Creating a Vector Composite Effect from a Photo

Mar 30th in Effects by Bill Labus
This tutorial will demonstrate how to take an image, in this case a woman's face, and give the appearance that it is entirely composed of vector shapes. Along the way, we'll use some fairly basic techniques, including clipping masks and displacement maps, to achieve a unique effect!
PG

Author: Bill Labus

This is the image we'll be creating:

Final Image

Step 1

To begin, create a new document of pretty much whatever size you'd like. I personally prefer a wider look for this effect, but any size should work. You should, however, probably stick to a landscape aspect ratio, at least for following this tutorial.

I chose an image size of 720 x 480 pixels at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch.

Once you've created your new image, fill the background layer with solid black.

Step 1

Step 2

Next, we have to find an image to work with. I chose a picture of a woman's face that I found on the stock photography Web site stock.xchng, however, the owner of the photo requested that I credit the Web site iofoto.com, so I've just put both here.

You can use an image of almost anything for this effect, but to follow this tutorial, your best bet is to choose an image similar to mine, i.e. a human face.

Once you have your image, place it into your document as a new layer. Remove everything else in the picture, just leaving the face. I've also adjusted the brightness and saturation on my image. You can preserve the entire person's head, but I personally think the effect looks better with the back of the head being cut off, leaving just the face.

Step 2

Step 3

Duplicate the face layer and make sure it's positioned exactly on top of the original face. Press Shift + Control + U to desaturate the layer and then go to Filter > Blur > Lens Blur. Make sure the setting for Source is selected as Transparency, and use settings of 10, 0 and 0 for Radius, Blade Curvature, and Rotation, respectively. We'll see later on why blurring this layer is necessary.

Step 3

Step 4

Before we go any further, we need to save our document again, under a different name. So make sure the top, blurred layer is visible and save your document as "dispmap," or whatever you want to call it. This file will be used as our displacement map later on.

Now we need our vector shapes, which will ultimately combine to actually form the woman's face, or whatever image you chose. I used quite a few different shapes from GoMedia's Arsenal Vector Sets 2 [Hooladanders] and 3 [Hooladanders 2]. You have to pay for them, but if you'd just like to try out the effect, a couple of shapes in the free Vector Pack Sample should work.

Once you have your shapes, start dragging a few into your Photoshop document. If it asks you how to paste them, choose Smart Object. How you place your objects here will greatly affect the end result. You may be tempted to just throw the shapes on any which way over your image, but you should take care to make sure they flow with the the contours of the image. This doesn't have to be perfect as some adjustments will be made later, but just randomly placed objects will not produce as good an effect. Notice how in my image, all of the vector shapes not only flow with the contour of the woman's face, but also flow in the same general direction relative to each other. Their weight is also distributed toward the front of the face, with the tails of the shapes trailing toward the back of the head. Remember, we want it to look as though these vector shapes are all gathering together and combining to form the image.

Also important to take into consideration is the number of shapes you lay over your image. While it may seem like adding more shapes will produce a more complex and intricate look, it will actually take away from the desired effect because almost the entire original image will be visible. We want to be able to see the black background through different areas between the shapes.

Step 4

Step 5

Now, select your first vector shape layer, and go to Filter > Distort > Displace. Leave the Horizontal and Vertical Scale values at 10, and select the Stretch to Fit and Repeat Edge Pixels options and click OK. When the file dialog appears, select the file you saved earlier as "dispmap" (or whatever you called it) and click Open.

For anyone unfamiliar with this feature, displacement mapping takes an object or layer, in our case a vector shape, and using another image file (a displacement map), transforms the image so that it would fit over the map. It determines this by the color of each pixel in the displacement map, with lighter pixels corresponding to what would be a higher area on a 3D model of the image. The reason we copied the original image of the woman's face and desaturated it was to allow for an easier mapping by eliminating colors. We also blurred the image because displacement mapping in Photoshop is very accurate. If we had tried it on the original image, our vector shapes would appear choppy because in reality they were mapped to the smallest bumps and textures on the woman's skin. Blurring the image slightly leaves only the smooth contours of the woman's face, allowing for our vector shapes to maintain their smoothness but still conform to the face.

Step 5

Step 6

Once you have used the displacement mapping on all of your vector shapes, you need to then duplicate your original image layer as many times as the number of shapes you have. What we need is a copy of the original image for every vector shape we have, with the copy on top of its shape in the layers palette. When you're finished arranging everything, you will have alternating image and vector shape layers, starting at the top with an image layer.

