How to Add Fairy or Butterfly Wings to a Picture Using Adobe Photoshop

Member

By Kiki0701
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating:

(11 Ratings)

Add Fairy or Butterfly Wings to a Picture Using Adobe Photoshop

This article will walk you through adding fairy wings or butterfly wings to a digital photograph using the Adobe Photoshop software.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Adobe Photoshop Software Program
a digital photo of your subject
wing patterns

Step 1

First you will need a set of patterns of wings. Using any search engine( yahoo, google, MSN) to search for " free wing patterns" or "fairy wing patterns photoshop" should get you the results you are looking for.
Step 2

Once you have the patterns you will need to choose a digital photo you would like to use. Digital photos of a single subject with a plain background scene tend to work best.The larger the file size of the photo the easier it will be to get a crisper end product. Preparing your photo is key to getting a good end result. In the digital photo editing software that you are most familiar with I would recommend cropping the photo and making sure the lighting and shadowing are to your liking. Play around with the fill light and highlighting. My favorite free downloadable program to play with the photos in is Picassa from google.
Step 3

Now you are ready to open your Photoshop software. Once you are in Photoshop you need to open the file of the picture you would like to use as well as the pattern of wings you are going to use.
Step 4

With the wing pattern opened go to Select and select color range. A pop up box will open click on the black part of the wing and make sure it is at 200% then select OK. You should have a moving line around the perimeter of the wing. Select the Color Gradient Tool and choose the color palette the works best with your picture.If you are not happy with the automatic color choices you can double click on the color gradient box in the top toolbar and play with the coloring. Drop and drag the line across your wing until you get results that you like.
Step 5

Next select the Rectangle Marquee tool and box in the wing.
Step 6

Next Select the Magic Eraser Tool and click it inside the box but not on the wing.
Step 7

Next hit Control C in the wing box to copy it. Got to your photo and create a small box using your Marquee Tool and then hit Control V to paste your wing in the box.
Step 8

Next Go to the Edit button and Select Free Transform. This should put a box around your wing. Move the sides of the box to get the wing into a position you like. It will cover the top of the person but you will fix that in the next step.
Step 9

Click on your History Brush Tool. It will ask you if you want to apply your free transform select yes.
Step 10

Now using your history brush tool very carefully erase the parts of the wing that are covering the person in the photo. I recommend zooming in and going very slowly.
Step 11

Now repeat steps 4-10 with the opposite wing.
Step 12

Now play around with your completed photo, sometimes a soft focus or a glow gives the wings a more realistic look.