

With Camera Raw at your fingertips, you can easily recreate the cinematic looks of your favorite films.

Hopefully, you find this simple tutorial informative on how to get the Joker look in Photoshop!

If you enjoyed this tutorial, make sure to follow PTC on YouTube! And if you create something using this tutorial, share it on social media with the hashtag #PTCvids for a chance to get featured!