Step 6

Step 7

We now need to create the clipping masks that will transfer our original image into the vector shapes. So for each copy of the image layer in the layers palatte, right-click it and select Create Clipping Mask. Don't worry if no visible changes occur; you won't see them until you make the very last clipping mask. You can tell if you've made the mask successfully if there is a small arrow pointing down in the image layer and the vector shape layer below it is underlined.

Step 7

Step 8

Once you have made all of the clipping masks, you should begin to see the final image take shape. However, we're not done just yet. Now select the topmost vector shape layer and add a Drop Shadow to it. I used an angle of 140 degrees, and settings of 10, 10 and 20 for Distance, Spread and Size, respectively.

Once you've got a shadow effect that looks good, right-click on that vector shape layer and select Copy Layer Style. Then, right-click all of the other vector shape layers and select Paste Layer Style.

Step 8

Step 9

At this point, we've finished the final effect on the image. I added a Radial Gradient to the background to give the impression that light is coming from the left to match the general shading of the image.

Final Image

Final Image

Finally, I have added some text and darkened the neck area so it sits further in the shadows. Additionally, I upped the contrast to make the image a little more eerie.

This technique can be applied to any image using any vector shapes. The key to making it look convincing is matching the vector objects to the shape, contours, and flow of the object image they're to be wrapped around. It's an odd effect, but I hope you were able to gain something from this tutorial, and good luck with your own work!

Final Image

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User Comments

( ADD YOURS )
  1. PG

    tom March 30th

    very nice

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    Decem March 30th

    omg wicked!!!love it

    ( Reply )
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    Carlos March 30th

    Not a bad tutorial. The outcomes quite good though I think that it would have been better if it had followed the contours of her face.

    Good tutorial nonetheless.

    ( Reply )
  4. PG

    Rohil Sinha March 30th

    Hey that looks awesome !

    ( Reply )
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    Twopo March 30th

    This is really great . i love this site keep on

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    Lukaydo March 30th

    great effect :)

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    Constantin Potorac March 30th

    Hey… finally! I was waiting for a tutorial like this for a long time now. ;)

    Thank you very much for sharing.

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    Xavier March 30th

    How great is this tut!
    I was trying t oachieve this effect but I’ve failed… until now!
    A huge thank you to Bill, and Psduts’ team ;.)

    ( Reply )
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    Constantin Potorac March 30th

    Thanks again for sharing.
    Here is a great designer where I have seen this effect first:

    http://www.burdu976.com/index.php

    ( Reply )
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    godonholiday March 30th

    Cheers mate…asked for something like this in the suggest a tut section!
    nice to see your listening to your loyal viewers.
    cheers again

    ( Reply )
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    BroOf March 30th

    I love the effect!

    ( Reply )
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    Ben Griffiths March 30th

    Wow, this looks awsome, well done and thanks :)

    ( Reply )
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    Laura March 30th

    Fantastic! Amazing! Perfect!

    ( Reply )
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    Ali March 30th

    very nice tutorial

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    Arnaud March 30th

    Really nice !

    ( Reply )
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    giackop March 30th

    @constantin: hey i’m a huge fan of alberto seveso as well.. i tried to make an effect similar but it took soooooo long..

    thanks for the tutorial

    ( Reply )
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    nitesh March 30th

    this is one of the most brillant tuts i ever saw here thanks alots i on to start with it………………………

    ( Reply )
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    kenneth March 30th

    first time a tut actually explains what displacement filter does! thanks!

    ( Reply )
  19. PG

    Constantin Potorac March 30th

    giackop- me also a fan :D

    ( Reply )
  20. PG

    Alex Moyler March 30th

    That’s sick. Nice one man.

    ( Reply )
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    Tim March 30th

    Really good effect and tutorial, thanks :)

    ( Reply )
  22. woo what a cool effect – loving ur work

    ( Reply )
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    Tamerlan March 31st

    Looks very nice!

    ( Reply )
  24. PG

    kailoon March 31st

    cool

    ( Reply )
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    Zach March 31st

    INCREDIBLE!!! INCREDIBLE!!! INCREDIBLE!!!

    psdtuts has knocked another one out of the park. this probably one or the coolest tutorials i have ever seen. sure to make it to the best of psdtuts at the bottom. thank you for such wonderful stuff.

    ( Reply )
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    Nameless March 31st

    AWSOME!!! one of you best tuts so far! Keep up the good work

    ( Reply )
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    Fabio Sasso March 31st

    Amazeeng!! thanks a lot for that!

