How To Focus

[Microsoft 0]

Hey i dunno if this tutorial giveing but if u want other ppl to focus on one thing or only let one thing show this tutorial might help BTW if the dentist has blue spots its the forums fault cause http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/404.png and its clean

1. Grabbed any image off the net as an example. In this case I just want to simply give focus to the dentist and blur the background.

 

 

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2. Start with the Lasso Tool and draw a continuous line around the Dentist figure.

 

 

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3. Then go to Select, menu option and choose Inverse.

 

 

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4. Then Filter menu option , then Blur/ Gaussian Blur and play with the setting that best suits you.

 

This is the setting I used.

Then hit OK.

 

 

 

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5.This is what mine looked like. Still a little work left to do.

But theres a few edges to clean up since I never got close enough with the Lasso Tool earlier.

So all I need to do is select the 'Blur Tool' from the Toolbar.

 

Zoom in on the areas, then apply your blur using a small tip brush.

 

 

Notice from cmatcmextra:

I'm moving this to the Xisto Graphics tut section

Notice from Becca:

someone pointed out that you copied this ? Is that right...? QUOTE... plus give credit.. isn't even yours http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Edited August 28, 2005 by Becca (see edit history)

[Sprite 0]

Lol, nice tutorial... This might come in handy for projects and stuff.

[Johnny 1]

That guy's my new idol.Nice tut, kinda simple, but it works well. Just looks a little too blended...

[Saint_Michael 3]

focus people lets focus on the issue at hand,its a good tutorial.

[wassie 0]

nice tutorial, easy to understand.good job

[bluhapp 0]

simple tuts. great for focusing on main thing in pics

[Eikon 0]

Wow man. Really slick looking stuff. I wish I could come up with stuff like that. I'm gunna go try this out Hopefully I can get mine looking as good as yours does. Oh man, I'm jealous.

[Dawiss 0]

Very nice Tutorial, and funny pick too lol ... Ill try this on my newest sig Ill make... Good job

[Tyssen 0]

If you want to create a more accurate path around the figure to be selected, I'd use the pen tool and then save it as a path (in case you make mistakes or want to use it again later on).

[NHL98 0]

Wow that actually looks amazing but u made it look easy, thx

[niloc 0]

nice tutorial .... simple , clear and concise.

[minnyhaha 0]

That is a very good tutorial for a quick fix. If you have a project you need more precision with, here are a few tricks for having more control.

 

1. Make a copy (or 2) of your original image on a few layers. Turn the bottom layer off so it is your "safety source".

 

2. Use the lasso as described in this tutorial to isolate your subject. IMPORTANT: grab too much, not too little. Also, don't use a soft gradation on your lasso, it can give an unwanted flimsy effect.

 

3. Make a spare copy of the cutout and turn it off. Add a blank layer and fill with a solid color to make your cutout subject easy to see.

 

4. Now use the magnifying tool to get close to your border and use the ERASER tool with as fine a point as you need. If it's hard to tell what's what in the blow-up, you can set your background color layer a bit transparent to see the background.

 

5. Test how good your cutout is. Make a copy of the original picture layer and darken or lighten it. Look at the cutout subject to see if he lost anything like part of his head or hands. Now is the chance to recouperate these details from the saftey copy and put them back in.

 

6. Using several copies of your background, try different blur settings or the render-lighting effects to create a dramatic light separation.

 

The main thing I discovered was that the eraser tool can be a great paintbrush!

Edited March 1, 2006 by minnyhaha (see edit history)