Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. I'm going to show you
how to create a cube wrapped in a mosaic of photos. I provided this image of a basic cube that
we'll use as a template later. Before we begin, if you haven't yet subscribed to my channel,
smash that "Subscribe" button, so you know as soon as I upload new Photoshop tutorials
and quick tips. In this tutorial, I'll be moving a bit faster for more advanced users. The first step
is to create a folder that we'll place our photos into. The number of photos should be divisible by
itself. For example, if we want each side of our cube to be 3 rows and 3 columns, we should
place 9 photos into our folder. 3 x 3 = 9. The number of columns and rows should be the same.
If we want each side of our cube to be divided into 4 rows and 4 columns, we'll place 16 photos
into our folder. 4 x 4 = 16. My suggestion is to limit it to no more than 16 photos because any
more will make them too small to easily discern. Once we have the photos in the folder, go to File,
Automate and "Contact Sheet II". Click "Folder" and "Choose". Find and click your folder of photos
and click "OK". The "Units" are "pixels" and make sure we don't "Flatten All Layers". The
Width and Height are 1000 pixels each and its resolution is 150 pixels per inch. The Mode
is RGB color and 8 bits per channel. Under "Thumbnails", I'll place our photos across first,
but you don't have to stick to this. Remember, the number of columns and rows should be the same.
"Rotate for Best Fit" should be unchecked. Check "Use Auto-Spacing" if you want a thin white border
surrounding each photo. If you want your photos not to have a border, uncheck it and make sure the
Vertical & Horizontal fields are set to "0". Make sure "Use FileName as Caption" is not checked.
Immediately, Photoshop is placing each photo onto its own layer along with its respective layer
mask that confines the photo to that space. Next, we'll adjust the size and position of each photo,
but before we do, click the chain-link icon between each photo and its layer mask to unlink
them. This will allow us to resize and reposition the photos, while keeping their layer masks as
they are. Make the last photo active and check "Auto-Select". This makes an image active as soon
as we click it on our screen, rather than having to find it in our Layers panel and making it
active there. Open your Transform Tool by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T. Go to the corner of its bounding
box and drag it out or in to resize the photo. Position it and try to fill the space within the
confines of its respective layer mask. Continue to resize and reposition the rest of your photos.
We'll convert our mosaic into a Smart Object, so we can modify it non-destructively and replace any
of the photos with another without having to redo the effects. To do this, make the top layer active
and Shift-click the bottom layer to make all the layers active.
Click the icon at the upper, right and click "Convert to Smart Object".
Next, we'll place our photo mosaic onto the cube template. With our Move Tool active,
drag it onto the tab of the Cube template. Without releasing your mouse or pen, press and hold the
Shift key as you drag it down and then, release. Pressing Shift kept it centered over the document.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the thumbnail of the mosaic to select its shape and press
Ctrl or Cmd + C to copy it onto your clipboard. Hide the layer and make a new layer above it.
Go to Filter and "Vanishing Point". I did several in-depth tutorials on Vanishing Point, so if you'd
like to watch them, I provided their links in this video's description. We'll create a grid
for one side of the cube. Go to a corner, click, and release. Place your cursor directly on another
corner of this side of the cube and click. Release and click on the next corner. Release once more
and click on the fourth corner to complete the grid. If you want to adjust the position of any
of the corners or sides, just go to that corner or side and drag it into position. Normally,
I'd create a grid for the entire cube, however, I found that I was happier with the result
by creating the sides of the cube as separate layers. Press Ctrl or Cmd + "v" to paste the photo
mosaic into the window. Drag it inside the grid until you see a corner. Before we reposition it,
we'll fit our entire photo mosaic into the grid. To do this, click the Transform Tool. Go to a
corner and press and hold the Shift key as you drag it in until you see all the photos. Drag it
to a corner and place your cursor on the opposite corner. Press and hold the Shift key as you
drag it out until it's aligned with at least one side of the cube. Drag any of the other sides or
corners until your photos are aligned with all the sides of the cube. Then, press Enter or Return.
Make a new layer and go back to Filter and Vanishing Point.
Press the Backspace key to remove the last grid. Create a new grid.
Paste your photo mosaic into the window and drag it inside the grid. Again,
use the Transform Tool to reduce its size, drag it to a corner and reposition the corners
and/or sides until your photos are aligned with that side of the cube.