    ( Reply )
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    JPOG March 31st

    Thank you! I tried to accomplish this same effect a few weeks ago but just couldn’t put my finger on the correct technique. Thanks for the tutorial!

    ( Reply )
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    Fab March 31st

    Great tutorial, efficient effect! Thx for sharing!

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    Andrew D March 31st

    Very nice tutorial! It turned out great.

    ( Reply )
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    apiex March 31st

    amazing !!! Thank you very mutch …i waiting long time to do this on a picture

    ( Reply )
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    Marion March 31st

    great tuts dude…
    how to RIP a style from a
    Well known designer GREAT!

    ( Reply )
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    Shane March 31st

    The final result is really great – thanks for posting a tutorial that enables us all to learn how it’s achieved.

    ( Reply )
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    dariusperkins March 31st

    great stuff mate, thanks for keeping it free.

    ( Reply )
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    Jared March 31st

    This is a really beautiful result. Two suggestions however to improve the tutorial.

    1) Duplicating the background layer of the face so many times adds considerably to the file size. Instead, you could do one of two things:

    a. Make a selection of all of the vector shapes (ctrl+click on each layer’s thumbnail) and then apply that selection as a mask to the single layer of the face.
    b. Convert the original layer of the face into a Smart Object, then duplicate it for each layer and create clipping masks as instructed in the tutorial. By making it a Smart Object, Photoshop always refers back to a single set of pixels in the SO, thereby adding very very little to the size of the file. In addition, should you need to adjust the face, you can simply adjust it once in the SO, rather than having to duplicate all over again.

    2) As far as creating clipping masks, it is much more efficient to simply Alt+click (Win) or Opt+Click (Mac) between the two layers to create the clipping mask, rather than right-clicking each and choosing the option.

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    Niels March 31st

    Awesome !

    ( Reply )
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    JokR March 31st

    great tutorial can’t wait to try it myself . . .

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    Marian March 31st

    looking damn good!

    ( Reply )
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    Jonathan Solichin March 31st

    That’s some amazing result right there. You just blew me away. Great technique, thanks for sharing!

    ( Reply )
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    Tagy March 31st

    WOOOOW I didn’t even think that effect was achievable and yet soo easy..
    Thank u soo much psdtuts’ team, ur guys are amazing!

    ( Reply )
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    Colin March 31st

    looks like this one is going to bed harder than it looks….to me anyways

    but it’ll be nice in the end! thanks!

    ( Reply )
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    Cain March 31st

    For such an amazing effect, it doesn’t take a long time.

    As constantin said, there hasn’t been tutorials like this in a while.

    ( Reply )
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    kjkkjh March 31st

    Beautiful.

    ( Reply )
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    Terry March 31st

    it’s great to see an effect that can bee used in ad based design…

    combining this, the applying a realistic tattoo, and maybe the statue tut colud be interesting.

    ( Reply )
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    godonholiday March 31st

    Oh yes!!! just the best!! not only is this the best Tut i’ve done, its also the one that has come out best! and its the largest number of Layers i have ever used!! hahahah

    cheers mate! great stuff!! keep it up!

    ( Reply )
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    Tyrone Avnit March 31st

    Do not take this in the wrong way, but I LOVE U. Been wanting to know how to do this for quite a while. So excited!!!!

    ( Reply )
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    jim March 31st

    ohh

    this is old, i saw this tutorial long time ago on some website, cant rememeber what website now…

    ( Reply )
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    Bobo March 31st

    two thumbs and two big toes up to you, great tut mans.

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    Antonio March 31st

    Excelente!!!!!!

    ( Reply )
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    Redking March 31st

    good job

    ( Reply )
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    Antonio March 31st

    Hice una prueba y salio bastante buena creo

    http://www.anden14.com/entrelazado.jpg

    ( Reply )
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    Cain March 31st

    Great job Antonio!

    I’ll make sure and try it out. Eventually. ;)

    ( Reply )
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    Kate March 31st

    I’m having a issue of it showing the drop shadow on the entire smart object. Some of the smart objects are outside the actual face, so when the drop shadow is applied you can see it. This shows up when I change the background color to a gradient. Am I getting something simple botched?

    ( Reply )
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    Daniel March 31st

    very nice result! love it. very good tutorial as usual ;) thanks for sharing the knowledge.

