Using Liquify to Fix Posture and Appearance
In the last lesson, we saw some of Photoshop’s most practical fil-
ters, but the award for the most powerful filter goes to Liquify.
Well, Photoshop calls it a filter, and it lives in the Filter menu, but
it’s really an independent utility that runs inside Photoshop. The
Liquify dialog box has a vast array of tools that give you the power
to melt, pinch, swirl, smush, and much more. These tools make
Liquify ideally suited to cosmetic surgery.
The Liquify filter is one of Photoshop’s great destructive retouching
tools. Meaning that it permanently modifies pixels in the name of
making the subject of your photograph look her or his best. Notice
that I positioned the feminine pronoun first; that was not by accident.
These days, Liquify is used to tweak virtually every professional
glamour shot on the planet. But despite Liquify’s almost Dali-esque
powers, it needn’t be used to create unrealistic depictions. In the
following exercise, we’ll use the tool to fix some unfortunate side
effects of our model’s posture, undoubtedly bringing her a little bit
closer to how her mother would assert she looks in real life.
Figure 8-13.PeaRl Of WISDOmUnlike other exercises, in which my instructions are
concrete and easy to replicate, these next steps are
subject to more interpretation. I’ll be asking you to paint
free-form. Your results and mine will be different, but
don’t sweat it. Even if all you’re doing is making a big
mess, this is one entertaining function. I’ve never once
demonstrated the Liquify filter that it doesn’t inspire
giddy laughter at some point. So don’t be frustrated; be
amused. And remember that the Undo command (Ctrl-Z
or �-Z) works in the Liquify environment.
- Open an image that you want to
distort. Begin by opening the image
Head tilted.jpg, which you’ll find in the
Lesson 08 folder inside Lesson Files-PsCS5 1on1.
As you’ll notice in Figure 8-13, this image (from
Fotolia.com contributor Serg Zastavkin) shows
an attractive woman whose position, posture,
and wardrobe are doing less than conventionally
flattering things to various parts of her body.
Using Liquify to Fix Posture and Appearance 267