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For this tutorial I will be using this icon I cut out myself from a picture of MKandA


First, go to adjust>sharpness>sharpen


Now you will need to soften up your image. Zoom into your picture by using the ZOOM tool on your toolbar (or just press z)


Zoom in to about 400 or 500. So you can see the icon better.

now select your soften tool located under your dodge brush and match your settings to mine

Size: 5
Hardness: 30

Now that you've got the correct settings, go over ashleys face. remember to soften ONLY her face, and not her eyes, edges of her nose or lips. Heres an example, only the parts in blue should be softened:


Now that you know what to soften, go ahead and soften the face.

After you finished, select your dodge tool


Now, using the same settings as the soften brush, go ahead and dodge ashleys eyes. after you finished they should look something like this:


Now go ahead and do the same with her lips. they should look like this:


Now select your BURN tool (when you select it use the same settings as the soften and dodge brush)


Go around ashleys eyelashs and eyelid and under eyelid and the area under the eybrow. it should look something like this:


After you've finished with that, select your dodge tool again and dodge some of ashleys hair to make it stand out more. this is what it should look like:


now you've finally finished editing the picture.
go to adjust>brightness and contrast>automatic contrast enhancement


Match your settings to mine


After that, duplicate your background.


Now go to adjust>hue and saturation>automatic saturation enhancement


match your settings to mine


after that, go back to adjust>brightness and contrast>automatic contrast enhancement


now match your settings to mine


lower your duplicated background layer opacity


finished product:


You can always add nice brushes or use different effects to enhance your icon even more, but these are just the basics to creating a good icon.