    ( Reply )
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    GeminiArt March 31st

    good use of dismap ;) good work ;)

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    Alberto Seveso March 31st

    THANK YOU FOR THE RIPTORIAL!!!

    ( Reply )
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    Nono March 31st

    Nice tut.
    However, i think there’s a problem with the final image. At first glance the face is not “readable” you don’t recognize the eyes, or the mouth. Maybe this is due to the vector shapes (too many ?) and the shadow (too dark ?).

    As for shadows, i don’t use black. Instead, i use a sample of the color that goes in the dark and i choose a darker tint of it. That seems more “real”.

    Anyway a nice tut for “seveso’s apprentices” ;-P.

    Nono.

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    Godonholiday March 31st

    Jared – any chance you could expand on reducing the file size of this? You mention using a smart object for the main photo…could you expand or is it just a case of converting it at the start?

    ( Reply )
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    alberto seveso March 31st

    WOW great RIPTORIAL!!!
    do you want the full RIPkit=? some vector shapes and some photos?

    ( Reply )
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    SpazZ March 31st

    That is one cool effect! thanks for this.

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    jimmy_jean March 31st

    …and if i want to colorize the vectors? how should i do?

    ( Reply )
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    vasumathi March 31st

    hii. it was vry useful. i learnt this technique only now. thanks a ton

    ( Reply )
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    LOSWL April 1st

    Great tutorial, I tried it out and I used the suggestion from Jared As far as creating clipping masks and it worked considerably faster and a much smaller PSD file, thanks.

    ( Reply )
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    Dragolux April 1st

    Super effect! I think I saw a request for this not too long ago. Thanks!

    ( Reply )
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    scmtngirl April 1st

    I like this as a base on which to jump from, but I just don’t really think it looks like her face is comprised of only vector shapes. Seveso’s stuff is much more complex, too. Keep up the great work, though! I get so much inspiration from psdtuts…

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    BogDinamita April 1st

    I watch your tut quality evolution on pdstuts and I wonder: “How much better will they get?”

    ( Reply )
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    eddy was here April 1st

    great tutorial
    here is my attempt

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    Swany April 1st

    Just finished mine tonight. Took about a movie and an episode of Married With Children to complete…. my picture here

    Great tutorial, easy to follow.. thanks

    Swany

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    Joefrey Mahusay April 1st

    Cool

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    menderes April 1st

    perfect!!!

    ( Reply )
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    Arik April 1st

    FINALLY.

    I was waiting for a tutorial on this effect FOR AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGEEEESSSSSSS. I was desperate enough to manually brush everything at a certain point. Oh this I will definitely use.

    ( Reply )
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    Arik April 1st

    Ok so now I’ve actually read it :P

    I agree with some of the comments, the face is indeed hard to read. I think that certain features such as the eyes and lips should not be affected by the effect. Furthermore I think that you should create the vectors yourself or find nice flowing vectors for a good look. Sure chaos can look good, but I’d use something a bit more in accordance with the facial features.

    It’s a nice way to learn the technique, but it’s up to the artist to make it something nice. (Read: To even get CLOSE to the artwork that Seveso produces.)

    ( Reply )
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    AGS April 2nd

    A M A Z I N G… Echt gut!

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    Swany April 2nd

    I LOVE this technique and I can’t get enough of it! Grrrreat tutorial!

    Here’s another design I made…

    Swany

    ( Reply )
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    goldenthunder April 2nd

    Wow, this is a very cool and unique tutorial! I will definitely use this for something! Thank you very much!

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    n00b April 2nd

    Can someone give a step by step to using the vectors?
    I’m not sure how to use the .eps file in Photoshop and all… that’s the only part that’s stumping me =/

    ( Reply )
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    Godonholiday April 2nd

    Yeah i love this one….

    I just hope the subscription section starts to get some of these high quality tutorials….. as the three on offer a great but not the most inspiring.. if you knwo what i mean.

    keep it up though.

    ( Reply )
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    bobo April 2nd

    @alberto seveso, I checked out your site and failed to see any tutorials, so I’m not to sure what you are crying about and claiming it is a riptorial.
    I’m guessing your just pissed at the fact that your technic is out of the bag so to speak, and yes its quite an easy technic considering how complex the final image potentional looks.
    I find it extremely sad that you firstly failed to ever share this style, and then have the nerve to complain when someone figures it out and does the right thing and shares it with the community.
    It was something that was bound to happen. After first seeing your work I went straight to photoshop and tried to figure out how it was done, and failed, and I’m guessing that most other folk did exactly the same.
    Whats next for you, a complaint to adobe saying people are using photoshop to create work in a similer style to your own?, it sounds a bit silly doesn’t it?
    If you have indeed written a tutorial on this, then please accept my humblest apoligies and disregard everything I have said.
    bobo

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    Danilo Friolani April 3rd

    is it possible to use brushes instead of vectors?

