Head Case

Have you ever wondered what you would look like with a different body-- ripped, toned and ready to flex? Photoshop gives you the chance to check yourself out, as we will with this body, courtesy of Photodisc...

and this head, courtesy of my dad.

Step 1
Start by using a pen path to select the replacement head.

Step 2
Next, copy and paste the new head over the buffed up body. In this example, the head was a little big for the body, so I lowered the layer's opacity to 80%, and used the Free Transform tool (Edit > free Transform...) to shrink the head to a more appropriate size. (I lined up Dad's eyes and mouth to the original head to achieve a more natural look.)

Step 3
Dad's head is nicely sized, but the colors of his head and his new body don't match-- let's see if Photoshop's Match Color can help.

Step 4
Select the layer you want to change the color of-- in this case, the Muscles layer. (The muscular man is on his own layer, separate from the background layer, otherwise the color shift includes the background colors.) Go to Image > Adjustments > Match Color. In the dialog box, you'll see the layer you're changing at the top (Muscles). Under Image Statistics, select the source and the layer that the color to be matched is on-- in this case, William. Hit return to create the transformation.

Step 5
Fade the opacity a little if needed, and there you go-- a brand-new body, and no steroids needed!

June 20th, 2006 | rich harris | Effects, Tutorials | Comments (4)

Filter Gallery Fun

Photograph courtesy of Photospin.comThe Filter Gallery is a very cool way to get the filter effects you want; whether you're turning a photo into a chalk rendering or a multi-media drawing. Here's a quick way to combine a photo and the Filter Gallery to get a distinctive look.

Step 1
Start by duplicating the background layer by dragging it to the Duplicate layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette. Name this layer Filtered-- it's the one we'll be running the Filter Gallery on.

Step 2
The Filter Gallery lets you run different filters at the same time, and the large preview window lets you see the final effect in real time. You can adjust each filter independently; change the order the filters run in; even run the same filter twice. To add a new filter, just tap on the page icon at the bottom of the palette. (I was looking for a painterly effect, and a combination of Angled Strokes and Paint Daubs seem to do the trick.)

Step 3
Add a layer mask to the Filtered layer by tapping on the Add layer mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Step 4
Paint in the layer mask with black and a soft round brush to bring in the original, clear image. (If you use a Wacom pen, set the Other Dynamics on the Brushes palette to react to pressure with Opacity-- press firmly to bring in the original image, lightly to blend between the two.)

Step 5
Grab a small Chalk brush and sample a color from the image by holding down the Option key and clicking on an interesting color. Sign your name and you're done-- just print, frame and hang over the sofa!

June 20th, 2006 | rich harris | Effects, Tutorials | Comments (0)

Layer Mask Filters

By combining pinpoint control over transparency with an easy way to fix mistakes, Photoshop's layer masks are the perfect tool for blending two or more photographs together. In this example, we'll use layer masks to help create old wood siding, and then find out how a layer mask and the Render Fibers filter can give a brand-new fruit label that comfortable worn and faded look.

Create the wood background

Step 1 Render fibers
Select a dark brown and a light brown as your foreground and background colors. Go to Filter > Render > Fibers... and play with the fiber controls for a little bit to check out the different variations you can produce. The Variance slider will determine how long and varied your strands are- low for long and similar, high for short and varied. Strength is how spread out the fibers are- low for long, spread out fibers; high for short, stringy fibers. Hit the Randomize button until you find a wood grain you like.

Step 2 Rotate and layer mask
Rotate the wood grain layer 90º. Duplicate the layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer...), and darken the lower layer with Image > Adjustments > Levels by pulling the center Levels slider to the right. Select the top layer, and add a layer mask by tapping on the Add layer mask icon. Create the spaces between the slats by painting with black, using the Hard Round 9 pixel with no Brush Dynamics settings. Hold the Shift key down as you stroke for a perfectly straight and level line.

Age the fruit label

Step 3 Paste and layer mask
Open the Old West fruit label, select all (Command- or cntrl-A), copy and paste into your Wood Grain image. Add a layer mask to the Old West layer by tapping on the Add layer mask icon.

Step 4 Render fibers Select the Old West layer mask, and go to Filter > Render > Fibers. Use the same settings as you did for the wood grain fibers- since a layer mask is a citizen of the grayscale world, your color palette automatically changes to black and white.

Step 5 Rotate the layer mask Unlink the layer mask from the Old West image by tapping on the little chain icon in between the two in the Layers palette- this allows you to rotate the mask without rotating the artwork as well. Select the mask, and go to Edit > Transform > Rotate. Click and drag outside the mask border to rotate the mask. Hold down the Shift key as you rotate to get an exact 90º rotation.

Step 6 Create slats in the Old West
Select the Old West layer mask, and then tap on the top wood grain layer mask while holding down the command/cntrl key to select the unmasked portions of the top wood grain layer. Invert the selection (Select > Inverse), and fill with black to knock out the Old West image where it goes over the spaces between the slats. To add a little worn area to the edges of the Old West, choose the Soft Round 35 pixels brush, set it to react to pressure with opacity with the Brushes palette, and gently paint in the layer mask around the edge of the label to create a subtle fade.

Step 7 Adding shadows and highlights
To add a thin shadow at the bottom of each slat, create a new layer on top of the Old West layer, and set the Blend mode to Multiply. Paint a small stripe at 30% opacity with the Hard Round 9 pixel brush. Hold down the Shift key again for a nice straight line. Add another layer to the top, set it to Screen, and paint a highlight at the top of each slat with 30% white.

Step 8 And you're done- from a bright new label to a weathered sign in just ten minutes.

June 20th, 2006 | rich harris | Effects, Tutorials | Comments (1)

Tone Down Highlights

Sometimes the only thing that keeps a good portrait from being a great portrait is a little too much shine on the skin. Here's a quick and easy way to tone down those highlights.

Step 1

Open the image, and add a new layer by tapping on the Add layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Name the layer "tone down", and set the layer's Blending mode to Darken.

Step 2

Next, select the Healing Brush tool (Photoshop CS2 users, make certain it's the Healing brush and not the Spot Healing tool). Set the tool to Use All Layers, and then sample by holding down the option/alt key and tapping on a non-glare skin area. Let go of the option/alt key, and paint over the glare area. Since the corrections are on their own layer, you can easily correct any mistakes by erasing or layer masking.

Step 3

Pull the opacity of the tone down layer by sliding the opacity arrow to the left until the glare areas look perfect. Congratulations-- now even if your subjects get nervous in front of the camera, you can still make them look cool as a cucumber with Photoshop.

June 20th, 2006 | rich harris | Correction, Tutorials | Comments (25)