ilike2Photoshop

Blueprint effect in Photoshop CS4

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:56:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a blueprint effect in Photoshop. Back in the old days blueprints were used by engineers and architects as a way of showing a detailed plan or drawing of a building or design. Blueprints are now less common because of the advances of technology and software programs.

Blueprint effect in Photoshop CS4

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop. I have used a free stock image of a building which can be downloaded from sxc.hu. For this blueprint effect its best to use an image of a design such as buildings or vehicles.

Duplicate the background layer by selecting Ctrl + J on the keyboard.

Step 2

On the menu bar select Filter > Stylize > Find edges. This will remove most of the colour from the image and leave the edges defined.

Step 3

To further remove colour from the image, go to the menu bar and select Layer > New Adjustment Layer. If you see a message about create a new layer, click ok.

Step 4

We now need to add the blue colour to the image. Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Colour and click ok. Choose a blue colour of your choice, I have gone for # 4880e8 colour, but you can use whatever colour you like.

Step 5

You probably cannot be your original image, so you need to change the blending mode. I have changed my blend mode to Multiply, but you can experiment with the various different modes.

You should now have a blueprint effect in Photoshop CS4.

Photoshop CS4 tip - Change workspace colour

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:36:00 +0000

I previously wrote a Photoshop CS4 tip called opening tabs in windows. In this post you will learn how to change the default workspace colour in Photoshop. The workspace colour is the light gray colour situated behind your open document as shown in the image below.

To change the workspace colour you right click on the background and you will see the following three options which are gray, black and custom. The gray colour is the default workspace colour.

To have a different workspace colour other than gray or black, you choose the ‘Select Custom Colour’ option and then choose a colour from the colour pickers. If you want to revert back to the default then you right click on the background and select the gray option.

Photoshop CS4 tip – Open tabs in windows

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 12:43:00 +0000

This is a Photoshop CS4 tip where you will learn how to open tabs in multiple windows. Currently when you open many documents in Photoshop they appear as tabs as shown in the image below.

To open up the tabs in different windows is a straight forward process. Go to the menu bar and select Windows > Arrange > Float All in Windows. This will open all the tabs into separate windows.

You can also alternatively right click on the tab and select Move to New Window which will automatically make the tab appear in a new separate window. This is a convenient method of making one tab appear in a new window, but if you had more than one tab then I would suggest going through the menu bar.

Night vision effect in Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:16:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a night vision effect in Photoshop using the hue and saturation adjustments, blur filter and the burn tool. The night vision effect in this tutorial gives the result of looking through night vision goggles. I have used a free stock image which can be found at sxc.hu.

Night vision effect in Photoshop

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop. It’s best to use an image which contains some scenery such as buildings or landmarks.

Step 2

Duplicate the background layer by pressing Ctrl + J on the keyboard. Then select Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation. Check the Colorize box at the bottom of the dialog window and then give your image a green colour. I have used the following settings, but you can use whatever setting you wish. I have set the hue to 124, the saturation to 43 and the lightness to -36.

Step 3

Add some noise to your image by selecting Filter > Add Noise. I have only added a small amount of noise to my image. The amount I used is 10% and the distribution is uniform.

Step 4

Take the burn tool with the range at Midtones and the exposure at 64%. And paint around the edges of the image. Apply about 5 -6 layers of burn around the edges, so you get a slightly blacken colour.

You should now have a night vision effect.

10 free Photoshop Actions

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:17:00 +0000

This article contains ten Photoshop Actions you can download for free. Actions are basically recorded sequences of commands that have been saved, and can be used at a later stage.

To install actions, you drag the .atn file into the actions folder directory in Photoshop, or you can alternatively drag the .atn into the actions panel with the PS interface.

