Learn how to turn a regular dance photo into a dazzling dance photo manipulation.
This Photoshop video tutorial will show you how to create this dance photo manipulation by blending photos together
and creating special effects all in less than 10 layers.
To follow this tutorial, you'll need Photoshop CS3 or newer.
For this tutorial, we will be using four stock photos; a photo of a dancer, cloud, city background, and glass bullet hole.
You can find your own images or use the ones we're using.
If you're not very experienced with Photoshop, we recommend you follow this tutorial using the same photos we're using.
You can find the links to these photos at dancetut.com.
After you've acquired your images, start by opening the photo of the dancer into Photoshop.
Place the photo of the clouds by going into File > Place.
Choose the image of the clouds then click OK.
OK. Resize and position the clouds to something like this.
Press enter on your keyboard or click this checkmark button here to apply the transformation.
Now we're going to remove the blue sky and blend the clouds into the background.
Because this is a simple photo of white clouds on a dark blue background, we can just use the blending options to do this.
Right click on the layer of the clouds then choose Blending Options.
Options. In the "Blend If" area of the Blending Options window, drag the black input slider towards the right.
As you drag the slider, you'll notice that the blue sky is disappearing.
When the blue sky is gone, let go of your mouse.
While holding down the alt key on your keyboard, drag the right-half of the black input slider towards the right.
You'll notice that it detaches from the left-half and fades the clouds as you move it towards the right.
Don't click OK yet.
We're going to desaturate the clouds first just to remove any leftover parts of the blue sky the blending options might have missed.
Click on the Color Overlay style then set the blend mode to color and color to white.
This is a great way non-destructive way of desaturating a layer without having to create a new adjustment layer.
Using techniques like this can help keep your Photoshop document simple with fewer layers.
Keep this technique in mind because we'll be using it again later in this tutorial.
Here's what the image looks like so far. Next, we're going to create a mask of the dancer.
Hide the cloud layer by clicking on the visibility icon beside the layer in the Layers palette.
Select the Background layer with the dancer then create a selection of the background around the dancer.
There are many different ways of creating a selection depending on the photo you're using but the quick selection tool usually works the best.
Take your time to create a good selection because you'll be reusing this selection several times.
We're going to show you how to create a selection for the photo we're using.
First, because the background is 100% black, we'll use the magic wand tool to create a selection of the background.
Select the Magic Wand tool then set the Tolerance in the Option Bar to 0.
Click on the black background and it'll create a near-perfect selection around the dancer.
Next, we're going to switch to the Quick Selection Tool to complete the selection of the bottom.
Click and drag around the dancer like this.
You can also enhance the selection by clicking on the Refine Edge button.
First, we're going to zoom into an area in the photo.
Then we're going to change the view to Overlay so that we can see what we're doing easier.
Start by turning on Smart Radius then adjust the radius settings until the edges improve.
You can see that the edge on the shoe is smoothing out very well as we increase the radius.
Look around the other areas of the selection before committing your changes.
Here in the arms, there seems to be some grainy edge.
To fix this, we're going to adjust the Smooth setting like so.
It looks pretty okay now so we're going to click OK to apply the changes.
You just created a selection!
Now that we have our selection, we can make the clouds layer appear behind the dancer.
Instead of adding a layer mask to the clouds layer, we're going to add it to a group.
You'll see why we're doing this in a bit.
Select the cloud layer then press Ctrl+G or Command+G on a Mac to add the layer into a group.
Next, make sure you have the group selected then click on the "Add Layer Mask" button in the layers palette.
You should now have a layer mask of the selection you made earlier and the clouds should appear behind the dancer.
Looking at the bottom of the clouds, you can see that the bottom edge isn't blending in with the floor.
To fix this, add a layer mask by clicking on the "Add Layer Mask" button in the layers palette.
Select the Eraser tool then right-click anywhere in the document window to bring up the brush settings.
Set the hardness to 0% then adjust the master diameter so that you get a large brush like this.
You can also press the left bracket and right bracket keys on your keyboard to adjust the brush size.
In the option bar, ensure your opacity and flow is set to 100%.
Make sure you have the layer mask selected by clicking on the layer mask thumbnail in the clouds layer.
Press D on your keyboard to reset your foreground and background colors.
Paint along the bottom edge of the clouds to make it fade; something like this.
Here's what the image looks like so far.
Now that we're done with the clouds, we're going to place the background image of the city background.
Go to File > Place, browse for the photo, then click OK.
Scale and position the image to something like this then press Enter on your keyboard to apply the changes.
In the Layers palette, move the new layer inside the group and below the clouds layer.
Remember the technique we used before to desaturate the clouds layer?
We're going to use the same technique on the city background layer.
To do this, right click on the layer then choose Blending Options.
Click on the Color Overlay options then set the blend mode to color and color to white.
Click OK to apply the changes.
Click on the "Add Layer Mask" button in the layers palette.
Select the Eraser tool then erase the bottom edge of the city background layer just like what you did earlier with the clouds layer.
Here's what the image looks like so far.
We're going to colorize the background using a fun rainbow light painting technique.
In the layers palette, click on the new layer button. Drag the new layer above the clouds layer.
Change the blending mode to Color.
Go to your Swatches palette.
If you don't see this, you can go to Window > Swatches.
Click on the flyout menu then choose any Pantone CMYK swatch.
You'll get a dialog where Photoshop asks if you want to replace your swatches palette.
Just click OK for this. The first three colors of your swatches palette are now yellow, magenta, and cyan.
