I've been learning more and more about using Photoshop to enhance my photos. The biggest thing I've learned so far is that you don't have to destroy the quality of your photo using programs like Photoshop. I would always over expose, over sharpen and over color all my work and never realize it. Now that I've got a handle on what can be done, my ability to create spectacular photos is well within my grasp. Here's one of the recent tutorials I've been using to help out with a fire effect. You can creat this! Cool! Although it's an advanced tutorial and will take a few hours or more to perfect, the core skills in creating the effect are valuable as well like playing with the warp and transform tools, layering and more. Give it a go and have fun!
How to Create a Flaming Photo Manipulation
Tutorial Details
- Program: Photoshop
- Difficulty: Advanced
- CompletionTime: 1-2 hours
Final Product What You'll Be Creating
In this tutorial, we’ll manipulate a picture so it looks like a
woman burning in flames. The idea behind this manipulation was to create
a nice looking illustration, only by using simple techniques and tools
such as the Brush tool and Warp command. I hope you enjoy the tutorial
and try it with your own stock imagery.
Step 1
For this project, I used two nice images that suits for the manipulation; image1, image2. I would like to thank the author of this two great pictures, which is thiquinho and huibidos from sxc.hu. And before we continue with the steps, I need to inform you that this tutorial is written using Photoshop CS3.
Step 2
Let’s start with image1,
open and duplicate this image by using the Image > Duplicate command
from the menu bar. In the Duplicate Image dialog box, you can name it
anything you like, but to follow this tutorial reference, name it
"PassionFire" and hit OK. By doing this, we kept the original image. Be
sure to save.
Step 3
With the "PassionFire" image active, duplicate the "background"
layer. Set the foreground and background color to black and white by
pressing D on the keyboard. Click the "background" layer again and fill
it with the foreground color ~ which is set to black. See the images
below.
Step 4
Reactivate "Layer 1," then press Command + Shift + U to apply
desaturate command. Now invert the color by pressing Command + I. Your
image should look like a film’s negative now.
Step 5
Duplicate "Layer 1," then apply the find edges filter from Filter
> Stylized > Find Edges. Next, invert the color by pressing
Command + I and change the Blending Mode to Hard light. There, your
image now has contrast white line and a very dark background.
Step 6
To give the white line more contrast, duplicate the "Layer 1" copy then change the Blending Mode to Screen.
Step 7
Now we move to the second image. Drag image2
into "PassionFire" document image window using the Move tool. If the
Paste profile mismatch dialog appears, just click OK to fix it.
Step 8
The fire image from "image2" should be in "Layer 2" now. Change its
Blending Mode to screen, this will hide all the black colors in "Layer
2." If done right, your image should be similar to the one below.
Step 9
Duplicate "Layer 2" by pressing Command + J. Make sure you use the
Screen Blending mode, same as the original "Layer 2." Next, make "Layer
2" become invisible by hiding it from the layers panel.
Step 10
Click the "Layer 2 copy" to make it active, then use the Free
Transform command ( Edit > Free Transform) to rotate and resize the
fire image like shown below. Don’t forget to press Enter when you’re
done transforming.
Step 11
Still in the same layer, now use the warp command (Edit >
Transform > Warp) to bend the fire image – so it following the hair
flow. Press Enter when done. See the example below as a reference.
Step 12
If you feel the result is not quite good enough, simply use the
Liquify filter to fix it. I assume you already know how to use the
liquify filter; the Forward Warp tool and Twirl Clockwise tool is the
only tool I used to get this result (see image below).
Step 13
Duplicate the "Layer 2" copy, then use the Free Transform command to
resize and rotate the fire image in the current layer. Don’t forget to
reposition the fire image too. Once you get this composition (see image
below), hit Enter.
Step 14
Repeat the previous process to get the hair covered with fire. Just
duplicate and modify the layer until you get all the hair part covered.
If needed, use the Liquify Filter again. The end result of this process
should look like the image below, notice how many layers are used.
Step 15
Okay, now activate "Layer 2" and make it visible again. Then Change
the Blending Mode to Vivid Light. This step will colorize only the white
line in the layer below it.
Step 16
Still in "Layer 2," apply the Free Transform command to resize and
rotate the fire image like shown below. The purpose is to cover up the
girl’s body and hair with the fire texture. Press Enter when you’re done
transforming.
Step 17
We’re gonna blur the fire image in "Layer 2," To do so, apply the
Gaussian Blur filter from the Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur menu.
Fill the Radius around 10 to 15 pixels, then click OK when done.
Blurring the fire image will cause its texture to blend smoother with
the layer below it.
Step 18
Now add a layer mask to "Layer 2." Then use a soft round Brush tool
with Opacity at 100%. Set the brush size according to your need, then
just mask until the fire outside becoming hidden. See the process below.
Step 19
Sure we will remove the white line shown in the image (marked in red
rectangle below). First, add a new blank layer below "Layer 2." Then
simply paint it with black using the soft round brush tool.
Step 20
Now go to the top most layer (mine is: "Layer 2 copy 6"), add two
adjustment layers which is Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast.
Careful not to change the layer adjustment order, or the color effect
will be wrong. Below you can see the setting I used to complete this
step, also pay attention to the adjustment layer order.
By adding a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, we unify all colors. The
Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer brings more color contrast and
makes sure the image color’s looks like real fire.
Step 21
I’m sure you notice the fire sparks effect. I create it using the
Brush tool with this simple setting. No special brush needed, but if you
have one that will be useful then feel free to use it. Below you can
see all the settings I used within the Brush palette, of course you can
change the setting as you like. Just make sure the brush spatter enough
and vary the size.
Step 22
Now to use the modified brush, create a new blank layer below the
adjustment layers ( mine is named "Layer 4"). Choose 50% gray from the
swatches palette, then you can start creating the fire sparks. Remember
not to be monotone, resize the brush size if needed. I start using a big
sized brush, then reduce it to smaller size (you can change brush size
faster by pressing the bracket keys on the keyboard ).
If you’re not sure how to do this steps, just imagine where and how
the fire sparks will flow if it was real fire. For me, imagining stuff
is very helpful.
Step 23
To make it more interesting, create a new layer and change the
Blending Mode to Screen. Then use a normal soft round brush (not the one
we modified earlier), with an Opacity of 50%. Just click in the part of
body, neck, and hair. I’m not sure how to explain this, but you can see
the difference between the above and below images.
Conclusion
And that’s all of it! Hope you learned something new and had fun. You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.
Article by Jayan Saputra
