Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create the circular pixel stretch effect.
This effect looks best when used with a photo of someone or something that shows the entire
body with at least one outstretched appendage.
I downloaded this one and the other from Shutterstock.
The first step is to create a new document by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + N.
You can also go to File and New.
To ensure that your result will look like mine, make the Width and Height: 1000 pixels each
and its resolution 150 pixels per inch.
The color mode is RGB and 8 bits per channel.
The background color is irrelevant since we're going to fill it with a radial gradient.
Click the lock icon to unlock the background and double-click it to open its Layer Style window.
Click "Gradient Overlay" and the gradient bar.
Click the "Black, White" thumbnail and the lower, left Stop.
Click the color box and pick a soft color that works with your subject.
You can always change it later if you want.
Since I already know the color, I'll type it into the hexadecimal field: 00C0FF.
For its Location, type in 20%.
Click the lower, right Stop, which is white, and for its location, type in 60%.
The Blend Mode is Normal and the Opacity is 100%.
Check "Reverse" and make the Style: Radial.
The Angle is 30 degrees and the Scale is 150%.
Open the photo.
We'll place it onto the background we just created.
If your Move Tool isn't active, press "v" on your keyboard.
Drag the photo onto the tab of your background.
Without releasing your mouse or pen, drag it down and release.
To resize and reposition it, open your Transform Tool by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T.
If you can't see the Transform Tool's entire bounding box, press Ctrl or Cmd + 0.
Go to a corner.
If you're using a version earlier than CC 2019, press and hold Alt or Option + Shift
as you drag it in or out.
If you're using CC 2019 or later, just press Alt or Option as you drag it.
To zoom in, press Ctrl or Cmd + 0.
To reposition it, just drag it.
Once you're happy with its size and position, press Enter or Return.
Next, we'll separate the subject from its background by making a selection around the subject.
There are many ways to do this, but for this example, I'll use the Quick Selection Tool.
If you're using this tool as well, makes its radius anywhere between 5 and 10 pixels.
Drag the tool over the inside of your subject to select it.
To remove areas of the selection, press and hold Alt or Option as you drag over those areas.
To refine the selection's edges, go to Select.
If you're using a version earlier than CC 2015.5, click "Refine Edge".
For later versions, 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 filters, so if you want to watch them,
their links are in the video's description below the video.
Check "Smart Radius".
This detects smooth and hard edges.
Drag the radius a bit to the right.
To adjust the size of your brush, make sure the CapsLock key is off
and press the right or left bracket key on your keyboard.
Drag the brush over all soft edges like hair and thin shapes like shoelaces.
Check "Decontaminate Colors", which prevents color fringing along the edges.
Drag the amount all the way to the right.
Output it to a "New Layer with Layer Mask".
I'll fit the document onto my visible canvas.
Open your "Rectangular Marquee Tool" and create a very thin, vertical rectangle over a section
of your subject that shows many colors.
Cut and copy it onto its own layer by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J.
Open your Transform Tool and go to the anchor point on the either side of the bounding box.
Press and hold Alt or Option + Shift as you drag it out until both sides extend beyond your document.
Then, press Enter or Return.
Make the subject layer active and create another thin, vertical rectangle over another section of your subject.
Cut and copy it onto its own layer, open your Transform Tool and drag it out.
Go to View and if "Snap" isn't checked, click it to make it active.
Press "v" to open your Move Tool and drag the new, stretched colors up until it snaps
to the bottom of the other colors.
We'll merge these two layers by Shift-clicking the top layer to make it active as well
and pressing Ctrl or Cmd + E. Drag it up until it snaps to the top of your document.
Because the colors are stretched beyond the sides of our document, we need to crop off
the excess before we do the next step.
To do this, press Ctrl or Cmd + A to select our visible image and go to Image and Crop.
Then, deselect it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + D. Go to Filter, Distort and "Polar Coordinates".
Tick, "Rectangular to Polar".
Drag the circle below your cut-out subject.
Open your Transform Tool
and resize and position the circle,
so the edge of it is flush with the end or the inside of the outstretched arm.
Your circle will most likely have a line that extends from the center to the edge.
This is the point at which both sides of the stretched rectangle converged.
To hide the line, rotate your circle until you see it between the outstretched arm and
the other appendage.
We'll hide it in a moment.
Then, press Enter or Return.
Click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask next to the circle.
Open your Pencil Tool and Pencil Picker.
Pick a hard, round point.
I'll make its Size 35 pixels, but you can adjust its size if you like.
Make its Hardness 100%, as well as its opacity.
Draw over the section of the circle between the two appendages.
Double-click the thumbnail of your subject to open its Layer Style window.
Click "Drop Shadow".
I'll drag the window to the side so you can see how the drop shadow looks.
The Blend Mode is Linear Burn, the color is black and the Opacity is 20%.
The Angle is 50 degrees, the Distance is 40 pixels, the Spread is 0% and the Size is 20 pixels.
The Contour is Linear.
Right-click or secondary-click "Drop Shadow" and click, "Create Layer".
If you see this message, just click OK.
This will create a separate layer of the drop shadow.
Make the shadow active and click the Layer mask icon to make a layer mask next to it.
With your Pencil Tool still active, hide the subject's shadow that's over the background.
Next, we'll hide the shadow outside the circle.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the circle to make a selection of its shape.
Invert the selection by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + Shift + I. Draw over the shadow to hide it.
Then, deselect it.
Next, we'll create a shadow under the circle.
Make the original subject photo active and click the New Layer icon to make a new layer above it.
Let's name it, "Circle shadow".
Open your Brush Tool and Brush Picker.
Pick a soft, round brush.
Make the size 175 pixels and the Hardness: 0%.
Its Opacity and Flow are both 100%.
Click once and open your Transform Tool.
Go to the top, middle anchor point and press and hold Alt or Option + Shift
as you drag it down approximately this much.
Drag it below the circle and go to the middle anchor point on one of the sides.
As before, press and hold Alt or Option + Shift as you drag it out approximately this much.
Then, press Enter or Return.
Reduce its opacity to 80%.
If you want to move the shadow, open back your Move Tool and move it.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!