In Focus Vol. 3 No. 8

Q: How can I better manipulate parts of a person’s face? Is Liquify my only option?

A: No, Liquify is not your only option, thanks to Adobe Photoshop CS3's unique Warp function.

By Kim Herrera, Adobe Certified Expert, Photoshop

Photoshop CS3’s Warp function is the latest addition to the Transform menu, which until now consisted only of: Scaling, Rotating, Skewing, Distorting, Perspective and Flipping. Now, when you want to work on retouching just a nose or a pair of lips, you can really get the control you want for that polished, professional retouched look.

Let's try it… For my sample I'm using a beautiful model who really does not need any modifications to her face. But for the sake of Hollywood, I'm going to use her to show you how it's done.

Open the image and make sure your Layers palette is showing: Window>Layers.

Using the Lasso tool (press L on your keypad) draw a selection around the nose. Make a new layer from this selection: Layer>New>Layer Via Copy

On the new Layer go to Edit>Transform>Warp

Notice that a mesh pattern appears over your selection.

Grab and drag on any of the intersection points or corners. You can reshape the entire nose or just the nostrils. You can even do a nose lift!

Now go back down to your Background layer and use you Lasso to select the mouth. Create a new Layer (Layer>New>Layer Via Copy). On the new Layer, go to Edit>Transform>Warp.

If you really warped it heavily you may need to go to those layers and erase the edges away with a soft brush on the Eraser Tool (Press E on your keypad). When it looks good, flatten it (Layer>Flatten Image), and save and Viola!

Kim Herrera, Adobe Certified Expert, Photoshop, is the color management expert for Logan Photography at Studio Exchange, Santa Ana, Calif., and runs KCH Digital, a digital artistry, education, and consultancy firm.