Now you see it now you don't....

The liquify tool in Photoshop can be a very handy one....now before I start receiving hate mail don't think that this is just used for slimming people down or making models in magazines all that we aspire to me and realistically cannot reach. Yes of course, it is great at that but it can be used for other things away from the fashion world. Things that bar the whole 'we are labeling as right or wrong or acceptable or not' thing sorry but brides don't like a double chin and my mum would love it if I could make her arms look a little more slinky. Just the way it is.

With that in mind the liquify tool can be used to do such things in wedding, portrait, fashion a

nd dear lord even landscape photograph

y and that slightly dumpy blue tit who is dominating too much o

f your focus. It doesnt work if too dramatic, especially if on portraits because people do know what they look like. It can however just tighten up an image.

Some examples for you below - Viccy B's chin....well come on she is just upset this picture has reached the www before it was retouched and also a gentleman's jowl. Plus a little arm recovery. Use it where you will just use it wisely! ;-)

Vick B

Fig 1: Here we have the pic where I am going to reduce the chin

a little. It doesnt need much a

nd less is definaltley more if you ask me. First duplicate your background layer, this just makes it eas

ier to q

uickly see the difference and also start again if you dont like the results.

Once duplicated use the Rectangular Marquee tool to select the area that you are going to liquify. Always select a large area around the actual alternation zone as the change needs to be gradual and l

ook as natural as possible. The larger area you can select the better really.

Fig 2: I use a grid when i liquify as it helps me to see how m

uch I am actually doing. Also bare in mind any straight lines in th

e background - these of course will bend however you bend / amend other areas of the image. Start with a large brush, you can see from the image this brush is probably the size of Viccy B's chin. Gently use the brush to push the 'sag' up. Bare in mind this can shorten the face so you may need to ever so slightly pull the chin forward as well. Also watch for the chin going pointy. Remember don't go overboard, people are not meant to notice this has been done!

In the insert you can see the

finished piece - I have taken the grid away and the results are easier to see. Note I have also slightly reduced th

e adams apple as if you reduce everything around it this is then

going to stick out even more.

See Fig 3 for the final results - before and after.

Man Chin

Well not wanting to offend friends or family I got this image from google images so hopefully all ok there if they guy has al

ready decided to post pics of himself in his under crackers online. So same principles apply. New layer, rectangular marque tool and a large brush in liquify. If you don't know how to get to

liquify go to filter, you will see it there. The shortcuts for Mac are CMD/Arrow/X.

So you can see on this image, Man Chin I have reduced the sag. Again it has to be natural and gradual to look like its not really obvious. The use of the bigger brush means lines remain smooth rather than lumpy, its really a case of experimentation and you will see what I mean. As well as tuck

ing the chin in you want to lift it up, as before I have also extended the end of his actual jaw/chin out slightly to avoid it looking as if he has no real jaw line or his face is too short.

Arm

Often ladies complain of there arms when in dresses and so forth and this can easily be solved using the liquify tool. Now in this instance you have to slim the whole arm generally and also the top of the arm . I would also recommend using the clone tool to slightly reduce the size of the crease, between arm and body basically. It is this line that needs to remain relatively smooth and without lumps to achieve the look I imagine you will want.

I find using a slightly smaller brush is better to avoid effecting the bust and so forth but still keep it big enough to be natural and not create odd points or lumps. Again, you will need to select a large area, i would recommend from top of the neck right down to the wrist or even waist, this gives you plenty of room to be as realistic as possible.

In this example I haven't actually used the clone tool although you can see the line could do with reducing slightly.

Other things the liquify tool can help with is to help open eyes, say on babies. Not from shut to open by any means but if an eyelid has slightly drooped maybe you caught them mid blink or something, you can just slightly adjust to bring the eyes in line with each other. I believe the liquify tool has now been brought to the i-phone so hey - you know the fun that can also be had!!

For any hints and tips you would like to see or any comments or suggestions on those existing, please feel free to contact me on hello@carli-art.co.uk.

Fancy some action?

One of the simplest things to do in Photoshop is setting up an Action - an automated task that you can assign to a batch of images, a whole folder of images or just a few that you pick. This could be something as simple as a certain way of saving things or resizing to certain dimensions but can go as far as your imagination will take you really.