Polaroid GENERATOR V1

Action no.4-spooky portraits

Eye colour

Convert white to transparent

Vintage Photo

Photoshop Dream Blur Action

SkinTone set

Gum Bichromate Print

Skin Smoothing

Comics Photoshop action

Change brush size in Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:14:00 +0000

When you use the brush tool in Photoshop there is a quick way of increasing and decreasing the brush size without going through the brush menu. Normally when you want to change the brush size you would have to go through the brush options. (black triangle)

To change the size you drag the slider left or right to increase/decrease the size, or you can change the value from the input text field. Changing the hardness of the brush is the same changing the size of the brush.

A quicker method of changing the brush size would be to use shortcut keys. You would use the ‘[’ (left bracket) to decrease the size of the brush, and the ‘]’ (right bracket) to increase the size of the brush. If you want to decrease the edge hardness of the brush you would use ‘Shift + [’, and to increase you would use ‘Shift + ]’. The benefit of using shortcut keys is that you can see the brush change take place on the image instead of through the brush menu options.

Lined paper effect

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:55:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a lined paper effect in Photoshop using the pattern overlay presets. I have used the default Photoshop presets, but you can download custom presets from here if you wish.

Lined paper effect

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480 dimensions. Then select the Rectangle tool on the toolbar with the ‘shape layer’ options and drag a rectangle shape on the canvas like below. I have used a light grey colour foreground colour, but you can use a darker colour if you wish.

Step 2

On the menu bar select Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options then select the ‘Pattern Overlay’ checkbox. Now select the drop down menu from the pattern option, then select the menu option (black triangle) and choose the ‘Color paper’ option from the drop down menu as shown below.

Step 3

Select the preset called ‘Notebook’ as shown below, and then click ok.

You should now have a lined paper effect.

Curtain texture effect

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:50:00 +0000

In this Photoshop tutorial you will learn how to create a curtain texture effect using the gradient tool. The process only requires three steps and is very quick to create. I have chosen a blue colour for my curtains, but you can use whatever colour you wish.

Curtain texture effect

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480. Then reset the colour palette by selecting the ‘D’ key. Select the gradient tool with linear gradient and the mode at difference.

Step 2

Hold down the Shift key and click and drag small horizontal distances from the left of the canvas. You will be left with something like below:

Step 3

Select Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation and change the sliders to your liking, make sure you select the colourize checkbox. I have given the following settings: Hue = 225, Saturation = 53 and Lightness = -27.

You should now have a curtain texture effect.

Photoshop Easter egg – Merlin lives

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:51:00 +0000

In all versions of Photoshop there are various secret Easter eggs. It seems to be a tradition to include these Easter eggs. All the versions have a pop up window with a little wizard called ‘Merlin’.

To find this Easter egg you firstly need to open up Photoshop. Then hold down the Alt (Windows) or Options (Mac) key depending on what kind of computer you have. Now click on the little arrow button on the layers panel as shown below.

On the drop down menu select ‘Palette Option’ which is the last item on the menu.

A pop up window should appear with a little wizard. You press the ‘Begone’ button for the window to close down.

If you know any more Easter eggs, feel free to leave a comment below.

3D text effect part 2

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:14:00 +0000

I previously created a 3D text effect tutorial in Photoshop. This time I will created another kind of 3D text effect which uses the wind filter to the 3D effect instead of duplicating the text layers.

3D text effect part 2

Step 1

Create a new Photoshop document with 640 x 480 dimensions. Then select the paint bucket tool with black colour and fill the background layer with this colour. Now select the text tool with white colour and type your message on the canvas. I have used Tahoma font type with bold font style, but you can use whatever font you wish.

Step 2

Still with the text tool selected. Choose the ‘Create Wrapped Text’ button, and then select the Arc upper style as shown below. I have set my bend to 35%.

Step 3

Duplicate the text layer Ctrl + J. Then apply the polar coordinate by selecting Filter > Distort > polar coordinate. If you receive a message about rasterising the type, click ok. Afterward choose the option ‘Polar to Rectangular’ and click ok. You should get the following pattern below.