Repeat the same steps to place your photos onto the last side. Next, we'll adjust the brightness
of each side, but first, let's drag the top side of the cube to the top of the Layers panel,
just to keep things in their logical order. Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Levels". We
want this adjustment layer to affect only the top side of our cube, however, since Adjustment Layers
affect all the layers below them in the Layers panel, we'll need to clip it or restrict it to
the one layer below it. Click the Clipping Mask icon or go to Layer and "Create Clipping Mask".
In the Output white level field, type in 220. We'll copy the Levels adjustment layer
by pressing and holding Alt or Option as we drag the copy down onto the next side.
Clip it to that layer and in the Output white level field, type in 58.
again, drag a copy of the adjustment layer down to the last side and clip it.
Type in 133. Next, we'll create a dark, gradient background. Make the background active and make a
new layer above it. We'll fill the new layer with black, but before we do, check your foreground
and background colors. If they aren't black and white respectively, press "D" on your keyboard.
Since black is our foreground color, press Alt or Option + Delete. Double-click the layer
to open its Layer Style window. Click "Gradient Overlay" and the gradient bar.
Click the "Black, White" preset and click OK. The Blend Mode is Normal and the Opacity is 100%.
Check "Reverse". The Style is Linear, the Angle is 90 degrees, and the Scale is 100%. Drag the
background down approximately this much and click OK. Next, we'll cast a shadow from the cube.
Make a new layer. Open your Pen Tool and choose "Path". Go to the bottom, left corner
of the cube...click and release. Place your cursor outside your visible image to approximately here
and click. We'll finesse the angle of the path, but before we do, let's zoom out a bit to give
us more room. Press Ctrl or Cmd and the minus key on your keyboard. To reposition an anchor point,
press and hold Ctrl or Cmd as you drag it until the path is aligned with the bottom angle of
the cube. Continue to make paths that follow the angles of the cube as I'm doing. Complete the path
by clicking the first anchor point. Right-click or secondary-click directly on the path to open
the fly-out list and click "Make Selection". Keep its default feather radius at 0.5 pixels.
Fill the selection with black and deselect it. Convert it into a Smart Object
and reduce its opacity to 40%. Go to Filter, Blur and Gaussian Blur. Blur it 20 pixels. Next,
we'll fade out the shadow. Make a layer mask next to the shadow. Open your Gradient Tool and make
sure the Linear gradient icon is active. Click the gradient bar and click the black and white preset.
Place your cursor at the lower, right corner and drag your tool diagonally out to approximately
here. Collapse the smart filter. Scroll to the top and make the top adjustment layer active.
Scroll down and Shift-click "Layer 1" to make it and all the layers in-between active.
Convert them into one Smart Object. Next, we'll replicate a narrow "Depth of Field" photo blur.
This blurs the cube the further away it is from the corner of the cube that's the closest to us.
Go to Filter, Blur and Gaussian Blur. Blur it 3 pixels.
Make the Gaussian Blur layer mask active and click the Diamond gradient icon. Go to the
middle corner and press and hold the Shift key as you drag it straight up to the top of the cube.
Next, we'll brighten our entire image. Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Levels".
Drag the Input white level to 220 or just type it in. Next, we'll increase its color vibrancy.
Open the Adjustments panel. If you don't see it, go to Window and Adjustments. Click the
Vibrance icon. Drag the Vibrance all the way to the right. Lastly, we'll create a reflection.
Collapse the smart filter and make the cube active. Make a copy of it
and make the original cube active. This layer will become the cube's reflection.
Reduce its opacity to 50%. Press v to open back your Move Tool. Press
and hold the Shift key as you drag it straight down to approximately here.
Open the Smart Filter and double-click Gaussian Blur. Change the radius to 20 pixels.
Go to Filter, Blur and Motion Blur. Make the Angle: 90 degrees and the Distance: 400 pixels.
Next, we'll hide the blur of the reflection that we can see along the edges of the cube.
Make the cube active and make a layer mask next to it. Open your Brush Tool
and Brush Picker. Pick a soft, round brush. Make its size 100 pixels and the Hardness
0%. The Opacity and Flow are both 100%. Go to the top corner and press and hold the Shift key,
release, and click approximately here to hide the blur along the edge. Repeat this for the
other side. Then, brush over the background to hide any remainder of the blur that's outside
the cube and its reflection. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!