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    Alberto Seveso April 3rd

    i want try to explain my point of view regarding this tutorial.
    (sorry for my poor english, i’m italian)
    i’m not against this tutorial, but i think when you write a tutorial of a “personal style” It is important make know the source with a simple linkback.

    read this:
    “One of the coolest digital artists around is Chuck Anderson, a.k.a. NoPattern. After seeing a recent PSDTUTS reader request, I decided to show you how to create a light effect similar to NoPattern’s Jumper Poster.”
    http://psdtuts.com/tutorials-effects/nopattern-jumper-effect/

    thank you
    Alberto.

    ( Reply )
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    Bill April 3rd

    I apologize Mr. Seveso, but I truly had never seen your work until someone posted a comment mentioning it. Before I wrote the tutorial I looked all over the web for information on the effect, but couldn’t find anything on it, especially since I didn’t really know of a name for it. Like a lot of people on here, I was simply trying to figure out how to do it, and when I finally got it, I just thought it would be good to share the knowledge with others as well.

    I am very sorry for not contacting you or linking to your work- had I known, I most definitely would have.

    ( Reply )
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    Bill April 3rd

    to n00b: You need vector editing software, such as Adobe Illustrator, to open an .eps file. Then, you can drag the individual vector shapes over from Illustrator into Photoshop.

    ( Reply )
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    Alberto Seveso April 3rd

    i trust you, it is possible
    the name of this tecniques is “sperm shaping” you don’t have found anything on the web because before me this tecniques does not existed.
    (i don’t have seen anything similar before me)

    PS: i’m sorry for my stupid comments, so good luck and good work to all.

    ( Reply )
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      Dip Chandarana November 19th

      Hey, your work is awwsome, just tried several techniques, have a look at this :)

      http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2756378&id=60712339109

      ( Reply )
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    bobo April 3rd

    @Noob on how to import vectors into photoshop.
    There are a few different ways of managing how to this, and it is also dependant on which version of photoshop you have. Firstly, smart objects were only introduced to photoshop CS2, so if you have a version prior to this you can’t scale up the vectors, which become image layers to much without making them start to look pixalated, because photoshop just doesn’t read the path in the earlier versions.
    The first way of importing is the trusty old file/open.
    The second and better way IMHO if you have a version of photoshop prior to CS2 is to use file/place, this seems to upscale the vectors/images a bit better than using the file/open.
    Then there is the way Bill mentioned above for the folk that have illustrator, which bar far would be the best way I assume because then you would have control of the scale of the vectors.
    On a side note, I have been doing this tutorial and completely avioding the whole vector part of it, instead just using brushes on the layer, seems to work as well.

    @Alberto Seveso, I’m sorry for my bitchy comments after reading your posts I can now completely understand why you were angry. Credit where credit is due. Your the master and from what I know the orginator of this tecnique and I love your work, keep it up.

    ( Reply )
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    Malik April 3rd

    Hey Alberto Seveso your work is truly amazing and its much better than chuck andersons. Chuck kinda cheats off UK designers like Pete Harrison. That’s another story.

    What I want to ask you is instead of complaining be nice and share your technique. What can you tell us that would help us create as good a yours. The final image created here doesn’t even come close to what is on your site.
    At universities and schools what do art professors do they teach students. They dont say oh if I’ll teach you you’ll make a rip off verision of my technique C’mon Seveso dont be angry instead you sould be happy more people are gona be visiting your site now.

    Please seriously it is an amazing technique shed some light we are all ears.
    Bill Labus thanks for sharing the tutorial

    Thank you,
    Malik

    ( Reply )
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    Swany April 3rd

    Well, I love this tutorial, I love this technique, I love learning new things to play with *clap*clap*clap, and I’m on my third one

    Swany

    ( Reply )
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    bobo April 3rd

    Swanny that third one looks sweet

    ( Reply )
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    AGS April 4th

    “sperm shaping” ? I googled it and I didn’t find anything… must be an Italian joke ;) (peace!)

    ( Reply )
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    Stretch April 4th

    Thankz Man! I Love Your Out Come, I Think the Best Thing About It Is Because The Vectors Are On Seperate Layers, U Can Always Go Back And Tweak Them :D Helped Me Alot Cheerz Bro!

