How to Make Swirls Go Around You in Your Picture
There are many creative ways to alter and manipulate photographs using graphics software. Experimenting with these can keep you busy for hours, especially if you have artistic talent. When you want to add interesting curves, swirls and twirls to your photos, an easy way to do it is with functions in Adobe Photoshop called "Liquefy" and "Twirl." If you don't own the software, you can download a free trial or use it at a school or library that has it installed.
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Instructions
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Open Photoshop by double-clicking the icon. Locate the image file for your picture that you want to work on. Save the file with a new name, such as mypicture_test1.jpg. As you begin experimenting with the graphics, subsequent changes that you like can be saved with names ending test2, test3 and so on.
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Select an area to the right of your face, head or upper body. Outline the selection using the lasso tool, which can be found in the "Tools" window. If it doesn't show automatically, click on "Window" in the top menu bar, then make sure "Tools" has a checkmark beside it.
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Click "Filter" and then on the droplist, click on "Distort." Select "Twirl" from the list to the right. It will create a swirl using whatever colors are in the lassoed area. If you don't like how it looks, click "Edit," then "Undo Twirl." Retry by lassoing another area. After you achieve the result you want, move to the left of your head or upper body and repeat the same actions.
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Click "Filter," then "Liquefy" and move the brush tool around to make different kinds of swirls. Smaller brush sizes will result in smaller lines and larger brush sizes will grab wider areas. Click "OK" when you are satisfied with your results.
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Combine the twirl effect with blurring or other filtering techniques or use Liquefy and Twirl together for a variety of results. If you want to twirl everything but your head or body, you can outline the part that you don't want affected and click on "Select," then "Inverse" and click "Twirl" again.
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Tips & Warnings
Change the direction and angle of the twirl by the small arrow under the bar that shows up when you first click "Twirl." This lets you have opposing swirls on either side of the head or body, creating a mirroring effect.
To avoid losing your original, have a clean, unaltered image file backup, and save each swirled picture version with a new name.
Resources
- Photo Credit NA/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