Step 4

Rotate the canvas by selecting Image > Rotate Canvas > 90CW.
Apply the wind filter by selecting Filter > Style > Wind. Choose wind for the method and from the left for the direction, and click ok. Now repeat this effect about 5 – 6 times by hitting Ctrl + F.

Step 5

Rotate the canvas back into position by selecting Image > Rotate Canvas > 90CCW, and selecting Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates then choose the opposite option. You should now have an effect like below.

Step 6

On the layer panel, drag the original text layer on top of the modified text layer. Then right click and select ‘Blending Options’ on the drop down menu. Check the ‘Gradient Overlay’ styles and choose a colour of your liking. I have gone for a two tones of red. Next check the ‘Outer Glow’ and set the spread to 16%.

Spiral text effect in Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:41:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a spiral text effect in Photoshop. You need to use the Custom shape tool for this tutorial which can be found on the tool box. This tutorial is similar to the text on the path tutorial.

Spiral text effect in Photoshop

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480. On the tool bar select the custom shape tool as shown below. The Custom shape tool is normally below the text tool.

Step 2

On the menu bar at the top of the Photoshop document select the ‘Shape’ drop down menu. Then select the more icon button and select ‘All’. If receive a message asking you to load all the shape, click ok.

Step 3

Locate the Custom shape called ‘Spiral’ and make sure the paths buttons is turned on.

Step 4

Now drag a spiral shape on the canvas as shown below, you can make your spiral shape as large or as little as you wish.

Step 5

Select the text tool and position the cursor over the spiral and type your message on the spiral.

Once, you have finished typing your message select Ctrl + H to remove the text path. You should have a spiral text effect.

Coloured stencil effect

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:55:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a coloured stencil effect in Photoshop. You will need to use the threshold adjustment tool for this effect. I have used a free stock image which is available from sxc.hu.

Coloured stencil effect

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop you wish to add the coloured stencil effect to. This effect will work best on a self portrait image. Duplicate the background layer by selecting Ctrl + J, and then reset the colour palette by pressing the ‘D’ key on the keyboard.

Step 2

Select Image > Adjustment > Threshold and give a threshold level of 131. You can experiment with the levels in your image as it may be different. The threshold adjustment represents an image as pure white or pure black, depending on the slider position. You will image something like below.

Step 3

Select the magic wand tool and select the white areas of the image and hit delete. Then using the paint bucket tool colour the empty spaces with your favourite colours. I have filled the background in #06965b colour in the face with various shades of red.

You should now have a coloured stencil effect.

Abstract line texture

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:45:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create an abstract line texture using the gradient tool. The results of this texture will give a random selection of lines. This effect is created in a similar way to the kaleidoscope texture effect.

Abstract line texture

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 800 x 600 dimensions. Then select the paint bucket tool and fill the canvas in a black colour.

Step 2

Select the gradient tool with the reflected gradient and the mode at normal and a foreground to transparent gradient as shown below.

Step 3

Click and drag small gradients on the black canvas to created horizontal and vertical lines as shown below. Create the gradients in random positions all over the canvas.

Step 4

Now keep changing the colour of the gradient, but make sure you use the foreground to transparent gradient and you should get an effect like below. You can use as many or as few colours as you wish.

You should now have an abstract line texture.

Change colour of an object

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:53:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to change the colour of an object in Photoshop using the Adjustment layer. There are many different methods of changing the colour, but I will show you the simplest way. I have used a free stock image which is available from www.sxc.hu

Change colour of an object

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop you wish to change the colour of. I have decided to change the colour of the apple in my image. You can use whatever kind of image you want, but make sure you use a coloured image.

Step 2

Create a new Adjustment layer by selecting Layer > New Adjustment layer > Hue/Saturation. Select the ‘Colorize’ box and then change the hue and saturation sliders to the colour you want to change, and click ok. I want to give the apple in my image, a green colour so have given the following settings below.

Step 3

Add a vector mask by selecting Layer > Vector Mask > Reveal All. Then reset the colour palette by pressing the ‘D’ key and paint over all the areas where you don’t want the green colour. If you make a mistake you can flip over the colour palette (X) and paint over the incorrect area.