    ( Reply )
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    douglasfir72 April 5th

    I get stuck at step 5 when applying the distort filter, it will not allow me to pick the dismap file(its ghosted out)
    I saved it as a tif file, does it need to be something else
    (running CS3)

    ( Reply )
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    John K April 5th

    Tanks for the tut, really nice!! I’m having trouble with the displace trying to rasterize my vector smart objects. Is there something I’ve missed to get beyond this step?

    ( Reply )
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    Tauch April 5th

    Really really amazing … thanks so much for sharing

    ( Reply )
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    kimberly April 8th

    hello, i followed the tutorial 3 times n 3 times the displacement map didnt wrap on the girls face. Do anyone know what might be wrong ?

    ( Reply )
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    balbastro julio April 10th

    Excelente tutorial… así me quedo

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/balbastrojulio/2395856837/

    Saludos

    ( Reply )
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    Leandro Jorge April 11th

    Thanks… very good tuturial.

    bye

    ( Reply )
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    Mike April 12th

    That’s fantastic. Thank You

    ( Reply )
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    SweetG. April 17th

    wow, you have a great imagination!!

    ( Reply )
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    Thomas April 19th

    @alberto

    I wouldn’t go so far as to say it never existed before you.

    http://www.mcescher.nl/Shopmain/Foto/Posters/e22.jpg
    http://www.mcescher.nl/Shopmain/Foto/Posters/e59.jpg

    Maybe nobody ever did it in photoshop but the end result has been done.

    Your designs are absolutely wonderful, don’t get me wrong, and far more complex than any I’ve seen before but I do recall attempting to do a similar thing with pen and paper when I was probably 14 or 15 years old.

    ( Reply )
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    koukiks April 22nd

    waou amazing post very great effect love it

    ( Reply )
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    venado tuerto April 24th

    GREAT TUTORIAL!

    ( Reply )
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    DRO April 25th

    good tutorial…..pero es la manera larga como lo haces
    hay una manera simple y mas facil….pero buen tutorial

    ( Reply )
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    aGS April 29th

    @DRO
    Me gustaría saber cuál es la manera corta…? tell us! cuéntanos!

    ( Reply )
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    DRO May 1st

    la manera facil es asi

    fondo negro
    la foto que quieres
    utiliza la brocha que quieras
    pinta sobre un layer sobre la imagen
    as la seleccion y ctrl + j y listo
    esconde la imagen para dejar visible la seleccion de la brocha
    y ahi lo tienes mas facil..

    mira mis fotos en flickr como en la ultima pagina esta una foto que hice el año pasado kon esa tecnica k yo descubri con un poko de ingenieria inversa pero como diria mi papa invete el agua con hielo jajaja

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/dro84/

    ( Reply )
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    Mich May 3rd

    Hi, i’m a noob at this with the vector part.
    I got cs3.
    Is it the .mov file i have to put in photoshop? Cuz when i do that.
    It just shows a empty screen, plz don’t mock me :)

    ( Reply )
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    Mich May 5th

    Lol nvm
    got it

    ( Reply )
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    eric May 6th

    Really cool !!!!

    ( Reply )
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    fredo May 14th

    does the EPS file open only in CS3?

    ( Reply )
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    Mille June 2nd

    I have photoshop CS3.
    I am also stuck on step 5. I can’t apply filter/ distort/ displace.
    Have no idea what is going on.
    Could anyone give me some directions?
    Thanks in advance.
    Michelle

    ( Reply )
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    Bill Labus June 3rd

    Michelle, make sure you select the vector shape and not the copy of the original image.

    ( Reply )
  110. PG

    Zim June 4th

    It worked very well, excellent tutorial!

    ( Reply )
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    Sam July 1st

    hey, when i apply the displacement it turns the vectors from smooth flowing to kinda squiggly. any way to control this because although it IS readjusting to the displace map it doesnt look very nice in my final result, not smooth flowing like your example.

    Thanks

    ( Reply )
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    Godislove July 10th

    Lovley

    ( Reply )
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    callmemich July 13th

  114. PG

    -]Phatp[- July 17th

    awesome
    thanx a bunch
    i think alberto sevesa uses this a lot

    ( Reply )
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    -]Phatp[- July 17th

    ahaha he actually wrote here already! didn’t see that

    ( Reply )
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    Mansoor July 24th

    Thanks for Posting.
    Nice Tut.

