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i-Pod commercial silhouette effect!

Have you seen those sweet commercials with the silhouette dancers? Ever wanted to make something...or someone, look like that? It's a really cool effect. I'll be teaching you it now!

Below is a preview of the finished silhouette (I'll show the before pics once we start the tutorial)-I added some effects to it as well, as I will explain (pretty easy!)

^ Pretty cool huh? Let's get a move on it!

Okay, first, open the image you want to turn into a "silhouette". I have chosen the one below because it shows action and the person's outline is going to be strong. Use an object that you will be able to define once all black (blue, pink, whatever color you want the silhouette to be).

Alright, next (this can be easy or tedious, let me explain); grab the magic wand tool (

) and check the settings at the top bar (below):

Now, your settings as the above do NOT have to be the same. However, keep "sample all layers" unchecked.
The "tolerance" tool allows you to basically determine how much the magic wand is going to select when you click. If you want it to select very little set it <20 (at the moment on the bar I have mine set to 25). If you want it to select more, set it >40. You should play around with the settings to see what works best on YOUR image.

So, now you can start clicking around on the OUTSIDE of the image (or inside if that works better. I chose the outside of my picture because it's pure white, therefore making it much more easy for working with). On the magic wand toolbar at the top, you may see four squares. I have the second square selected (see image above). This is the "add selection" tool. Now, if I click in one corner and it only selects some white, I can click again on more white to select more of it. You can use this tool to make multiple selections (or the subtract selection tool to remove selections).

This is what my image looks like selected on the outside:

Now, remember, we want the PERSON (or object) selected, NOT the background! This step is simple.

Go to: Select>>Inverse. Wah-Lah! Now your person/object is selected, not the background! Almost done. Here's what it should look like once it is selected after the inverse.

WOOH! Almost there. Now, create a new layer above your image (you can simply press CTRL+N or find it in the Layers Palette). Now, simple: Fill your image with the desired color (from the paint bucket

)! I chose black for this one:

WELL! You're officially done. Congratulations. But as promised, I will show the little effects I added to this image. First is a drop shadow. You can add a drop shadow by clicking on the layer you want to add the drop shadow to, right click and select "blending options".

Now, check "drop shadow", but also click on it, as we're going to edit it. I made the size "1", because it allows the drop shadow to not look so blurry (more modern). I used black but set the "opacity" to 23%, so it looks like a real shadow! Now, I chose "5" for distance because I wanted some more depth. My angle is at "174 degrees", but you must play with this on your image to get the effect you so desire!!!

I also added a "pattern overlay" (in the blending options still). I added a white stripe and set the opacity way down. You can do this with ANY of your patterns. (Patterns coming soon!)

Yay! Congratulations. XOXO

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i-Pod commercial silhouette effect!