You should now be able to change the colour of an object.

Vibrant Colours in Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:20:00 +0000

In this Photoshop tutorial you will learn how to make colours more vibrant in your image. This process uses the quick mask mode and the curves adjustment tool. The curve adjustments make the colours in the image more vibrant by influencing the tones and contrasts of the colours. So, by adjusting the curves the specific points of the image can become more vibrant.

Vibrant Colours in Photoshop

Step 1

Open your image in Photoshop and duplicate the background layer by pressing Ctrl + J. I have used a free stock image of a sliced kiwi, but you can use whatever kind of image you wish.

Step 2

Reset the colour palette (D) then choose the brush tool with an appropriate brush size and enter Quick Mask mode (Q). Paint over the areas of the image where you don’t want the colour to be more vibrant as shown below. If you make a mistake you can flip the colour palette by pressing the ‘X’ key on the keyboard and painting over the area of your mistake.

Step 3

Exit out of the Quick Mask mode by pressing the Q key and you should get a selected image like below. If you are unhappy with the selection on your image you can re-enter Quick Mask mode and make adjustments.

Step 4

On the menu bar select Image > Adjustments > Curves and the curves adjustment window should appear. A colour image is made up red, green and blue channels (RGB). The Curve adjustment tool lets us work with the RGB channels as well as the individual colour channels. So, since my image contains green colour I will start with green channel. At the bottom of the Curves tools there is an input and output tone. Currently, the tone is unchanged as there is a diagonal line through the centre but if you drag the line towards the right side you will notice the input value increasing as well as the colours in the image getting brighter. While if you drag the slider to the left you will notice the output value increases and the image getting darker.

Step 5

Now simply play around with the curves until you are happy with colour. Once you are finish with the green channel move onto the red and blue channels. Deselect the selection Ctrl + D and you should now more vibrant colours. If you compare the original image with the image below you will notice the colours are less dull and more vibrant.

Free Photoshop brushes

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:50:00 +0000

This article contains a list of places where you can get free brushes for Photoshop. There are many different kinds of brushes available to download which range from grunge brushes to garden plate brushes, and many more.

To install brushes, you simply place the ‘.abr’ file into the brushes directory in Photoshop. The default location for a window computer is: C:\Program Files\Adobe\ (Your PS version) \Presets\Brushes.

Below I have provided a collection of 6 different Photoshop brush websites.

Brusheezy – The tag line is “stupid name, cool brushes”. There are many different categories of brushes to choose from.

Psbrushes – “The number one source for Photoshop brushes”. All the brushes are organized into categories with brushes being updated daily.

Deviantart – Many unique brushes submitted by the devianart community.

Qbrushes – The ‘Q’ stands for quality.

Brushking – Contains lost of different kinds of brushes.

Blendfu – Creative Photoshop brushes.

Feel free to leave any comments if you know any more free Photoshop brush websites.

Wood text effect

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:01:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a wood text effect in Photoshop. The wood effect is created by adding a pattern overlay on top of the text. You will need a wood texture for this tutorial. A list of free Photoshop texture can be found here.

Wood text effect

Step 1

Open a wooden texture in Photoshop.
Select Edit > Define Pattern then choose a name and click ok. This adds the texture to the library of patterns.

Step 2

Create a new Photoshop documents with the size 640 x 480. Select the text tool and type your message on the canvas like below. I have used impact font type, but you can use whatever font you wish. The wood text effect will work particularly well with chucky text.

Step 3

Select Layer > Layer Styles > Blending options. Check the pattern overlay checkbox then click the pattern drop down menu and select your wood texture.

Step 4

Now check the ‘Bevel and Emboss’ checkbox. Change the style to Outer bevel and the depth to 200% like below:

You should now have a wood text effect.