    ( Reply )
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    creationsmax July 24th

    Good tutorial. I aprecciate a lot. Thanx.

    ( Reply )
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    Pointsize July 26th

    Once I made all the clipping masks, the desat image still showed behind the vector shapes. Please help!

    ( Reply )
  119. PG

    Pointsize July 27th

    Fixed! Thanks!

    ( Reply )
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    DarkAngel624 July 28th

    Hey, I was just wondering if it actually has to be a vector shape as opposed to a brush. If so where can I get the shapes everyone is using (free if at all possible).

    ( Reply )
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    julien July 29th

    HI,

    I don’t quite understand the need of the displacment maping, can some body explain me.

    apreciate

    ( Reply )
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    DarkAngel624 July 29th

    Never mind, I got it to work. I do have another question though. Why wont the drop shadow work (or several other blending options for that matter)?

    ( Reply )
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    Sami August 4th

    I failed at step four. When I try to paste the shapes into PS, the only thing I get is a big sheet of different shapes. I don’t have the choice of how to paste them. Can someone help me in this issue?

    ( Reply )
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    Leandro August 6th

    Excellent tutorial!

    ( Reply )
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    natasha August 7th

    so i feel really stupid, i think i followed all of the steps correctly however after i create clipping mask for all of the “face” layers the vector objects just diapear and i do not get the desired effect. i am pulling my hair trying to understand where i went wrong.

    ( Reply )
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      John August 31st

      Did you properly create a clipping Mask?

      ( Reply )
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    Pepo August 8th

    Congratullations!

    ( Reply )
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    Abdo September 7th

    Very nice job.

    ( Reply )
  128. PG

    Nisansala September 8th

    Great tutorial, Thank you so much for sharing it with us :-)

    ( Reply )
  129. PG

    meli September 14th

    It´s amazing!

    ( Reply )
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    Devo September 24th

    OKay so i went and downloaded some vector shapes, i was working with brushes first.
    I opened the esp file in CS3, then i selected some shapes threw them in. and i still get a ghosted out displacement option. So what have i done wrong or am i doing wrong?

    ( Reply )
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    buddy October 22nd

    http://xs232.xs.to/xs232/08432/untitled-2577.jpg

    Yay!

    Nit Exactly Like your but I love Mine!

    ( Reply )
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    carlos October 24th

    This if flippin awsome mf!!!!

    ( Reply )
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    Yancy October 25th

    yes!! I got it…

    Thanks for this ..

    ( Reply )
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    secret October 29th

    yakness. eew. disgusting to view and horrfying.

    i was shocked i i saw that picture. huhu.

    but nice tutorial by the way. ;D

    ( Reply )
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    Trocloc November 5th

  136. PG

    eddy was here November 8th

    i think i got the technique down, just need some practice getting the colors right

    check it out and let me know what you all think

    http://flickr.com/photos/eddywashere/3011452963/

    ( Reply )
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    mike irving November 18th

    bill, thanks for sharing. i just subscribed to pstuts.com

    im kind of annoyed at Alberto, i guess if he had the cure for cancer, no one would live.

    ( Reply )
  138. PG

    Paris Vega December 23rd

    Can’t wait to try this.

    ( Reply )
  139. PG

    nixy December 23rd

    that is unbeliievable

    ( Reply )
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    Teddyboy December 24th

    Hey so Im having a little trouble. When I drag a vector image from illustrator to photoshop the vector doesn’t appear to be black the way i think it is supposed to be, though in illustrator is says that the shapes are black. Ill let you guys tell me, I don’t really know what I should be looking at. All I know is that when the shape is in photoshop I can’t change the color. I do make the shapes smart objects the way the author recoments. I don’t know if this matters as it seems it doesn’t but maybe you could suggest a fix, Im kinda perplexed.

    ( Reply )
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    Dorf December 31st

    your vectors aren’t supposed to be black, leave them as white in illustrator. then paste them into your photoshop document as a smart object. From there, continue with the steps in the tutorial. I believe, the color will come out once you create your clipping masks.

    ( Reply )
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    Ritesh Verma December 31st

    That Was Awesome man

    ( Reply )
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    JG January 13th

    So the end result is good but it might be worth pointing out that the displace filter only works on 8 bit documents! This doesn’t appear to be mentioned in set up stage and took a while to discover.

    ( Reply )
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    aw January 17th

    YAWA MANI NGE PISTI CHADA NI CAHDA

    ( Reply )
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    SPHified January 26th

    Love this tutorial, used it to make this:

    http://harrington.carbonmade.com/projects/92223#1

    love it!

