The Digital Warp

Ron here with another quick digital tutorial for you today - I'm going to show you how to use the Warp function to make the corner of a photo lift off your layout.

These instructions are for Photoshop (I'm using version 5.5, but this works with earlier versions, too). I'm starting with a basic layout using Club Scrap's November Equestrian kit - background, cluster, and a photo. But as you can see from the sample above, that photo looks a bit 'flat' but we're gonna fix that now.

1. Create a duplicate of the photo layer; this will allow us to make a realistic shadow. With the photo layer active, choose 'Duplicate Layer' from the Layers menu.

2. Select the bottom photo layer in the Layers palette.

3. Control-Click (Windows) or Command-Click (Mac) the thumbnail in the Layers palette. This will select just the photo (you'll see 'marching ants' around the photo in your layout).

4. Use the Fill command (Edit -> Fill) and select Black; this will recolor the lower photo black (this will become your shadow layer in a later step).

5. Select the upper photo layer.

6. Select Transform -> Warp from the Edit menu. The warp grid will appear on the photo layer.

7. Click and hold the lower right corner handle of the warp grid and drag up and a little to the right and press enter to accept the change.

8. Deselect the layer - Control-D (Windows) Command-D (Mac).

9. Select the shadow layer in the Layers palette.

10. Control-Click (Windows) or Command-Click (Mac) the thumbnail in the Layers palette. This will select the shadow.

11. Select Transform -> Warp from the Edit menu. The warp grid will appear on the shadow layer.

12. Click and hold the lower right corner handle of the warp grid and drag down a little and press enter to accept the change.

So far, so good, but we need to blur the shadow and lower the opacity a bit to make it look realistic.

13. Select Blur -> Gaussian Blur from the Filter menu and choose a value of 7.

14. Use the Opacity slider in the Layers palette to lower the opacity of the shadow. I'm using 43%, but you might need a different number, depending on your background - darker backgrounds tend to have darker shadows. Observe objects in real life to get a 'feel' for how shadows look - practice makes perfect!

And there you have it - the corner of the photo appears to be lifted from the background. Just add a title and your layout is done!

Now go and try it for yourself - create something wonderful - and don't forget to post your creations in the Galleria!