How to Make a 3-D Photograph

3-D images are awe-inspiring. The images appear to be made of several pictures merged into one. The requirement of wearing 3-D glasses adds to the intrigue. This type of art is not complex, though. Anyone who has a camera and access to photo editing software can create 3-D images.

Things You'll Need

• A camera, preferably digital
• Photo editing software such as Photoshop

Instructions

1. Select a person as your first subject because they tend to stand out in 3-D photographs. Place your subject in a setting that has depth and a lot of angles. Make sure the subject is 10 to 15 feet from the camera.

2. Transform the images with photo-editing software. Use any program that allows for independent manipulation of blue, red and green color channels. Open digital images in Adobe Photoshop, if you are using that software. Use a scanner to transfer hard copies to a computer or get a photo-developing store to digitize them.

3. Open the right and left eye pictures. Click the "Image" menu bar. Select "Mode" and "Grayscale" to convert the pictures to grayscale. Go to the "Image" menu bar and select "Mode" and "RGB." Understand that this step assigns red, green and blue channels to the left eye image. Know that steps for converting left eye images differ from those for right eye images.

4. Merge the right and left images. Ensure that the image for the left eye is still selected. Click the "Window" menu bar and choose "Channels" to open the channels display menu. Highlight the green and blue channels.

5. Return to the right eye image. Go to the "Select" menu bar and press "All" to select the whole thing. Click the "Edit" menu bar and press "Copy" to copy the image.

6. Go to the left eye image. Click the "Edit" menu bar and press "Paste." Select the RGB color channel. Expect an eyeball to appear in all channel boxes. Look for a blurred blue and red picture. Know that you can achieve this step by using only the blue channel instead of the green and blue when you paste into the left eye image.

7. Align the left and right eye images. Open the channels display menu. Highlight only the red channel. Know that it will be shaded blue. Return to the RGB channel. Select only the square box to the left. Know that an eyeball will appear in all boxes, but only the red channel will be shaded. Understand that this step allows the blue-tinted picture to remain visible while the red-tinted picture is shifted over.

8. Choose a point in the center of the photograph to match up with the other image. An example is the eye pupils, if your subject is a person. Look at the tool bar and select the magnifying glass icon to zoom in on the target. Click your target until it appears large.

9. Select the "Move" tool in the upper corner of the tool bar. Use the up and down arrow keys to slide the red-tinted image. Continue to slide the image until the target matches up and no rings of color are visible.

10. Zoom out. Expect objects near the outside of your picture to still have a red or blue halo. Know this step is to limit as much of the colored tints as possible. Cut excess blue and red at the edges of the picture. Outline your picture with the crop tool located in the tool bar. Go to the "Image" menu bar and press "Crop."

Tips & Warnings

• You may select any picture format when selecting a digital file format.

• Press "Shift" to highlight the blue and green channels at the same time. Know that only those two channels should be shaded blue.

• Eyeballs indicate channels that are displayed in Photoshop. When merging the images it does not matter which boxes left of the channels show eyeballs.