IMVU Tutorial on Fake Hair in Photoshop
IMVU stands for Instant Messaging Virtual Universe and is a 3-D social network where users can chat with each other, play games, interact and buy goods. IMVU allows users to upload images to use when customizing avatars, and Adobe Photoshop is very helpful in this process. You can easily create a new hair texture in Photoshop, then upload this texture to IMVU and apply it to your avatar's hairstyle. You don't create the hairstyle in Photoshop (that's done in IMVU), just the hair texture.
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Instructions
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1
Launch Photoshop and then click on "File" and select "New."
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2
Set the height and width of your new template at equal sizes so you will have a perfect square (i.e. 180x180, 256x256), and make sure the resolution is set somewhere between 100 to 300.
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3
Select the bucket tool from the toolbar and select the color you want to use. You will need to use three shades of your color to create your hair texture. The first color you're going to use should be the darkest of your three shades.
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4
Click in the middle of your square template to fill it with the color you chose.
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5
Open the "Filter" menu, click on "Noise" and select "Add Noise."
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6
Set the percentage at about 15% and make sure the "Gaussian" and "Monochromatic" boxes are not checked.
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7
Open the "Filter" menu, scroll down to "Blur" and select "Motion Blur."
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8
Set the "Angle" to 90 degrees and set the "Distance" to about 700 pixels. The exact numbers you choose to use are entirely up to you, but these numbers usually work well. Don't be afraid to use some experimentation with the editing levels to find something you really like.
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Open the "Filter" menu, scroll down to "Blur" and select "Gaussian Blur."
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10
Set the "Radius" somewhere between .1 and .9. Click "OK."
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11
Open the "Layer" menu at the top of the screen and scroll down to select "New Layer."
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12
Select the brush tool from the toolbar and select the 35-pixel brush from the list of options. Slide the "Hardness" bar down to about 10%.
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13
Select a slightly lighter shade of your base color and paint a strip across your square with your brush tool. Paint the strip about a third of the way down from the top of the square.
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14
Make your brush slightly larger, and paint another strip across your square. Paint this strip about a third of the way up from the bottom of the square, and make sure to use a significantly lighter shade of your base color. You can also use white for this strip.
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15
Change the blending mode to "Overlay." The blending options are located on the right side of your screen above your layers. Click on the drop-down menu to see all of the blending options.
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16
Slide the "Opacity" level to a level you think looks good. The "Opacity" option is right next to the blending options.
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17
Click on "Layer" and select "Flatten Image." This will merge your layers into a single image.
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18
Click on "File" and save your texture in the jpg format. You can now upload your texture to use in IMVU and other graphic social networking sites.
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Tips & Warnings
Creating hair texture is an art, not a science. The settings can all be tweaked to your liking. For example, Step 14 says use a significantly lighter shade of your base color, but you may find that a significantly darker shade looks better. Don't be afraid to experiment.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Pixland/Getty Images
