Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to add a realistic-looking tattoo to skin.
This is an update of tutorials I've done quite awhile ago on earlier versions of Photoshop.
I provided this image that you can download, as well as this tattoo design, so you can follow along.
Their links are located in my video's description or project files below.
The first step is to make and save you subject as a displacement map, which will enable our
tattoo design to wrap itself around the contours of the body.
To do this, make a copy of the layer by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J.
Displacement maps work best when its blurred.
Go to Filter, Blur and Gaussian Blur.
I'll blur it 6 pixels.
If you're using a different image, you may want to use a different amount in order to
blur it approximately this much.
Go to File and "Save As".
Save it to a location that’s easy to find.
I’ll save it to my desktop.
Name it, “Displacement” and save it as a Photoshop PSD file.
Then, click "Save".
If you see this message, just click OK.
Now that we've saved the displacement file, we can delete it from our Layers panel.
Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
Open the tattoo design.
We want to separate the art from the white background.
There are many ways to do this, but for this example, first, click the lock icon to unlock the layer.
Open the Channels panel.
if your don't see it, go to Window and Channels.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the thumbnail of the RGB channel to make a selection of the tattoo design.
Open back your Layers panel and press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the white background.
To deselect it, press Ctrl or Cmd + D.
We'll convert our tattoo design into a Smart Object, which will allow us to adjust, change
or modify the filters that we'll be adding to it at any time.
Click the icon at the upper, right of the Layers panel and click "Convert to Smart Object".
To place the the design onto our photo, make sure you Move Tool is active by pressing "v"
on your keyboard and dragging the design onto the tab of the photo.
Without releasing your mouse or pen, drag it down and release.
To adjust its size and position, open your Transform Tool by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T.
Go to a corner and when you see a diagonal, double-arrow, press and hold Alt or Option
+ Shift as you drag it out or in to a size you like.
To reposition it, go inside the bounding box and drag it.
If you want to angle it, go back to a corner and when you see a curved, double-arrow,
rotate it to angle you like.
Then, press Enter or Return.
Go to Filter, Distort and Displace.
I'll displace it 15 pixels, however, feel free to experiment with the amount.
Tick "Stretch to Fit” and "Repeat Edge Pixels".
Click the Displacement file that you saved earlier and click “Open”.
Immediately, the tattoo wraps itself around the contours of your subject.
Change its Blend Mode to Soft Light.
I'll reduce its opacity to 90%.
You can adjust it later if you want.
Double-click the grey area of the tattoo layer to open its Layer Style window.
Click Color Overlay and change its Blend Mode to Linear Burn.
Click the color box and pick a color for your tattoo.
The hexadecimal code for mine is: 007EFF.
I'll make its opacity: 50%.
I'll click "Outer Glow" to blend in an optional subtle skin redness that you often see on healing tattoos.
The color that I chose for this particular image is: 440503.
The Blend Mode is Normal, the Opacity is 50% and the Size is 3 pixels.
Lastly, to hide areas of the tattoo, click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask next to the tattoo layer.
Open your Brush Tool and Brush picker.
I'll make the Size: 25 pixels, the Hardness: 0% and the Opacity & Flow: 100%.
Brush over the areas of your subject where you'd like to hide the tattoo.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!