Halftone border effect

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:23:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a simply halftone border effect in Photoshop. You need to use the quick mask and the halftone filter for this effect. I have used a free stock image which is available from: www.sxc.hu. I have also previously created a jagged border effect, so take a look at that tutorial.

Halftone border effect

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop.
Reset the colour palette by selecting the ‘D’ key on the keyboard.

Step 2

Enter quick mask mode by selecting the ‘Q’ key then take the rectangular marquee tool and make a selection around your image like below:

Step 3

Select the paint bucket tool and fill in the selected area like below. The selected area should now appear in red.

Then select choose Select > Inverse.

Step 4

Now select Filter > Pixelate > Colour Halftone and select a 10 pixel radius. Depending on the size of your image you may need to select a higher number of pixels.

Step 5

Exit from the Quick mask mode (Q) then hit the Delete key, and deselect the image by pressing Ctrl + D.

You should now have a halftone border effect.

Text wrapping in Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:21:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to text wrap in Photoshop. Text wrapping is when text is wrapped around an image. This process of wrapping text requires using shape tools and paths. I have used a free stock image of a pizza to demonstrate the text wrapping.

Text wrapping in Photoshop

Step 1

Open an image you wish to text wrap in Photoshop. Notice I have left large areas to the right where I can wrap the text. Be sure your image has enough space for you to place your text.

Step 2

Select the rectangle shape tool with the ‘paths’ and the ‘add to path area’ options from the toolbar like below:

Step 3

Drag out a path on your image like below. The path of the rectangle shape defines the area where you text will be placed. You can make the path as large or as little as you wish.

Step 4

Now you need to subtract the other half of the pizza shape from the rectangular path. Select the following options below. This time I have selected ellipse tool with the ‘path’ and the ‘subtract from path area’ selected from the tool bar.

Then drag out the area you want to subtract. In my case I have dragged out an area which contains the pizza shape.

Step 5

Select the text tool and click anywhere inside your path and type any message you wish. I have used impact font with black colour text, but you can use whatever font and colour you wish. To remove the paths simply select the layer below on the layers panels

You should be able to text wrap in Photoshop.

Create a rainbow in Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:47:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a rainbow in Photoshop using the gradient tool. I have created a rainbow on a white canvas, but you can place your rainbow on an image if you wish.

Create a rainbow

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480 dimensions.
Reset the palette by pressing the ‘D’ key and insert a new layer Ctrl + Shift + N.

Step 2

Select the gradient tool with a linear gradient and transparent rainbow preset.

Change the blend mode to soft light and the opacity to 83% and also check the reverse option.

Step 3

Hold down the Shift key so that the gradient remains at a straight angle, and drag a small gradient from the top to bottom like below:

Step 4

Select Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates and make sure the ‘rectangular to polar’ is checked and click ok. You should get the following effect below:

Step 5

Select the Rectangular Marquee tool and cut off half of the rainbow which should leave you with the following:

Why not try adding the rainbow effect to an image? I have also given the rainbow a Gaussian blur and lower the opacity of the layer.

Photo sketch effect

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:09:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a photo sketch effect. This effect turns your photos into a hand drawn sketch. I have used a free stock image of dog which is available from: www.sxc.hu.

Photo sketch effect

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop and duplicate the layer by pressing Ctrl + J.

Step 2

Remove the colour from the image by selecting Image > Adjustment > Desaturate. You should get the following black and white image like below:

Step 3

Duplicate the layer again by selecting Ctrl + J. Then invert the image by selecting Image > Adjustment > Invert.

Step 4

From the layers panel change the blending option to Colour Dodge. You image may turn completely white.

Step 5

Select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and adjust the radius to your preference. I have selected a 5 pixel radius, but you can experiment with your image. Dragging the slider more to the right will create a more emphasized image.

Step 6

Merge all your layers together by selecting all your layers pressing Ctrl + E.

You should now have a photo sketch effect.

How to install Photoshop brushes

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:52:00 +0000

This tutorial will teach you how to install brushes in Photoshop. This process is quick and simple and only requires three steps. There is also a temporary method of installing brushes which is also discussed below.

