Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to transform photos into pop art.
Open a photo you'd like to use for this project.
I downloaded this one from Dreamstime.com.
To ensure some of the filters will have the same result as mine, go to Image and Image Size
or press Alt + Ctrl + i on Windows or Option + Cmd + i on a Mac.
Its resolution should be 150 pixels per inch and its width and height could be within 500 pixels of mine.
If you want to replace the background, we'll need to separate our subject from the background.
If you want to keep its background, just skip the next few steps.
The quickest way to separate the subject from its background is to unlock the layer
and open the Properties panel.
If you don't see it, go to Window and Properties.
Click "Remove Background".
Photoshop does its best to target the subject and then creates a layer mask of its shape
thereby masking out the background.
We'll convert our image into a Smart Object so we can modify it non-destructively.
To do this, click the icon at the upper right of the Layers panel and click "Convert to Smart Object".
To create a colorful gradient background, make a new layer below our subject
by Ctrl or Cmd-clicking the New Layer icon.
Temporarily hide the subject so we can see the gradient below it.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Gradient".
Open the Gradient presets and open any of the preset folders.
Click a gradient you like.
Pick any style you like.
I'll pick "Radial".
If you want to adjust how it looks, click the gradient bar to open the Gradient Editor.
If you want to change the colors, click the lower, left Stop and the color box.
Click the Color Picker window on a color you like.
Then, click OK or press Enter or Return.
We can drag the Stop across to intensify the color on our background.
We can also increase is scale to widen that color.
Make the subject visible again to see how it looks against your background.
To make more adjustments to the gradient, double-click the gradient thumbnail to open it back up.
I’ll increase the Scale to widen that color.
Next, we'll smooth out the image with the Surface Blur filter.
Make your subject active and go to Filter, Blur, and Surface Blur.
Basically, Surface Blur blurs an image while preserving its edges and reduces the noise or graininess.
The Radius determines the area size (1 to 100)
and the Threshold regulates the tonal values of the adjacent pixels from 2 to 255 and determines
how much they must deviate from the center pixel value in order to be blurred.
Feel free to adjust these amounts depending on the smoothness and noise of your subject.
Next, we'll bring out the highlights in the shadows of our image.
But first, we'll convert this smoothed image into a Smart Object as well.
Go to Image, Adjustments, and Shadows/Highlights.
For this image, I'll keep the default shadows amount: 35%, however, feel free to adjust this amount for your image.
Go to Filter, Stylize, and Oil Paint".
Make the Stylization: 10, the Cleanliness: 10 and make sure "Lighting" is not checked.
Go to Filter and Filter Gallery.
Open the Artistic folder and click "Poster Edges".
Make the Edge Thickness: 10, the Edge Intensity: 3, and the Posterization: 0.
Next, we'll add halftone dots.
Shift-click the gradient thumbnail to make it active as well and convert the two layers into one Smart Object.
Make a copy of it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J. Go to Filter, Pixelate, and Color Halftone.
The Maximum radius is 16 and keep the rest as they are.
Change its Blend Mode to Soft Light.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!