PHOTOSHOP 7_How to Create Mosaic Effect

Step 1

Create a new document with 1000px width and 600px height. Fill it with black color (#000000) and update layer name to Background (click twice on layer name).

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Step 2

For this tutorial we need to create an action. Make Actions Panel active with Window > Actions (or Alt+F9) and press Create new Action button on lower window options.

After that create a new layer and apply Filter > Render > Clouds. Change layer mode to Screen for this layer.

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Step 3

Apply Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic with following settings:

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Step 4

Apply Filter > Sketch> Reticulation with following settings:

Now we need to stop recording our new action. Press Stop on Action panel. Make sure tht your new Action only has the following items: Make layer, Clouds, Set current layer, Mosaic and Reticulation. If you have more items remove them and if you have any missing delete Action and recreate it.

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Step 5

With our Action created, we are going to create mosaic bricks. We need to apply our Action about 6-7 times more until all black spots will disappear on canvas.

The result should be similar to this:

Merge all layers together except background layer by selecting them and using Ctrl+E. After merge, change layer mode to Screen again. We now have only two layers: background layer and mosaic layer.

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Step 6

We now are going to add glow. Apply Filter > Sketch > Photocopy on mosaic layer (Detail: 24 and Darkness:1).

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Step 7

Invert layer colors by pressing Ctrl+I.

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Step 8

Set Auto Contrast by going to Image > Auto Constrat (on older Photoshop versions it´s inside Image > Adjustments).

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Step 9

Create new layer and change layer mode to Overlay. Select Brush Tool (soft round brush with about 80 pixels) and apply brush on edges of dark squares with white color.

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Step 10

Merge all layers except background layer by selecting them and using Ctrl+E. Duplicate mosaic layer again with Ctrl+J.

On duplicated layer apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Change layer mode to Overlay.

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Step 11

Duplicate current layer with Ctrl+J to increase effect.

Merge all mosaic layers except background layer.

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Step 12

On this step we are going to bring some color to mosaic layer. Apply Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation with following settings:

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Step 13

Time to add some perspective to the mosaic. Use Edit > Transform > Perspective to transform mosaic to something similar to what i did on image below.

To remove too much blurred areas if you have any, use Crop Tool to fix them.

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Final Image

We may add some additional colors to our mosaic. Add a new layer and change layer mode to Overlay. Set up foreground color as purple (#8a00ff) and with Brush Tool selected (soft round brush with 300px) apply on right side of mosaic. Finally set up foreground color to blue (#002cff) and apply Brush Tool on left side to increase brightness and add some glow. And now this tutorial is complete.

READ MORE - PHOTOSHOP 7_How to Create Mosaic Effect

PHOTOSHOP 4 _How to do Professional Facial Retouching

Step 1

Open photo and resize it by using Image > Image Size to 1500 px width and 1000px height.

Step 2

Let’s start by correcting color on photo. Copy layer by using Ctrl+J. Blur photo a bit using Fliter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with following parameters:

Step 3

Change layer blending mode to Color for this layer.

Step 4

Go to Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options and on Advanced Blending remove check marks from R and G channels.

Now adjust color slightly to your taste on this layer using Image > Adjustments > Curves.

Step 5

Now we are going to remove skin defects. Create a new layer. Choose the Healing Brush Tool, then select Sampled in Source parameter and select All Layers for Sample parameter. Choose the part of the face, that we’ll be using as a sample.

Step 6

Using the Healing Brush Tool (choose soft edges of the brush) and holding the Alt button we choose the most clear skin area, then overlay the sample image on the problem skin area to remove the defect.

Step 7

Then go to forehead area and remove defects by using the same method.

Step 8

We also remove small wrinkles that possibly annoys the eye (still working with the Healing Brush Tool).

Step 9

In the end we should have the following result:

You can see on photo below where i applied Healing Brush Tool:

Step 10

Up to this moment we should have three layers – bottom layer (original photo), layer with color correction and the upper layer, on which we have carried out skin cleaning. Copy all the three layers twice by using Ctrl+J for each layer, then move the copies of the three layers grouping them like on image below. Finally merge both new layer groups together, using Ctrl+E and you will have five layers. Temporarily turn off visibility of the upper layer and work on the other layer (Layer 1 copy).

Step 11

We are going to work on creating the perfect skin texture. Choose the Polygonal Lasso Tool and select the face (it’s not necessary to select regularly).

Step 12

Invert the selection using Select > Inverse and delete everything that is situated in the selected area by pressing Delete button. On the layer you should only have the face now. Select eyebrow area using the Polygonal Lasso Tool and delete it using Delete button.

Step 13

Press Ctrl+D to deselect selected area. Remove the second eyebrow and start deleting eyes on the same way.

Step 14

Now do the same thing to the lips area.

If you turn off visibility on all other layers you can see we should have something like a mask on layer. Turn back on visibility on all layers except upper layer.

Step 15

Apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to this layer with following settings:

Step 16

Change layer opacity to 65%.

Step 17

Turn on visibility of the upper layer.

Create Clipping Mask for this layer using Layer > Create Clipping Mask. Apply Filter > Other > High Pass with following settings:

Step 18

Change blending mode on this layer to Linear Light.

Step 19

Change layer opacity to 50% for this layer.

Step 20

You can stop here if you’re satisfied with the result. But there are too many red and yellow color tones on the portrait, sometimes it can be noticeable on the last steps, as in this case. It can be easily corrected, for this purpose merge all the layers into one using Ctrl+Shift+E and apply Image > Adjustments > Color Balance with the following parameters to newly created layer:

Final Image

Now this tutorial is complete. You can make extra color correction as well or convert photos to grayscale or sepia mode. Hope this tutorial was useful to you.

READ MORE - PHOTOSHOP 4 _How to do Professional Facial Retouching