How to install Photoshop brushes

Step 1

Download the brush file then extract the file to your desktop, or any location you wish.

Step 2

Open up the directory for your brushes. The default location for a windows computer is: C:\Program Files\Adobe\ (Your Photoshop version) \Presets\Brushes

Step 3

Now drag the brush file into the ‘Brushes folder’. You should now be able use your downloaded brush next time you restart Photoshop.

Temporary method of Installing Brushes

There is also a temporary method of installing brushes in Photoshop. Although the brush will be removed next time you start Photoshop. Firstly, you need to select the brush tool and then the brush drop down menu.

Select the circle with the arrow then select ‘Load Brushes’ from the drop down menu. A load pop-up window should appear, then select your brush file and click ok.

Create Honeycomb texture

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:26:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a honeycomb texture. The honeycomb texture looks like a bee’s structure for holding wax. This tutorial requires using various filters and the gradient tool.

Honeycomb texture effect

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480 dimensions.
Set the foreground colour to #000000 and the background colour to #ecea26 as shown below:

Step 2

Select the gradient tool with the Radial gradient and the foreground to background gradient and drag a pattern on the canvas like below:

Step 3

Select Filter > Texture > Stained Glass and add the following settings and click ok:

Cell Size = 100
Border Thickness = 4
Light Intensity = 3

Step 4

Select Filter > Artistic > Poster Edge and add the following setting then click ok.

Edge Thickness = 1
Edge Intensity = 1
Poterization = 5

You should now have a honeycomb texture.

Sunburst effect

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:25:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a sunburst effect using the gradient tool and various filters. A sunburst effect is when there are beams of colour coming from the centre of the image. For more information on gradients checkout the gradient tool tutorial at learn-Photoshop.

Sunburst effect

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480.
Reset the colour palette by pressing the ‘D’ key. Choose a foreground colour I have selected #e9d92a colour, but you can use whatever colour you wish.

Step 2

Select the gradient tool with the liner gradient option and the foreground to background gradient like below:

Step 3

Hold down the Shift key and drag a gradient starting from the bottom of the canvas to the top. Make sure you drag a large gradient, so your canvas will look like below:

Step 4

Select Filter > Distort > Wave and add the following settings and click ok.

Number of generators = 15
Wavelength: Min = 34, Max = 43
Amplitude: Min = 15, Max = 104
Scale: Horiz = 100, Vert = 100
Type = Square

You should get the following pattern:

Step 5

Select Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates. Ensure the ‘Rectangular to polar’ is selected and click ok.

You should now have a sunburst effect.

Create a depth of field

noreply@blogger.com (iliketo) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:54:00 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a depth of field in your image. Depth of field is when there is a graduation transition between the sharpness and un-sharpness of an image. So the front of an image will be in focus while the back will not be in focus. I have used a free stock image of oranges which is available from: www.sxu.hu

Create a depth of field

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop.
Duplicate the layer by selecting Ctrl + J.

Step 2

Add a box blur to your image by selecting Filter > Blur > Box Blur. Select the radius of 8 – 9 pixels depending on the size of your image. If you have a smaller image you may wish to choose a smaller radius size. The ‘Box Blur’ blurs an image based on the colour values of the neighbouring pixels. You should now have a blurry image like below:

Step 3

Select Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All to add a layer mask to your image. Now reset the colour palette by pressing the ‘D’ key. Select the brush tool with an appropriate size and the opacity at 100%. Paint away the foreground areas where you want the image to stay in focus. Below are the areas of the image I will paint:

Step 4

Once you have completed the step above. Lower the opacity of the brush to 50% and paint a small portion of areas behind the areas you painted in the previous step. This builds up a gradually effect of depth in the image, so the foreground is in focus and the background is blurred.

You should have a depth of field in your image. Now if you compare the original image with your currently created image you should notice the foreground area is in focus while the background is blurred.