MZ @ 2013 :: A Owa Endz

Face Exchange - Part 1 in Photoshop

ANDREDESIGNZ said
21:55 02/14 2008

Tutorial goal:
In this tutorial you'll learn how to make a face surgery between two photos, as long as they face the same direction. You can put yourself on Hulk's body or your friend's head in a jar, but this time I am just transferring one's human face into another's with my limited imagination you can using Photoshop CS,CS2, or CS3 but it may work also on any Photoshop above 7.0. Check it out!

step 1

I'll start out with two pictures that I got from gettyimages (if you liked, you can go there and type "face" and browse through).
Observe that the girls are both facing forward, and both photos show the same resolution (important to make it natural).
We'll transfer the second girl's face into the first frame, creating a new layer.

step 2

To do that, let's resize the first picture. This is important because we want the second picture a little larger, so when we resize it, it doesn't lose quality. You'll see what I mean in a moment ^^
Go to Image>Image Size and make it a little smaller, like 95%.
Of course you won't need this step if the picture you are using is already smaller.

step 3

Now we're ready to do it. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool, and copy it. Then, selecting the other picture's frame, create a new layer and paste it there.

step 4

To clean out the picture (we just want the face) you can either use the eraser tool or do it as I suggest.
With the Polygonal Lasso Tool, (this one below) select the face outline. It doesn't need to be perfect - mine isn't perfect =).

step 5

When you are done, you can go to Select>Inverse. It will invert the selection, and now we are selecting all the picture, but the face. Hit delete to have your picture cleaned.

step 6

From now on, we'll be modifying our layers. Before we continue, make a security copy of it and hide it.
Well, now it is time to rotate and resizing. A good tip is to make opacity something like 75% to know where you are.
Go to Edit>Transform. There you'll find resize and rotate, along with other stuff you can try too. Don't be lazy! Do it as best as you can, this is step is important! XD

step 7

When you're done, you can restore opacity to 100%. Now it is time to make all sorts of adjustments before we move on. To make it simplier, I'll just make an Auto Level for both. But you can try other things, like selective color or color balance...
Ok, back to where we were...Do a copy of the background layer and hide Layer 1 (just click the eye).

step 8

Then go to Image>Adjustments>Auto Levels.

step 9

Repeat the whole thing for Layer 1 too.
Unhide it first, of course.
These steps will make your pictures more balanced and good for matching.

step 10

Now, make a copy of "Background Copy" and set the mode to color.
"Wait, this is the big secret? Come on! She looks purple!" OK! But we are not finished yet! Keep reading... ¬¬

step 11

She looked purple and weired, because the colors from the background didn't matched her own. So we call for the Clone Stamp Tool! It is a bit tricky to use. You hold Alt and then click the area which is good (aim for the forehead) and then paint where the colors look messy. Make the brush a 60% opacity. Paint everything, including eyes and lips. You should get this:

step 12

Just a reminder: just use the clone stamp, don't use brushes! "Why?" Because they're bad! They make your picture feel flat.
But you can use them to increase contrast and make it more real. A good idea, but I haven't thought of that until I finished my tutorial! XD
Step 12! Make a mask!

step 13

With a black brush, paint the areas which you want to hide: eyes, lips and a little bit of eyebrows. Make your brush hardness 0% and opacity 30%.

step 14

Make another mask and paint it black with the Bucket tool.

step 15

Now you have hidden your work. The idea here is to merge both, as you have already imagened. To do so, pick a white brush, with the same settings than before. You may change this, of course.
Here I started covering the features, just to know where I am. Keep doing this.

step 16

Just have patience. If it is your first time, don't get upset and save a lot.
My final result looked like this below.
Would you tell it doesn't belong to the same face? Liked? Try now with The HulK! XD
Thanks for reading!