Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create this psychedelic, concentric outline portrait effect.
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Open a profile photo of someone or something.
Profiles work best, since they generally have more contours than other angles of the same subject.
I downloaded this one from Shutterstock.
First, let's adjust its brightness and contrast automatically by going to Image and "Auto Tone".
Essentially, Auto Tone adjusts the contrast in the red, green and blue channels individually.
To bring out detail in the shadows, go to Image.
Adjustments and "Shadows/Highlights".
First, drag the Shadows and Tone to 0%.
Then, drag the Shadows amount to the right until you can see enough detail in the shadows
and drag the Tone amount to determine the range of tones being affected within the shadows.
Next, we'll make a selection around our subject's head.
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, drag it inside the head to select it.
To remove areas outside the head, press and hold Alt or Option as you drag over those areas.
Once you made a selection around the head, to check it, press "Q" on your keyboard.
Then, revert it back into a selection by pressing "Q" again.
Click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask of the selection next to your subject.
We'll convert it into a Smart Object, so we can modify it non-destructively.
To do this, click the icon at the upper, right and click "Convert to Smart Object".
Create a new document by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + N or by going to File and New.
Make its width: 1920 pixels, its height: 1080 pixels and its resolution: 150 pixels per inch.
Its color mode is RGB and 8 bits per channel.
The background is black.
Open your subject.
We'll place it onto the new document you just made.
Press "v" to open your Move Tool and drag your subject onto the tab of your new document.
Without releasing your mouse or pen, drag it down and release.
If your subject isn't centered over the document, just drag it into position.
We'll adjust its size by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T to open the Transform Tool.
At the top, make sure the chain-link icon between the Transform's width and height is active.
This links them together.
In either field, I'll type in 110%.
For your image, type in amount that makes your subject approximately this size on your document.
Then press Enter or Return.
Go to Filter, Blur and Radial Blur.
The amount is 100, the Blur Method is "Zoom" and the Quality is "Best".
Then, click OK.
We'll intensify the effect by repeating the filter.
To do this, press Alt + Ctrl + F on Windows or Option + Cmd + F on a Mac.
Decrease its opacity to 30%.
Let's collapse the filters to save space in the Layers panel.
Make copy of the layer by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J.
We'll resize the layer by opening the Transform Tool.
If you see this message, it's just letting us know that the radial blur filters will
be temporarily turned off until we commit the transform.
Just click OK.
In either the Width of the Height, type in an amount that's 20% lower than your previous
transform size.
For my image, it's 90%.
Then, press Enter or Return, twice.
Make a copy of this layer and click OK if you see this message.
I'll type in 70%, which is 20% lower than my previous transform.
Change its Blend Mode to "Hard Light"
and increase its opacity to 60%.
Make a copy of the layer and change its Blend Mode to Normal and its opacity to 100%.
Open the radial blur filters and hide them.
Open your Transform Tool and type in an amount that's 10% less than your last transform.
Double-click an empty area of the layer to open its Layer Styles window.
Click "Color Overlay".
The Blend Mode is Normal, the color is black and the opacity is 100%.
Collapse the filters and make the layer below it active.
Make a copy of it and drag the copy to the top.
Open your Transform Tool.
I'll type in 45%.
Change its Blend Mode to "Normal" and its opacity to 50%.
Make a copy of the layer and increase the copy's opacity to 100%.
Open the Smart Filters and hide them.
Open your Transform Tool.
I'll type in 30%.
Double-click an empty area of the layer to open its Layer Style window.
Click "Outer Glow".
The Blend Mode is "Difference", the Opacity is 100% and the color is white.
The Spread is 0% and the Size is 10 pixels.
The Contour is Linear and the Range is 50%.
Collapse the filters and click the new Layer icon to make a new layer.
Name it, "Large head outline".
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the thumbnail of "Layer1 copy 3" to make a selection of its shape.
Go to Edit and Stroke.
The Width is 6 pixels.
The color is irrelevant, since we're going to use a gradient.
The Location is "Outside", the Blend Mode is "Normal" and the Opacity is 100%.
Deselect it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + D.
Double-click the thumbnail of the outline layer to open its Layer Style window.
Click “Gradient Overlay”.
Click the gradient bar to open the Gradient Editor.
Click this multi-colored thumbnail preset and click OK.
The Blend Mode is Normal, the Opacity is 100% and the Style is "Linear".
Checking "Reverse" reverses the colors of the gradient.
Feel free to try it both ways.
Its Angle is 0 degrees and the Scale is 100%.
Next, we'll create the concentric, tunnel-effect outlines of our subject.
Make a new layer below the active layer by Ctrl-clicking or Cmd-clicking the new layer icon.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the small head below it to make a selection of its shape.
Go to Select
and click Select and Mask or if you're using a version earlier than CC 2015.5, click Refine Edge.
I'll view it as an overlay, but feel to view the selection however you'd like.
I'll make its opacity: 100%.
Make the Radius 5 pixels, smooth it 50 and make the Contrast: 100%.
Open the "Output Settings" and choose "Selection".
Open the Paths panel.
If you don't see it, go to Window and Paths.
Click the icon at the upper right and click "Make Work Path".
Keep its Tolerance at its default amount of 0.5 pixels.
Go to Layer, "New Fill Layer" and "Solid Color".
Click OK.
The color is irrelevant, so click OK to close the Color Picker.
Make the "Color Fill 1 Shape Path" active.
Click the "Path Selection Tool".
Click the "Fill" box and click the "Null" icon, which means the Fill will be empty.
Click the Stroke icon and click white.
For the Stroke’s size, type in 1 pixel.
To hide the work path, click anywhere on an empty area of the Paths panel or press Ctrl or Cmd + H.
Open back the Layers panel.
Make a copy of the small head outline and hide the original.
Go to Edit, Transform Path and Scale.
Make sure the chain-link icon is active, which links the Transform's width and the height.
In either field, type in 107%.
For the Angle degree, type in 2.
This will twirl the concentric outlines.
To create the tunnel effect, press Alt + Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows
or Option + Cmd + Shift + T on a Mac until the last outline is past your document.
Hide the paths.
Double-click an empty area of the active layer to open its Layer Style window.
Click "Gradient Overlay".
If the "Spectrum" gradient isn't active, open the presets and click it.
The Style is Linear, the Angle is 0 degrees and the Scale is 100%.
This Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!