Adobe Photoshop Tutorials: Dramatic Black & White Effect
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Step 6: Drag The Gradient Towards The Top Corner Of The Image
We're going to use the black-to-white gradient to create the illusion of a subtle light source coming from the top left corner, which will highlight her face and darken everything else. To do that, I'm going to start my gradient at the top of her shoulder and then I'll drag it towards the top left corner:
When I release my mouse button, the image is filled entirely with the gradient:
Step 7: Change The Blend Mode And Lower The Opacity Of The Gradient Layer
With the gradient layer selected, go up to the blend mode options in the top left of the Layers palette, click the down-pointing arrow to the right of the word "Normal" and select Overlay from the list. Then, in the Opacity option to the right of the blend mode options, lower the opacity to 60%:
Here's what my image looks like now. Notice how there appears to be a subtle light source shining from the top left which is highlighting her face and darkening the less important areas of the image:
