A high-key effect is a fantastic way to make a picture more interesting in Photoshop. High-key photography stands out with its bright and airy tones that give your image a soft and cheerful feel. But how to make a high-key photo in Photoshop? This tutorial will show you the 2 BEST Techniques, step-by-step, to create a high-key image in Photoshop!
What is high-key photography?
High-key is a photographic technique that allows you to achieve interesting effects in Photoshop. High-key images consist of bright tones, primarily whites and light grays, but they do not necessarily need to be monochrome.
The bright tones in high-key photos convey an airy, soft, and cheerful atmosphere. That’s why a high-key effect is often used for portrait photography. But you can also find high-key photography of landscapes, still life, and many more.
High-key photographs usually require a white (or bright color) background. Lighting is very important to achieve the right balance between highlights and shadows.
If you like to find out more about high-key, including high-key photography outdoors, indoors, and in a studio, as well as the high-key lighting setup, feel free to check out my post about → What Is High-Key In Photography?.
How do I make a high-key image?
Apart from starting with the right high-key lighting setup and background, some post-processing in Photoshop will do its bit to create a stunning high-key photo.
In this Photoshop tutorial, I’ll show you two of the best techniques to transform any picture to an amazing high-key image that stands out! 
I’ll be working with Adobe Photoshop CS6, but these techniques are possible with all recent versions of Photoshop, including Photoshop CC.
Have a look at the Before & After image comparison below to see what we’re going to do. …and then let’s get started!
- Move the slider to see the full Before & After images
These are the 2 BEST TECHNIQUES to make a high-key photo in Photoshop:
Step-by-Step Photoshop Tutorial
THE 2 BEST TECHNIQUES for how to make a high-key photo in Photoshop
TECHNIQUE 1: Working with Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers
In the first technique, we’re going to work exclusively with Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers.
Adding adjustment layers and tweaking their Opacity and Blending Mode settings is a quick and easy way to create a high-key photo in Photoshop.
Related: → How To Use Blending Modes In Photoshop – (With Blend Modes Cheat Sheet!)
Right here you can see the original image that I’m using for this tutorial for you to follow along.
OK, let’s get started with Step #1!
Step 1: Add three monochrome Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers
Let’s start turning your shot into an amazing high-key image that stands out!
With your photo open in Photoshop, you first off all need to add three Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers.
To add a Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer, go to the top menu bar and click on Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer.
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Another way to add an adjustment layer is by going to your Layers Panel and clicking on the round ‘Create new fill or adjustment layer‘ icon at the bottom.
This will bring up a pop-up menu. From there, you can select Channel Mixer.
Once you’ve added the Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer, you need to set it to black & white.
To do so, go to the Properties window and tick the Monochrome checkbox at the top.
Now we still need to duplicate the adjustment layer twice.
With the Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer selected, press CMD + J on a Mac (CRTL + J on a PC) twice. This will create two copies of the adjustment layer.
In the end, you should have three Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers on top of your background layer.
Now, our photo looks something like this. Not really high-key yet… (◔_◔)
But no worries, we’re going to fix that in next step.
Step 2: Adjust Preset & Blending Mode of the Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers
To get closer to the desired high-key effect, we’re going to adjust the Preset and Blending Mode of the Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers.
First off, go to your bottom Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer (the one right above your background layer) and set the Preset mode to ‘Black & White with Red Filter (RGB)‘.
You can find the Presets at the very top in the adjustment layer’s Properties window.
You don’t need to change anything in the Presets of the other two adjustment layers.
After that, we’re going to change the Blending Mode of the adjustment layers.
Set the bottom Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer to Screen. Leave the middle Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer at Normal, and set the upper one to Multiply.
Step #2 brought us quite a bit closer to a high-key photo.
With the three adjustment layers changed in Preset and Blending Mode, my image now looks like this:
Step 3: Tweak the RGB Color & Constant Sliders
Step #3 is all about the fine-tuning that will eventually allow us to create the actual high-key effect.
You usually achieve the best results by tweaking the RGB Color sliders and the Constant slider of the second (Blending Mode: Normal) and the third (Blending Mode: Multiply) adjustment layer.
Upping the Reds and decreasing the Greens and Blues produces the typical bright and airy effect of a high-key photo.
To bump some of the darker tones back in, try decreasing the Constant slider just a little bit.
The exact settings always depend on your particular image. Watch how your photo is changing and play around with the sliders until you find the effect that suits your picture best.
Also try reducing the Opacity of the Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers to tweak the high-key effect to your personal liking.
Taking out some Opacityfrom the middle adjustment layer in Normal Blending Mode brings back in some of the color from the background layer below.
