Photoshop Liquify: Muscle Enhancement

 Mr. MMA has been working out a lot lately.  Even the fist on his shirt is bigger!

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Under Filter, click Distort and Liquify.

~Use the Bloat tool to puff up his muscles.

~OPTIONAL:  Use the Pucker and Warp tools to play around with him.  I used the Pucker a bit on his nose.

Magazine Cover

A magazine cover made in Photoshop Elements.  The puff in the corner was made using a glow style on a rectangle and rotating it.  I would have liked to have spent a bit more time on this design, maybe making the masthead bigger or adding a full page border.  I would also like to soften or frame the edges of the central image. 

How To Break Up In The Digital Age

Rory doesn't have to pose with Caroline anymore, but she took a part of him with her (his shoulder!).  This was done by using the Clone Stamp Tool to paint the background over Caroline.

Photo Retouching

Before and after retouching skin and eyes in Photoshop.  The "beautiful" people in the media aren't always real.













A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Work on a copy of the background layer.  This way you can easily see your changes by turning the copy off.

~Use the Spot Healing Brush to remove the skin blemishes. 

~Select and colourize the whites of the eyes (See "Changing Colours").

~Under Filter, use a surface blur to give the look of smooth skin.

What is the Meaning of Photographic Evidence if You Can Change an Image Digitally?

    Photographic evidence doesn't mean too much nowadays, since any evidence can be changed or altered.  Even an amateur such as myself can put people into places they weren't and change the colours of objects.  How can we tell if photographs are real or photoshopped?  It can be tough.  If the police had a photo of my car at a crime scene, and accused me of a crime I didn't commit, I would show them how easy it is to alter photos.  That might not prove my innocence completely, but it would be a start, and it might require them to collect more evidence.

    If any viewers have opinions, feel free to comment.

Placing Photos in Other Photos

Meet Susan Blue.  She finds herself in many strange situations.



She almost looks like she belongs.

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

 

~Select the image you wish to transfer.  Be very careful in your selection.

 

~Invert the selection and delete the background.  Use the move tool to transfer the image to its new background and resize/position it to your liking.

 

~Use the burn tool to soften the edge between the images and make it more natural.

3D Pop-out Effect

A volleyball player jumping right out of the picture to spike the ball.  He's got great hops!  This image plays with your mind because perspective makes the background look flat, even though it obviously isn't.

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary (This one's more complicated):

 

~Make two extra copies of your background image (I'll call them "copy1" and "copy2," bottom to top).

 

~Colour the original background black (alt+delete)

 

~Add a new layer between the copies (I'll call it "frame").  Turn off the eyeball for the top layer.

 

~Select a rectangle around the area you want in the frame, i.e. the court and the player's legs.

 

~Under Edit, click Stroke to create the frame.

 

~Under Image, click Transform and Perspective.  Move the bottom corner out and the top corner in.

 

~Ctrl+click on the thumbnail of the "frame" layer and invert the selection.  Create a levels layer.

 

~Paint outside the frame black.  Drag the levels layer below "frame" and "copy1" and group "copy1" to it (ctrl+g).

 

~Turn "copy2" back on and select what you want to show outside the frame.  Create a Levels layer.

 

~Drag "copy2" back to the top and group it to the levels layer.

 

~OPTIONAL: Play around with your background.  Maybe try a gradient?

Changing Colours

6 different colours of t-shirts... and cheap, too!  They're all the same photo, with different colours.  (For international viewers, the Roughriders are a Canadian football team.) 

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

 

~Select the area you want to re-colour.

 

~Under Enhance, click Adjust Colour and Adjust Hue and Saturation.

 

~Click Colourize and adjust hue, saturation, and lightness.

Power Clip

A power clip with the image of a zebra appearing within the word "zebra."

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Use a wide font and stretch it over the image.

~Make the image the top layer, then group it to the text (ctrl+g).
~ Add bevel, outer glow, and shadow to make your text pop out.

~OPTIONAL:  Add a background layer.

Party Invitation

An invitation with text, a background image, and vector (non-pixel-based) graphics.  The music and the afro, along with many other shapes, can be found in the custom shapes tool.

Veggie Face

A face made from assorted fruits and veggies using the various selection tools on Photoshop Elements. 

Image Blending

Soft fading from picture to picture, creating one image.  Spiderman rules!!

 

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

 

~Open images as separate files

 

~OPTIONAL: Use the crop tool to add extra space to your background image

 

~Drag the second image onto the first.

 

~Create a levels adjustment on the background layer.

 

~Group the adjustment layer to the top image (shortcut ctrl+g)

 

~Paint in black on the adjustment layer to reveal the background. Use a gradient or a soft brush for a smooth transition.


Colour Splash

Lest we forget.

 

 

A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Copy your background image.

~Under layer adjustments, click hue and set saturation to the lowest setting.

~Painting in black will reveal the colour.

Text Reflection

Text flipped and skewed to look like a reflection. The light blue rectangle also gives the illusion of letters standing on a surface.


A Photoshop Instruction Summary:

~Make your letters pop with glow and bevel effects.

~Flip and skew a copy of the text layer.

~Lower the opacity and use a gradient to fade the reflection.

~OPTIONAL: Add a rectangle of a new colour to create the illusion of a horizon.

Simple Flash Animation

I'm sorry the quality is so bad.  I will try re-uploading in a different format.

File Organisation

My neatly organised S drive.  If only locker cleaning was this easy!

Vignette

A vignette of Barack Obama and the U.S. flag.

Blurred Border Landscape

Blurred border landscape from my first day in CommTech.