How to Make a Circular Pixel Stretch in Photoshop | Adobe Creative Cloud

Stretch your images into works of art. Joe Cavazos. Check out more of his work here: https://www.instagram.com/joecavazos/

Start from scratch, or download practice files [https://adobe.ly/2RGjquK] for a head start. Steps below.

Prep your project:

1. Open both Photoshop documents included in the practice files.
2. Switch to the document labeled ‘_jump’.
3. Choose the Move (V) tool, click the model, and select copy (Edit – Copy).
4. Switch to the document labeled ‘_background’ and paste (Edit – Paste) the selection.

Note: Photoshop adds the photo of the model as a new layer to background document.

5. Add a blank layer above the Background layer and below the Jump layer. Then, right-click and convert it to a smart object.

Create the stretch effect:

1. Select the Jump layer and use the Single Row Marquee tool (click and hold the Marquee tool to see this) to click an interesting spot in the image. Copy the selection.
2. Double-click the smart object layer to open it and paste the selection.
3. Use the Move tool, with Show Transform Controls enabled, and rotate the selection 90 degrees.
4. Use Shift+Alt (Windows), Shift+option (macOS), and drag to stretch the selection across the width of the smart object.
5. Drag to move it to the top, save to apply the effect, and close the Smart Object window.
6. With the Smart Object layer selected, apply the default Polar Coordinates (Filter - Distort - Polar Coordinates) to transform the horizontal stretch effect into a circular one.

Tip: If the mask thumbnail appears black and the polar distortion does not take effect, double-click the mask thumbnail and choose Invert.

7. With the smart object layer still selected, click Add layer mask at the bottom of the Layers panel.
8. Choose the Brush (B) tool, set it to black, and brush to hide portions of the circular effect.

Extra effects:

If you’d like to enrich the detail of the color streaks, follow these steps before you apply the final mask.

1. Use the Marquee tool to select a portion of the model, copy the selection, double-click the Smart Object, and paste the selection.
2. Choose a portion of the shirt, stretch it, then use the Eraser (set to a soft brush) to blend the effect.
3. Repeat these steps to add more color to the stretch transformation.

That's it!

To learn, more visit our Photoshop Tutorials page: https://adobe.ly/38BnOSn

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