1. open up your image. i will be using one of chace crawford. you can use this image if you like.


2. take the polygonal lasso tool ().

3. outline whatever it is you want to have the gradient overlay. its easier if you zoom in. i will be putting the gradient on chace's shirt. so i will zoom in on that.

you can also zoom in by changing the %. i usually zoom in to about 300%.
then just click around whatever you want to have the gradient.
example:


4. once you have everything outlined it should look something like this:


duplicate your layer (or ctrl+j) and go to your gradient tool.

now look at the top and you should see something like this:

click on where it says 'click on this'. now you can choose your gradient.


5. after choosing your gradient, you want to drag from where you want the gradient to start, and where you want it to end. my example:

then your picture will look something like this:


6. set the mode on your layers thing to color.

since chace is wearing black in this picture, when i set it to color, it doesnt really show up that well. so i'm going to set it to soft light. you can do that too if you don't want to set it to color.


7. you will still have the outline on whatever it is you put the gradient on. just take the polygonal lasso tool () and click on the place where you have the gradient. that should make dotted lines disappear. now you're done! heres what it should look like now: