A couple of days ago I checked my niece’s website and was surprised to see a really funny photo in which she appeared twice, as if she had a secret twin sister I didn’t know about. Later on she told me that it was a Photoshop effect thanks to which you can clone yourself in a picture. She explained me how to do it, and it’s actually much easier than it seems! Simply follow these steps and you’ll see:
1. First of all, you need to take a few pictures of yourself. A couple of things to take into account in this photo session: first, they should all be taken in exactly the same place, without moving the camera a single inch; and second, they should all have the same light values, so configure your camera settings accordingly. Take as many photos as clones you want to create, posing in a different position each time.
2. Open all the images in Photoshop. Select one of them with Ctrl+A and paste it on top of another, so that it’s added as a new layer. Read the rest of this entry »
Say you’re going on holiday to a big metropolitan area like New York, or a wilder region like the US National Parks. Whatever your destination, you’re probably going to take dozens of photos. But what if you want your pictures to stand out from the rest? An easy way to obtain really eye-catching images is the so called HDR method, which lets you create bright, colorful photos by combining several shots of the same place with different exposure values. It may sound complicated but it’s easier than it seems. Some cameras have a built-in HDR functionality that lets you take three photos in one shot at different exposure values. Plus, Photoshop already includes a built-in tool to create HDR images in a few steps. Want to see how?
1. Open Photoshop and go to File > Automate > Merge to HDR. Select the images you want to use. They should all be identical images of the same place, so it’s recommended that you use a tripod to take them. You’ll need at least three images to create an HDR composition, though the more you use, the better the results will be.
2. Photoshop will automatically blend them into an unique image and display the result. You can use the slider to adjust the final image, but be careful because the slightest movement can dramatically alter the HDR image.
3. Click OK and Photoshop will open the resulting image as an independent file. Now it’s a good time to save the file as a PSD. After that, go to Image > Mode and change it to 16 bits. You’ll see an HDR Conversion window, where you can adjust Exposure and Gamma. The trick here is adjusting Gamma first, according to the amount of contrast you want to have on your image, and then adjust Exposure accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes you don’t need a complicated effect to spice up your images in Photoshop. This suite is powerful enough to have special filters that do almost the whole work by themselves, turning a dull image into a cheerful, lively shot. This is the case of the Poster edges filter, which enables you to apply an original cartoonish effect to your photos. Follow these simple steps and see how easy it can be!
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This is not the first time we’ve covered with Photoshop actions on the blog. We’ve already showed you how to create them, and also how to install and use them. But with thousands of actions available on the web, how can you find the most suitable ones for your photo editing needs? Worry not: we’ve done the hard work for you. Here’s a list of useful Photoshop actions you can use for different purposes, from basic photo retouching to applying a striking effect in a couple of clicks. Enjoy!
Polaroid Generator - A pack of 9 actions that enable you to recreate fake Polaroid pictures.
Hand-Colored Vintage - Turn your photos into dusty old images, with scratches and all.
Pseudo HDR - Mimic a High Dynamic Range effect without having to take a dozen shots.
Soften skin - Clean the skin in your portraits while keeping original textures and a natural look.
Edge Effects - A pack of 8 actions that let you add different edge effects to your images.
Color Actions - Apply diverse color filters to spice up your photos.
Page Curl - Make one of the four corners of your image curl in one click.
Tack-it! - Pin your photo to a virtual bulletin board, with lots of customization options.
Comics - Make your images look like a comic strip.
The Big Picture - Turn your photos into a collage made up of 25 individual images.
Last year I wrote a Photoshop tutorial about how to get a virtual tattoo which seems to be quite successful amongst our readers. This is why I thought about the perfect complement: a tutorial on how to get a piercing done in Photoshop. In fact, this might come in handy if you’re considering the possibility of having a real piercing done - or just to make fun of a friend. Simply load up a picture in Photoshop and follow these steps:
1. Select the Marquee tool, change it to the elliptical shape and draw a circle where you want your piercing to be. Make sure you change style to “Fixed aspect ratio” and set width and height to 1.
2. Go to Select >Modify > Border and add a 3px wide border to your selection.
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Last week my aunt sent me some old photos of me as a kid. She had found them in an old box and kindly scanned them for me, though the truth is that they arrived to my email inbox in a pretty bad shape. I’m not sure if it was due to the conditions the original photos were in or my aunt’s poor skills at scanning, but I immediately felt the urge to launch Photoshop and give those images the color, light and sharpness they used to have 25 years ago. If, like me, you also have some old pictures you’d like to rescue from oblivion, here’s a basic Photoshop tutorial on how to restore old photos.
1. Open your old photo. This is me and my cousin just a few years ago. Before actually starting the job, duplicate the background layer to avoid permanent damage to the original image.
2. As we’re going to work with small details, I’d suggest you zoom in the image to a reasonable level so that you can work comfortably. Then select the Healing Brush tool (highlighted in the screenshot) and work following these steps: press Alt and click to select a proper color tone, release the Alt key and now click on the area you want to repair with the previous selected color. The Healing Brush tool works perfect for large areas that have a similar color: walls, doors, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
Tilt-shift is the name of a visual effect for both videos and photos that has recently become quite popular. The tilt-shift effect uses blurring and color saturation to make a real life scene look like a miniature model diorama. While creating tilt-shift videos like this one can take a while, applying this same effect to your pictures is much easier. Simply open up Photoshop and follow these simple steps:
1. Open the image you’re going to work with. Note that not all photos are suitable for the tilt-shift effect. You’ll obtain the best results with top perspective images: the street seen from a skyscraper, a landscape taken from an elevated viewpoint, etc. In my tutorial, I’ll use this shot from Stock.xchng. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week I went on a short holiday trip to Rome. I enjoyed it a lot and I had the chance to see some of the most beautiful works of art in the world, such as the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s Pietà or the School of Athens by Rafael . I guess some of that art must have inspired me to try to create something different this week, and not just the standard photo effect Photoshop tutorial. Luckily I found this original Da Vinci drawing effect, with which you can also become a Renaissance artist - even if you don’t know a brush from a chisel.
1. First of all we must create the right background for our Da Vinci effect. I downloaded this aged paper from Stock.xchng and then worked on it in the following way: create a new layer on top of the background, apply a radial gradient effect with two sepia tones and change this layer’s blending mode to Multiply at 50%. Then copy the background image onto a new layer and apply a Hue/Saturation effect at -25%. Finally, erase the margins of this layer so that we create a lightning effect in the center.
2. Crop the subject of your drawing from its original photo and paste it on a new layer. Remove any background left from the original picture. Read the rest of this entry »
Digital photography is now a standard worldwide, which means that fewer and fewer people spend time creating those classic photo albums with paper photos, stickers, text scraps and other goodies. If you’re a fan of handicrafts and miss those nice hand-made albums, here’s your chance to go back to them, at least in a digital version. Follow the steps of this easy tutorial and you’ll learn how to create a vintage photo album in Photoshop.
1. First of all, we need the background for our album. After browsing the web for a while, I decided to use this old notebook I found on stock.xchng. You may want to use a different image though.
2. Open the photos you want to add to your album. Taking into account that we want to create a vintage photo album, we need to apply an old photo effect. In this case I’ll use the vintage photo effect created by Emanuele Feronato, but there are many other similar tutorials to create old photos on the Web. Also, make sure they’re photos that could be taken a few years ago – an iPhone for example won’t look that “vintage”. Read the rest of this entry »
Valentine’s Day is often accused of being just a Hallmark holiday, a tradition made up by department stores to sell more stuff on a certain date. Whether you fall into the consumer trend or not, you also have the possibility to come up with a personal gift instead of the traditional flowers and chocolates. And a gift made by you is always more valuable than anything you can buy! So how about creating your own Valentine’s card with Photoshop? Here’s how:
1. Open up a blank document and draw a rectangle about the size you want your card to be.
2. Apply a Gradient Overlay to this rectangle with four different shades of red. You’re free to use your personal settings and choices of color, but here are my settings in case you need some inspiration. Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes the most eye-catching photo effects are also the easiest to apply. Creating a warping effect on your pictures in Photoshop is relatively easy and, at the same time, it gives your photos a completely new appearance. Want to learn how? Follow these easy steps and see for yourself:
1. Open the photo you want to work with and unblock the background layer by double clicking on it. Then create another layer under this one.
2. With the new layer selected, go to Image > Canvas size and enlarge the size of the canvas with the following settings: Read the rest of this entry »
Some Photoshop effects are easier than others to apply simply because Photoshop already includes the exact template you need for it. In this tutorial we’ll use a default texture included in Adobe’s tool to create a jigsaw puzzle effect with your favorite picture.
1. Open the photo you want to work with and duplicate the background layer. Name this new layer “Puzzle”.
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Black and white images have their own special beauty, but some people still prefer colored ones. If you’re among them you’ll probably be interested in this simple Photoshop trick which lets you color any black and white photo. The process is long and tedious, but pretty straightforward. Plus you can fully customize each color you use, and therefore add an original final touch: a vintage photo, a fantasy image with surrealistic colors… anything goes!
1. Open the image you want to color and change to Quick Mask mode by clicking on the marked icon.
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I’ve always preferred to give handmade presents, a piece of handicraft made by myself that makes the gift more personal. Following this idea, and as the holiday season approaches, I like to prepare special Photoshop tutorials to create your own greeting cards. In case you missed them, here’s the 2007 tutorial and here’s the 2008 one. And for those behind the deadline, here’s another easy tutorial that shows you how to add a snow effect to text; a simple yet effective trick you can use for cards, themes and all sorts of Christmas-related graphic.
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Photo collages are a nice way to keep memories from special places you’ve been to or the people you love. Traditional collages are usually created with paper, scissors and glue. But there’s also an easy way to create them with Photoshop. Follow these steps and you’ll learn how.
1. First of all, you need to download these two sets of Photoshop Polaroid-style brushes and unzip the ABR files in Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Presets\Brushes. They should appear like this:
2. Open Photoshop and load the two brush sets you just unzipped. Select the Brush tool, click on the small arrow in the brush preset picker window and click on Load Brushes. Read the rest of this entry »