With all the above steps applied, my image now looks like this:
If there are still some areas that contain too many shadows, add a Curves, Levels, or Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer.
… and here we are. You’ve just learned the first technique for how to make a high-key photo in Photoshop!
TECHNIQUE 2: Working on the Channels panel
In the second technique, we’re going to use channels, too. But instead of adding adjustment layers, we’re going to work directly on the Channels Panel.
If you’re using Photoshop’s default Photography workspace (Window > Workspace > Photography), you should see the Channels Panel tab right next to your Layers tab in the Layers Panel.
If you don’t see the Channels Panel on your workspace, just bring it up by going to Window > Channels.
Step 1: Select the highlights on the RGB Channel
Once you’ve switched over to your Channels Panel, you’ll see that all channels (RGB, Red, Green, and Blue) are automatically selected.
With the selection active, press CMD on a Mac (CTRL on a PC) and click on the RGB channel.
This will select all of the highlighted areas in your picture.
Step 2: Create a new Alpha 1 channel from the selection
With the selection loaded, click on the ‘Create new channel’ icon at the bottom of your Channels Panel.
This will add a new Alpha 1 channel to your Channels Panel.
First of all, your image will look all black. But no worries, we’re going to fix that right now in Step #3. (ᵕᴗᵕ)
Step 3: Fill the selection with White
There are two ways to fill the selection with white.
The fastest way is to press CMD + Backspace on a Mac (CTRL + Delete on a PC).
The second way is to go to the top menu bar, click on Edit > Fill, and then choose White in the Fill dialog window.
As soon as you’ve filled the selection with White, you’ll immediately see the difference.
Repeat this process a couple of times, until your photo looks significantly brighter and you’re happy with the result.
As for my image, I’ve filled the selection with White four times to achieve the outcome right here:
Step 4: Increase contrast between light and shadows
As you can see in the example above, the photo looks quite dull and washed out at this point of time.
To bring back some of the contrast and dark tones, we’re going to use a Levels Adjustment Layer on the Alpha 1 Channel.
First of all, make sure to turn off the selection by pressing CMD + D on a Mac (CTRL + D on a PC). You can also choose Select > Deselect from the top menu bar.
After that, click on Image > Adjustments > Levels and adjust both Input and Output Levels.
By upping the Black and Gray sliders of the Input Levels, you will bring back more of the darks. To prevent your image from getting too dark, though, you can move the Black Output Levels slider a bit to the right; this will decrease the overall dark tones.
Step 5: Copy & paste the Alpha 1 channel twice on top of your background layer
Good. With that done, you can now make a copy of your Alpha 1 Channel.
Press CMD + A on a Mac (CTRL + A on a PC) or use Select > All to select the entire image.
After that, press CMD + C on a Mac (CTRL + C on a PC) or use Edit > Copy to make a copy of the Alpha 1 Channel.
Next, go back to your Layers Panel and make sure the background layer is selected by clicking on it.
Now, paste the copy of the Alpha 1 Channel twice on top of your background layer by pressing CMD + V (CTRL + V) two times.
Step 6: Tweak Blending Mode & Opacity of the Alpha 1 Channel copies
Almost there! All we need to do now is tweak the Blending Mode and Opacity of the two pasted layers to produce the desired high-key photo effect.
I usually start by changing the Blending Mode of the top layer. Setting it to Hard Light increases the highlights and also intensifies the dark tones. This may often be enough to create a high-key photo in Photoshop.
If you find the effect that Hard Light gives your image too strong, you can reduce the Opacity, or try other Blending Modes like Soft Light and Overlay.
Decreasing the Opacity of the first Alpha 1 Channel copy (the one above your background layer) brings back some of the photo’s original color – again a quite interesting effect that you shouldn’t forget to test out.
As for the example, I have my upper Alpha 1 Channel copy set to Hard Light and reduced the Opacity to 70%. Likewise, I’ve decreased the Opacity of the lower Alpha 1 Channel copy to 90% (while keeping the Blending Mode at Normal) to make a bit of the color shine through.
So here we are at the end of this tutorial, and you’ve just learned two of the most effective techniques for how to make a high-key photo in Photoshop!
Of course, you can always add more adjustment layers or even combine the two techniques to create the exact monochrome or color high-key effect you have in mind! I wish you lots of fun creating your own high-key images!
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I hope that this tutorial on how to make a high-key photo in Photoshop was helpful. If you found any value in it, please feel free to share it with other artists so they can also learn from it!
If you are using the techniques I’ve showed you in this post, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @ginangiela, or post a link here in the comments. I’d love to see your creations! Make sure to sign up for my email list below so you don’t miss out on new Photoshop tutorials, perks for subscribers and other cool stuff. ♥
