How to Stretch Pixels in Photoshop
Pixel stretching is a very simple trick, and a great way to add a dramatic flair to your work. Use it to create backgrounds, unique gradients and add a finishing, modern feel to a piece. In Photoshop, it can be done in a few minutes with some very simple steps.
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Instructions
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Open the image you wish to use in Photoshop.
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Select the "One Pixel Marquee" tool under the selection tool on the toolbar. Hold down the left mouse button over the selection tool to change the type of selection. You can choose between either the vertical or horizontal single pixel marquee tool.
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Make a selection on the canvas where you want to stretch the pixels. Do this on the layer the pixels are on.
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4
Copy the selection.
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Paste the selection, which will put it into its own layer.
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Select the single line of pixels you just pasted and press the "CTRL" and "T" buttons simultaneously to enter "Free Transform" mode.
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Click the frame that appears around the item to stretch the pixels to the end of the page or however far you want to stretch them.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want to stretch the pixels and the image is several layers, you can either merge the layers, or go to the "Edit" menu and select "Copy Merged" to pick them all up. If you don't, and your picture is more than one layer, you will only select the pixels of the layer you have selected.
You can also define the copied pixels as a pattern for use later in other projects.
