Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create a ghostly apparition.
This is an update of tutorials I've many years ago on earlier versions of Photoshop.
This version is quicker and more streamlined.
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I provided this background for your convenience.
Its link is in my video's description below or project files.
Feel free to use your own background if you like.
Just keep in mind, dark backgrounds work best.
The darker the better.
Open a photo of someone that you'd like to turn into a ghost.
I downloaded this one from Shutterstock.
We need to separate our subject from its background.
There are many ways to do this and I covered them all in my tutorials.
Choose the method that's the easiest your you.
Once you make a selection around your subject, press Ctrl or Cmd + J to cut and copy it onto
its own layer.
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".
To place it into the background, make sure you're Move Tool is active and drag it onto
the tab of the background.
Without releasing your mouse or pen, drag it down and release.
To resize and reposition it, press Ctrl or Cmd + T to open your Transform Tool.
Go to a corner.
If you're using a Photoshop 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 reposition it, go inside the Transform's bounding box and drag it.
Then, click the check-mark at the top or press Enter or Return.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Black & White".
We'll convert our desaturated subject into a Smart Object by Shift-clicking the subject
to make it active, as well, and clicking "Convert to Smart Object".
Make a copy of the layer by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J.
Hide the copy and make the original subject active.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click, "Curves".
Adjustment layers affect all the layers below them in the Layers panel.
We want to restrict it to affect just the subject below it and not the background, as well.
To do this, click the "Clipping Mask" icon or press Alt + Ctrl + G on Windows or Option
+ Cmd + G on a Mac.
You can also go to Layer and "Create Clipping Mask".
In the Curves panel, the top of the diagonal line represents the lightest tones of our subject.
Drag it to the left to approximately here.
This makes all the lightest tones from here to here, pure white.
We want this to only affect the eyes.
To do this, invert the layer mask by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + I.
This hides the Curves effect by making the layer mask black.
Think of layer masks as stencils: black masks out and white reveals.
We'll brush white over the eyes to reveal the Curves affect through the layer mask.
If your foreground and background colors are not white and black respectively,
press "x" on your keyboard to invert them.
White should be your foreground color.
Open your Brush Tool and Brush Picker.
Pick a soft, round brush.
We'll adjust its size in a moment.
Its Hardness is 0% and its Opacity and Flow are both 100%.
Then, press Enter or Return.
To adjust the brush's size, make sure your CapsLock key is off and press the right or
left bracket key on your keyboard.
Now, carefully brush over the irises.
Make the top layer visible and active.
Go to Filter, Blur and Motion Blur.
Make the Angle: 0 degrees and the Distance: 100 pixels.
Click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask next to the blurred subject.
Black should be your foreground color.
Adjust the size of your brush and brush over both eyes to reveal them through the layer mask.
Reduce the brush's opacity to approximately 40%.
We'll make our brush bigger to brush over the face.
Shift-click the lower subject to make it active as well,
and convert both subject layers into one Smart Object.
Change its Blend Mode to "Screen".
Make a layer mask next to the subject.
Make sure your foreground color is black.
With your brush's opacity still at approximately 40%,
brush over areas of your ghost that you'd like to fade out.
Make the subject active and go to Filter and Filter Gallery.
Open the Distort folder and click "Diffuse Glow".
Make the Graininess: 0, the Glow Amount: 6 and the Clear Amount: 12.
Make a copy of it and make the bottom subject active.
Change its Blend Mode to Color Dodge.
Next, we'll give our ghost an otherworldly color.
Make the top layer active.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Solid Color".
In the hexadecimal field, type in 176A23.
Then, click OK or press Enter or Return.
Change its Blend Mode to "Soft Light".
Since we want only the ghost layer to have this color, clip the Adjustment Layer to the ghost.
Lastly, if you're using version CC or later, I'll show you how to distort your ghost's face.
Double-click any of the subjects to open its source image.
Make the your subject active and go to Filter and Liquify.
Make sure the Forward Warp tool is active.
This pushes pixels forward as you drag it.
Adjust the size of your tool and drag the features to warp them.
Click the "x" to close the document.
When you see this message, click "Yes" to save the changes.
Close this source image and click "Yes".
As I toggle back and forth, you can see the changes.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!