Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers - Martin Evening [224]
Figure 9.54 The pin depth controls allow you to move the selected pin positions on a Puppet Warp selection up or down. This allows you to control whether certain image areas slide in front of or behind other areas of the image.
Multiple pin selection
You can select multiple pins by -clicking the individual pins. Once these are selected, you can drag them as a group using the mouse, or use the arrow keys to nudge their positions. You can -click again to deselect an already selected pin from a selection. Note though that operations which affect a single selected pin, such as rotation and pin depth, are disabled when multiple pins are selected.
While in Puppet Warp mode, you can also use (or the contextual menu) to select all the current pins and you can use the shortcut to deselect all pins. Also, if you hold down the key, you can temporarily hide the pins, but leave the mesh in view.
Smart Objects
If you convert a layer to a Smart Object before you carry out a Puppet Warp transform, this will allow you to re-edit the Puppet Warp settings (something you can't do with Liquify). You can also use the Puppet Warp feature to edit vector or type layers. However, if you apply the Puppet Warp command to a type or vector layer directly, the Puppet Warp process automatically rasterizes the type or vector layer to a pixel layer. Therefore, in order to get around this I suggest you select the layer and choose Filter Convert to Smart Filters first, before you select the Puppet Warp command.
Now for a quick run through of the Puppet Warp in action, for which I chose to use an image of what else, but a puppet!
1.
The first step was to add the puppet image as a separate layer. One can use the Puppet Warp tool on a complete layer, but it's really designed to function at its best when editing a cut-out layered object such as a type or vector layer or, as in this case, a cut-out pixel image layer. Before doing anything else though, I converted the targeted layer to a Smart Object.
2.
I made sure the puppet layer was selected, then went to the Edit menu and chose ‘Puppet Warp’. You'll notice here how this step added a triangular mesh to the layer contents and the Tool options bar revealed the options for the Puppet tool. Here, I chose the ‘Rigid’ rigidity mode and ‘Normal’ Density option for the mesh. I also set the Expansion option to 15 pixels, as this would give me better control over the warp adjustments. If the Expansion setting was left at the default 2 pixel setting, the strings would bend all over the place. I should also point out that the Expansion setting is dependent on the image pixel size, so although 15 pixels was correct for the full resolution version I edited here, you would need to use a lesser setting when editing the lower resolution test image that's on the DVD. I was then ready to start adding some pins. As was mentioned in the main text, the more pins you add, the more control you have over the warping effect.
3.
I was now ready to start warping the layer. All I had to do was to click to select a pin and drag to reshape the image. The interesting thing to note here is that as you move one part of the layer, other parts adjust to suit.
4.
As I clicked and moved the pins I was able to create the desired distortion effect. In this close-up view you can see I had moved an arm so that it intersected one of the coat tails. In this instance it was necessary to click on the move upward Pin Depth button (circled) to bring the sleeve of the puppet's left arm in front of the coat tail.
5.
What is particularly interesting with this image (and you'll notice this better if you work with the demo image that's on the DVD) is how as I moved different parts of the puppet's body, the puppet strings moved accordingly. In order to counter this, I clicked on the pins that were at the bottom and top of the strings and rotated them to remove the curvature. With some of the strings, such as the one highlighted here, I added an extra mid point and rotated this to make the string