Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to quickly give yourself awesome, 6-pack abs.
This is an update of tutorials I've done on earlier versions of Photoshop.
This update is quicker and easier.
I provided 2 files.
This image of 6-pack abs and a body to merge it with.
If you want to use your own images, the technique shown in this tutorial will be the same.
The first step is to match the overall color of the abs to the body you're going to merge it with.
Open the abs image and go to Image, Adjustments and "Match Color".
For its Source, click , "No abs", assuming you're using the same images I provided.
Then, click OK or press Enter or Return.
To place the abs onto the body, make sure your Move Tool is active.
If it isn't, press "v" on your keyboard.
Drag it onto the tab of the body and without releasing your mouse or pen, press and
hold Shift as you drag it it down and release.
Pressing Shift kept the abs centered over the document.
Reduce its opacity to 50%, so we can see the body through it.
We'll size and position the abs by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T.
Position it, so the navel is in the same location as the navel under it.
In the center of the Transform's bounding box is this tiny symbol, called the "Reference Point".
Drag it to center of the navel.
You'll see why in a moment.
Go to a corner and when you see a diagonal, double-arrow,
press and hold Alt or Option + Shift as you drag it in or out.
Notice the size is being adjusted from the center of the navel because that's where we
moved the Reference Point to.
Continue to manipulate it until it matches the size, height and width of the body under it.
Then, press Enter or Return.
Open your Lasso Tool,
and draw around the abs, but keep the line inside the torso that's under it.
Increase its opacity back to 100%
and click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask of the selection next to the abs.
Make the body active and make a copy of it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + J
and then, hide the original.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the layer mask to make a selection of its shape.
We'll contract the selection by going to Select, Modify and Contract.
I'll contract it 20 pixels, however, if you're using different images and they have different
sizes and resolutions, you'll need to contract it using a different amount.
In any case, contract it approximately this much in.
Then, press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the area inside the selection.
To deselect it, press Ctrl of Cmd + D. Shift-click the top layer to make it active, as well,
and go to Edit and "Auto-Blend Layers".
The "Auto-Blend" filter does a great job blending different images when they're combined.
I've tried both "Panorama" and "Stack Images" to see which one blends the abs and body better.
Even though the 2 layers that we're blending are stacked, I've found that frankly, "Panorama"
did a better job.
However, you may find that Stacked Images" looks better, so feel free to choose that instead.
Make sure "Seamless Tones and Colors" is checked to balance brightness, contrast and color,
as well as "Content Aware Fill Transparent Areas".
It did a great job blending them, however, we still need to smooth out the edges.
To do this, first make sure you can see all your layers .
Hide the second and third layers and make the bottom layer visible.
Click the Layer mask icon to make a layer mask next to the active layer.
Open your Brush Tool and Brush Picker.
We'll adjust the size in a moment.
Make the Hardness 0% and the Opacity approximately 50%.
To adjust the size of your brush press the right or left bracket key on your keyboard
and make sure the Shift key isn't on, otherwise the size won't change.
Brush over any edges that need a bit more blending.
Lastly, I'll reduce the opacity of the abs to blend them into the body even more.
This step is optional.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!