Hey this is Marty from Blue lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create a stunning dot pattern portrait from a photo.
Open a photo of someone or something that you'd like to use for this project. I downloaded this
one from Shutterstock. Before we begin, smash that subscribe button if you haven't already. It'll
let you know as soon as I upload new photoshop tutorials and quick tips. First, we need to check
our photo's resolution because later we're going to match the resolution of the dot pattern with
the resolution of our photo. To check its size and resolution, press Ctrl + Alt + I on Windows or
Option +Cmd + I on a mac or go to Image and Image Size. Take note of your photo's resolution.
Next, we'll convert our photo into a smart object, so we can modify it non-destructively, as well as
allow us to replace it with a different photo without having to redo the effects. To do this,
click the icon at the upper right of the layers panel and click Convert to Smart Object.
Go to Filter, Pixelate and Mosaic. The size of the cells will become the size of the dots.
I'll make it 30 pixels square, however, feel free to increase or decrease this number to
whatever looks good to you. Whatever cell size you do choose, remember it or write it down.
Next, we'll create a white circle on a black background that we'll use to make into a dot
pattern. Make a new document by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + N or by going to File and New. For the width
and height, type in the same number as your mosaic cells, as well as the same resolution
of your photo. The color mode is RGB and 8 bits per channel. The background is black. Click Create
or Open on earlier versions. We'll fit it onto our canvas by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + 0.
Open your Elliptical Marquee Tool and go to a corner. Begin to drag your tool to the opposite
corner and press the Shift key to confine its shape to a perfect circle. When your cursor is
directly on the opposite corner, release. We'll fill the selection with white, but before we do,
check your foreground and background colors. If they aren't black and white respectively,
press "D" on your keyboard. since white is our background color, press Ctrl or Cmd + Delete.
Deselect it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + D. Go to Edit and Define Pattern. For its name, I suggest
typing in the number of pixels for its width and height. Then, click OK or press Enter or Return.
Now that we've saved it as a pattern, we can close the circle document. When you see this message,
click "No". Click the layer mask icon to make a layer mask next to the photo. We'll fill the
layer mask with a dot pattern by pressing Shift plus the F5 key at the top of your keyboard or by
going to Edit and Fill. Open the Contents list and click "Pattern". Open the Custom Pattern list and
scroll to the bottom. Your dot pattern should be the last one on the list. Click it and click OK.
We'll make a new layer under it by Ctrl or Cmd-clicking the new layer icon. We'll fill the
empty layer with black and since our foreground color is black, press Alt or Option + Delete.
Next, we'll make our dots a bit smaller to create a little space between each dot, thereby
accentuating them. To do this, make the layer mask active and click the "fx" icon. Click "Stroke".
Make the Size 1 pixel, the Position is "Inside", the Blend Mode is "Normal",
the Opacity is 100%, and the color is black. Then, click OK or press Enter or Return. Lastly,
we'll increase our portraits color vibrancy and brightness. Click the adjustment layer icon and
click "Vibrance". I'll make the Vibrance: 50% for this image, but feel free to increase this amount
depending on your photo's original color vibrancy. Click the adjustment layer icon again and click
"Levels". Change the blend mode to "Screen" and reduce its Opacity to 50%.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!