I use actions to apply logos to my work when putting on social networking sites or shareware and I also commonly use it when doing particular events, adding a set standard 'curve' action to adhere to all images which I know in general, will work with everythi

ng. The other thing I tend to use it for is saving files when I am editing each one, saves you saving as each time and saves loads of time for more important stuff! (Like making a cuppa while all your work saves!)

The 'Action' tab can be found alongside the history tab and within the same palette. If yours is not visible then add it in your view function.

Basically what you are doing is recording an Action and then saving it so that you can use it on a load of other files later.

First you need to decide what action you are

saving, for this purpose I am picking 'Curves'. Open up one of the files from the batch of images you are going to edit and you think

will need a similar curve action on.

Once opened go to your Action Tab and click on the 'New' Icon as illustrated. Save your Action as something memorable - you can even colour code it if you wish to group your actions later. Once saved it is instantly recording and anything you do to that image will be saved within the 'Action.'

So curves - open up the curves (CTRL M or in Adjustments) and do a

standard curve that you like for contrast. Now save the image and close. Now stop the action using the stop button as illustrated.

Your action is now saved.

Now your going to want to apply this curves action to a whole bunch of images to save you a load of time where you could be otherwise watching the JK show or making yourself a coffee. Either way it saves you time and your mouse finger!

So still in photoshop, with action stopped and image closed, go to File - Automate - Batch. Once here you will be able to select the 'Action' you require (plus a load of automated pre loaded actions) and then the folder to which this action should apply.

You can then select how to save the images. So do nothing and they stay open or save them to a specific folder or location. You can even go as far as specifying different file names or extensions.

Once you have decided all of that (see red arrows) press ok, sit back and watch the action take place!

Yep, its that simple.

C x

Tips and Tricks....adjustment layers

Right, thought I better be of some use or of use to some of you, whichever I have decided to do a post about photoshop!  So for those of you that don't know, this is a mini tutorial on using adjustment layers.  I have used CS3 on a mac so things may differ if using a older /  newer version or a PC.

Right, thought I better be of some use or of use to some of you, whichever I have decided to do a post about photoshop!  So for those of you that don't know, this is a mini tutorial on using adjustment layers.  I have used CS3 on a mac so things may differ if using a older /  newer version or a PC.

Adjustment layers basically allow you to adjust curves, colour balance, saturation, levels and various other common editing tools by layer, so you can target different areas of the image rather than the

 whole thing.  This is particularly useful when colour managing an image as you can concentrate on the skin, then the hair, then the background and so forth building up as many layers as you like.  Plus you use the brush so can choose opacity and the use of layers allows you to alter opacity as well.

So open your image.  Choose the area to focus on.  In this case I am reducing the red in the face and the yellow in the background.  First your go to the layers palette and select the 'adjustment layer' tool.  A new layer will appear with whatever adjustment you have chosen.  In my example you can see that I have used the selective colour tool, therefore my new layer is concentrating on adjusting various colour channels within the image.

Adjust as you would but concentrate only on the part of the image you want to change.  So in this c

ase I am adjusting the magenta / red in the face.  Don't worry about anything else in the image, just the part you want this colour adjustment to apply to.  

Once done select the mask on the layer, take the brush tool, make sure black is selected and choose your opacity.  I would recommend 50% at first, subtle but it works.  Then brush back in those areas you do not want the changes to take place.  So, in this case I brushed back in the clothes, background and hair so that the adjustment only affected the face.  You can then adjust the opacity of the layer if you wish.  

You can also do as many layers as you like.  So the next example shows a few more colour adjustment layers and you can see from the mask where the picture has been affected and where it has not.  Each new layer will concentrate on a different part of the image.

 

Once you have what you want and you are happy with the adjustments you can carry on editing as normal!

PS: For skin, selective colour is often used.  However I find that using the hue/saturation tool is just as effective when using layers and just change the hue ever so slightly and the saturation of the magenta.

More random ramblings and tips and tricks to follow next week!  If there is something in particular you want to know.....get in touch!

Carli x