AV News 197 - August 2014
This wall isn't genuine, it's actually an 'Alien Skin Eye Candy' texture filter on a
separate layer behind a cut out of the figure. Alien Skin Software Company
make several different software bundles that can be used as 'plug-ins' within
Photoshop. (http://www.alienskin.com/eyecandy/)
This particular wall texture
was chosen because it
contains both vertical and
horizontal lines which serve to
indicate just one of the basic
effects produced using the
'Twirl' tool. The leftmost of the
two images is an unaltered
copy of the wall, the right
image has been subjected to
various
'twirls'
in
both
directions.
Two other tools that create
unusual effects are the
'Pucker' and 'Bloat' tools. The 'Pucker tool draws pixels in towards the centre
of the brush whilst the 'Bloat tool' moves pixels away from the centre towards
the edges, these effectively deflate or inflate an area of image respectively.
These effects are demonstrated with our three
pictures of the same eye. Top image is unaltered and
natural, middle image is puckered, and the bottom
image is bloated. For demonstration purposes these
effects are over emphasised, you wouldn't normally
want to distort a person's eyes to that extent, but if
used on a 'creative' image for special effect then use
whatever amount of puckering or bloating is required.
The 'Push' tool, or to give it it's proper title 'Push
Left Tool' is peculiar and not instinctive. It's actions
move pixels in a manner totally unexpected. Pushing
the tool left moves pixels down, pushing right moves
pixels up, pushing the tool down moves pixels to the
right, and pushing the tool up moves pixels to the left.
No doubt some clever person has found a suitable
use for this tool but to date I've never needed to use
it. There are several other tools in the 'Liquify Filter'
that are useful and really warrant a description that
could take up a full article. However because space
is limited their function and relative usefulness will be
left for you to discover by trying out 'Liquify' on your
own images. As with most Photoshop functions you need to play around with
them to discover their potential. As long as you work on a copy layer or copy
file leaving your original intact then you have nothing to fear. To be certain of
image safety back up ALL your images on another drive regularly.
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