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Textured Portraits

Techniques

25 September 2008 09:00

Textured portraits are interesting, quick, fun, easy and unique. This guide will show how to create your own textured portraits in 6 simple steps. To make one you will need a portrait and a textured image such as peeling paint. You can find a wide variety of textured images at www.cgtextures.com

Step 1:
Open your portrait image in Photoshop. From the menu bar at the top click on Layer>New>Layer from background. This sets the portrait image as an editable layer that also acts as the background. Now open your textured image in Photoshop.

Step 2:
Select the image with the smallest dimensions of the two shots. Select the crop tool in the tool box on the left hand side. Click the Front Image button in the menu bar to set the crop factor to the current image.

 

Then select the other picture and crop it using the crop factor selected from the smaller image. This ensures that both images are exactly the same size and will make the next stages much easier.

Step 3:
Click on the textured picture and go to Select>All from the menu bar. Then select Edit>Copy to copy the textured picture, click back onto the portrait shot and paste the textured picture by clicking Edit>Paste. This will paste the textured picture on top of the portrait as a separate layer so that you can edit both independently. You should now have two separate layers in your layers pallet - Layer 0 and Layer 1.



Step 4:
Double click on the Layer 1 thumbnail - this will load the Layer Style dialogue box. Set the blend mode to Multiply - you will see that the textured image now blends with the portrait. If your textured image is too dark and you can’t see the portrait, use the opacity slider in the Layer Style box to reduce the texture’s dominance.



Step 5:
You should now be able to see the portrait blended with the texture. To fine-tune your image you can erase areas of the textured layer using the Eraser tool, which you will find in the tool box. This will allow you to define features such as the eyes. Ensure that you have clicked on Layer 1 so you don’t accidentally edit the portrait.

Step 6:
When you’re happy with your image, go to Layer>Flatten Image and save your textured portrait as either a JPEG or TIFF.



Different images will suit different textures so just experiment and see what works best. Enjoy!