Now you can easily select these three colors for the rainbow painting that we'll be doing now.
Make sure you have the new layer selected then select the brush tool.
Start by painting around the image using any of the first three colors in your swatches palette.
Play around with your brush size and hardness settings.
I usually like to start off with a large brush and a 50% hardness setting.
Now that I have the three colors in, I'm going to go to the option bar to reduce the opacity to 50%.
We're done with the background!
Now we're going to create the special effects.
To start, we're going to add a swirling beam of light around the dancer.
Start by creating a new group by clicking on the "Create a New Group" button in the layers palette.
Position this group as the top layer.
Make sure that you have the new group selected then click on the "Create a New Layer" button.
This will create a new layer inside the new group.
Select the Pen tool then set the mode to Paths.
Click on the bottom left area then draw a path around the dancer like this.
Now select the Brush tool and set the master diameter to 30 pixels and hardness to 100%.
If you are working with a lower resolution photo, say 800x600 pixels, set your master diameter to around 8 pixels.
Make sure that the opacity in the option bar is set to 100% then set your foreground color to white.
You can do this quickly by pressing D then X on your keyboard.
Select back then Pen Tool then right click on the path and choose Stroke Path.
Set the tool to Brush, enable Simulate Pressure, then click OK.
You should now get a nice neon beam on top of the dancer.
If it is too big or small, you can simply undo and try it with another brush thickness.
So let's say I want to make the beam a little bigger.
I will press Ctrl Z or Command Z on a Mac to undo, select the brush tool then increase the master diameter,
switch back to the Pen tool, then create a stroke path again.
Currently the beam looks like it is just floating in front of the dancer.
To make it appear like it is swirling around the dancer, we're going to use a layer mask.
Hold down the Control key or Command key on a Mac then click on the layer mask of "Group 1".
Select back the layer with the beam of light then click on the "Add Layer Mask" button.
You should now have a layer mask of the selected area.
Ensure you have the layer mask of the light beam selected by clicking on thumbnail of the layer mask.
Press D on your keyboard to reset your foreground and background colors.
Select the Brush tool then paint the areas here and here.
Now we're going to add some lens flare.
In the layers palette, click on the new layer button.
Make sure this layer is positioned above the layer with the light beam.
Fill this layer with black.
You can do this by going to Edit > Fill then selecting black.
Next, go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare.
Leave the Brightness setting at 100%, select Movie Prime as the lens type, then click OK.
Colorize this lens flare by going to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation.
Checkmark the Colorize option, set the Hue to 215, Saturation to 25, and Lightness to 0, then click OK.
Change the blending mode of this layer to screen.
Select the Move tool then drag the lens flare over the top hand.
While holding down the Alt key or Option Key on a Mac, drag the lens flare to the other hand.
This should duplicate the lens flare in a new layer.
Go back to the Layers palette then click on the "Add Layer Mask" button.
Select the Eraser tool, set the hardness to 0%, then erase around the hand.
You can press the left or right bracket keys on your keyboard to adjust the size of the eraser.
Erase around the hand like this so that the lens flare looks like it's on the other side of the hand.
To finish this image, we're going to add some shattered glass around the ankles of the dancer.
Go to File > Place, select the image of the glass, then click OK.
Right click on the layer then choose blending options.
Now drag the black input slider towards the right until the background disappears.
Hold down the Alt key or Option key on the mac then drag the input slider towards the right until the edges blend in.
You'll notice that the input slider splits in half and the blending gets smoother as you drag it towards the right.
Change the blending mode of this layer to Luminosity.
This will remove the color of the layer then press Control J or Command J on a Mac to duplicate the layer.
Hide the other layer for now by clicking on the visibility icon.
Select the other shattered glass layer then choose Edit > Free Transform.
Drag the shattered glass and position it over one ankle.
While holding down the Alt key or Option Key on a Mac, drag the top middle handle downwards.
Next, position your cursor outside the bounding border then drag to rotate.
Hold down the Control or Command key on a Mac then drag the bottom left handle towards the bottom left so you get something like this.
Finally, hold the Control or Command key on a Mac then drag the bottom right handle towards the upper left like this.
Press Enter on your keyboard to apply the transformation.
Now select the other shattered glass layer and transform it for the other ankle.
Click on the visibility icon to make it visible again then go to Edit > Free Transform.
Position it on the other ankle then transform it like this.
Add a layer mask to both of the shatter glass layers.
You can do this by selecting the layer then clicking on the "Add Layer Mask" button in the Layers palette.
Click on one of the layer mask for the shattered glass then use the Eraser tool to erase the top part of the leg.
This will make it look like it's wrapping around the ankle.
Now select the layer mask for the other shattered glass layer then do the same thing.
Before we finish, we're going to pick a color for the beam of light.
Right click on the layer with the beam of light then choose Blending Options.
We're going to make it glow using an Outer and Inner Glow layer style.
First, click on Outer Glow to enable it. Select a color you want to use then adjust the size.
I'm going to make mine purple and set the size to around 45 pixels.
Next, click on the Inner Glow layer style.
Zoom into the beam of light so you can see what you're doing.
You can zoom in by pressing Control Plus or Command Plus on a Mac.
Start by setting the blend mode to Normal then change the color to the same color you used for your Outer Glow.
Adjust the size so that you get something like this. Click OK to apply the changes.
We're done! Here's the final results!
Give it another try using your own photos. If you want to download the PSD for this, visit our website at dancetut.com.