    ( Reply )
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    James January 29th

    Absolutely outstanding tutorial. I’ve included it in my top 50 photoshop tutorials roundup.

    Thanks.

    ( Reply )
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    hanstoe February 28th

    i like it

    ( Reply )
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    little red March 1st

    HI

    am i being stupid but i get the effect and it works however my vectors over lap the womans face like they do above however on the final image it mathces the shape edge of the face, but on mine the vectors remain the same grey colour here their is no fac. how do i get it to match the face shape??

    thanks

    ( Reply )
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    Rob April 14th

    Thanks so much, I love this effect, probably would never have come up with this myself!

    ( Reply )
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    Scott April 14th

    Great tutorial….amazing effect….thanks

    ( Reply )
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    Kicco April 18th

    Thank you for this tutorial.

    ( Reply )
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    CgBaran Tuts April 21st

    Excellent

    ( Reply )
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    rockandroll9 April 24th

    great tutorial thanks for sharing
    my first try
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/36567461@N04/3439798255/

    ( Reply )
  154. PG

    Gyrel Dagooc April 27th

    That was quick but very good tut!!!… I’ll try this one time! Thanks!

    ( Reply )
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    David April 30th

    Thx mate was able to do it:))))) it’s really amazing:)

    ( Reply )
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    Julian May 25th

    Love it, gonna try it out soon!
    (:

    ( Reply )
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    james muldoon May 26th

    didnt work for me ended up with grey lines all over the original image dont know what to do?

    ( Reply )
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      spidermonkey July 3rd

      This might sound silly, but do you still have the desaturated layer still showing? If you do it will make the lines appear grey instead of black. Just uncheck the visibility for that layer and it should look fine.

      ( Reply )
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    spidermonkey July 3rd

    Just so you know, the original image of the girl has been deleted from the site :(

    ( Reply )
  159. PG

    chad July 25th

    Very nice effect, I’ve come up with this one

    http://nevermind41.deviantart.com/art/The-Forest-Guardian-130699648

    Thanks for the tut!

    ( Reply )
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    Ahmed Murtaza August 6th

    I was really looking out for this.. excellent work.. thanks for sharing…

    ( Reply )
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    Zen August 18th

    This is amazing!

    I would very much like to do this one as well, but I just can’t get the vectors to work….
    When I open the vector file in Photoshop I get an image with all the vectors in one layer and I can’t select them individually.

    What am I doing wrong? Can anyone help please..?

    (Do I have to use illustrator with the vector files?)

    ( Reply )
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    DCUESTO August 27th

    THANK!! NICE TUTORIAL, I DID IT AND WAS FANTASTIC!!

    ( Reply )
  163. PG

    Mikey September 1st

    This Looks Reall good im gonna look at usin this ths

    ( Reply )
  164. PG

    jmarreros September 21st

    Excelent, I’m learning a lot for us guys, thanks for sharing

    ( Reply )
  165. PG

    Simmons October 8th

    Thanks to you,I can now use the displacement effect…thanx men

    ( Reply )
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    Imran October 14th

    I HATE to break it to EVERYONE, THIS IS NOT THE CORRECT METHOD!
    I examined the results carefully and experimented and finally figured out how this can be done as Alberto Seveso does it.

    The correct method does not involve placement of each vector shape and also it does not involve original image’s displaement map. This method crumples up the vectors and give a nasty finish.

    Proper method is entirely a unique process which I will try to write a tutorial of as soon as I get some time.

    Thanks
    Imran

    ( Reply )
    1. PG

      Dip Chandarana November 15th

      Hi pls let me know when you have the correct tutorial, many many thanks
      dip.chandarana@gmail.com

      ( Reply )
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    Richie October 17th

    this is wicked…… thanx for the amazing tut…. :D

    ( Reply )
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    billy October 24th

    freakin’ amazing

    how did you find this way?

    ( Reply )
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    Elle November 5th

    Nice tutorial.

    I found an awesome project that actually pushes this sort of thing to the next level using programming and 3D.
    Check it!

    http://cinemaflash.cias.rit.edu/

    ( Reply )
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    Scavenger November 19th

    Excelent post dude!!! thanks for share!

    ( Reply )
  171. PG

    Dip Chandarana November 19th

    I managed to figure out how its done :
    here is my version

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2756378&id=60712339109

    ( Reply )
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