Hi.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create vexel art portraits from regular photos.
The term, "vexel" is a combination of the words, "Vector" and "Pixel".
There are many derivations of vexel art, however, they all have one thing in common - they're
entirely pixel-based, raster art that imitates many of the characteristics of vector-based
graphics.
Open a clear, focused, high-resolution photo of a face.
The first step is to check its resolution.
Press Alt + Ctrl + I on Windows or Option + Cmd + I on a Mac.
You could also go to Image and Image Size.
The Width and Height can be pretty much any amount, but make sure its resolution is 300
pixels per inch to ensure that the filter settings will have similar results as mine.
To zoom your image in or out, press Ctrl or Cmd and the "plus" or "minus" key on your keyboard.
Next, we'll separate the subject from its background by making a selection around the subject.
There are many ways to do this, however, for this example, let's use the Quick Selection tool.
If you're using version CC 2020 or later, click the "Select Subject" button, which automatically
makes a selection around the subject.
If you're using an earlier version, drag the Quick Selection tool over the inside of your
subject to select it.
If you need to remove areas of the selection, press and hold Alt or Option as you drag over
those areas.
You can check your selection by pressing "Q" on your keyboard.
Then, revert it back into a selection by pressing "Q" again.
Once you have a selection, you can refine the soft or feathery areas like hair by going
to Select.
If you're using a version earlier than CC 2015.5, click "Refine Edge".
If you're using a later version, click "Select and Mask".
If you prefer to use "Refine Edge", Shift-click "Select and Mask".
I did in-depth tutorials on both of these filter, so if you'd like to watch them, I
provided their links in my video's description.
Check "Smart Radius", which detects smooth and hard edges.
To adjust the brush's size, make sure the CapsLock key is off and press the left or
right bracket key on your keyboard.
Drag your tool over the soft of feathery edges like hair.
Check "Decontaminate Colors".
This will minimize color fringing of the background colors that may leach into our subject.
Output it to a "New Layer with Layer Mask".
We'll make a new layer directly below our isolated subject by Ctrl-clicking or Cmd-clicking
the New Layer icon.
We'll fill the empty layer with a gray color.
To do this, click your foreground color and in the "Brightness" field, type in 34.
Or, you can type into the hexadecimal field: 57, three times.
Since our foreground color is now the gray color we just picked, press Alt or Option
+ Delete to fill the empty layer with that color.
Next, we'll convert our visible image into a Smart Object, so we can modify it non-destructively.
It'll also allow us to replace our subject with another without having to redo the effects.
To do this, make the top layer active and Shift-click the bottom layer to make all of
the layers active.
Click the icon at the upper, right and click "Convert to Smart Object".
We're going to apply a lot of filters, but each filter and the order in which we place
them is important to achieve the final result.
Go to Image, Adjustments and Shadows/Highlights.
Check "Show More Options" to open the "Highlights" and "Adjustments".
The Shadows amount is 50%, the Tone is 50% and the Radius is 30 pixels.
The Highlights amount is 20%, the Tone is 50% and the Radius is 30 pixels.
The Adjustment's color is minus 100 and the Midtone is plus 100.
The black and white clips are .01% each.
Go back to Filter, Sharpen and "Unsharp Mask".
The amount is 500%, the Radius is 5 Pixels and the Threshold is 0 levels.
Go back to Filter, Stylize and "Diffuse".
Tick "Anisotropic" and click OK or press Enter or Return.
We'll repeat this filter twice by pressing Alt + Ctrl + F on Windows or Option + Cmd
+ F on a Mac.
Press Enter or Return and press the same hot keys once more.
Press "D" on your keyboard to make your foreground and background colors black and white, respectively.
Go to Filter, Stylize and "Oil Paint".
The Stylization and Cleanliness are both 10, the Scale is point 8 and the Bristle Detail is 10.
The Lighting is unticked.
Go to Filter, Blur and "Surface Blur".
Basically, "Surface Blur" blurs an image while preserving its edges.
It reduces noise and grain.
The Radius specifies the size of the area sampled for the blur, while Threshold controls
the tonal values that get blurred.
For this image, make the Radius: 20 pixels and the Threshold 20 levels.
Go to Filter and Filter Gallery.
To see more of your subject in the preview window, press Ctrl or Cmd and minus key on
your keyboard a couple of times.
Open the Artistic folder and click Cutout. The number of Levels is 8, the Edge Simplicity
is 5 and the Edge Fidelity is 3.
Go to Image, Adjustments and Brightness and Contrast.
Keep the Brightness at 0 and make the Contrast: 100.
Go to Filter, Sharpen and Unsharp mask once more.
The Amount is 100%, the Radius is 5 pixels and the Threshold is 0 levels.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Levels".
Make the Midtone Input level: point 9 and the Highlight Input level: 240.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Gradient Map".
Change its Blend Mode to Color . Click the gradient bar to open the Gradient Editor.
Have fun clicking your Preset gradients to see how they affect your portrait or you can
customize the colors by changing the colors in the gradient bar.
For example, click the lower, left Stop, the color box and find a color you like.
Since I already know the color I want, I'll type it into the hexadecimal field.
Click the lower, right Stop, the color box and pick another color.
If you want to replace the subject with a different face, click the face to make it
active and double-click it to open its original source.
Go to File and Open, or on version CC, go to "Place Embedded", which automatically places
the new face onto the original source document.
Find and click the new face and click "Open" or "Place".
Close the original source document and when you see this message, click "Yes" to update
the old face with the new face.
If you'd like to see more detail in your portrait, hide the "Surface Blur" filter.
If you prefer to see the face's original colors, hide the "Gradient Map" adjustment layer.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!