AlphaStrip Demo

The first thing you have to do is to click Image>Image Size. Change the Resolution to 360 pixels/inch and make sure the Width and Height are around 10" X 12", or there abouts.

Create a New Layer and draw in the areas of the forehead, cheeks, etc. These will be used to make Paths that we will use to select the Wave Forms. Call the Layer Pathways.

Turn off your Picture Layer and select the Pathways Layer.
Grab your Magic Wand and click on the Forehead section.
Once you have the "Marching Ants", click on Select>Modify>Expand.
On the Expand Selection pop-up, set the Expand by: to somewhere between 5 and 10 pixels. Just make sure that the "Marching Ants" are in the middle of your line.
Move your Magic Wand inside of the selected area and Right Click the Mouse.
Select Make Work Path.... On the Make Work Path pop-up set the Tolerance to 1 and press Ok.
On the Paths palette, double click Work Path and change it's name (Forehead, Rt Cheek, etc.).
Do this for each area on the Pathways Layer.
You should have something that looks like this...

Now we'll get some Waves.

Since we want some pretty tight Waves, we gotta do things a little different then usual...

Click File>New and set up a new sheet as follows:

Resolution: 72 pixels/inch
Width: 12 inches
Height: 12 inches
RGB Color

Press Ok.

Fill this new sheet with 50% Gray.

Select Alpha Strip and load wave01.psp

Pull the Ampitude down about half way.

Press Ok.

Press Select>All.

Press Edit>Copy.

Minimize the drawing of the waves (incase you need it again).

Click Edit>Paste to put the Wave Pattern onto your drawing. You will notice that it is small. This is because of the difference in the Resolution of the two drawings, but that's what we want.

Click Edit>Transform>Scale. While holding down the Shift and Alt Keys, enlarge the Wave Pattern to about 3/4 the width of the picture. Any size will do as long as it covers the largest Path area.

Now, Duplicate the Layer. You are going to need it.

Move the Wave Pattern over an area you want to cover. You can Scale it, Rotate it, Warp it or anything you want to it. Just make sure that it covers the area you are working with.

When you get it situated the way you want it, select the Path that covers the area. Right click on the Path and select Make Selection...

Press Select>Inverse.

Now press Edit>Cut and you have your first piece of Wave Patten on your drawing.

Click Edit> Paste again and do the next area. Put it at a different angle, etc.

Now if you don't have enough of the Wave Pattern left to make your next Cut, reserect that copy of the Wave Pattern you made. press Select>All, Edit>Copy and Past it again.

Do this for all of the areas...

After you are done, turn off EVERYTHING except the Layers with the Wave Patterns on them (except the overall copy that you made, leave that one off). Select one of the Wave Layers and Right Click on it. Select Merge Visable. This will put all of the Layers onto one Layer.

Turn off the Pathways Layer and turn on and select the Picture Layer.

Duplicate this Layer and press Image>Adjustments>Desaturate to turn it into a Gray Scale drawing.

Make sure your Foreground Color is White and press Select>Color Range...

You should see something like this (make sure Invert is checked)

Press Ok and select the Wave Pattern Layer.

Press Add Layer Mask (at the bottom of your Layers Palette) to vary the darkness of the Wave Pattern to match the light and dark areas of the Picture. The Gray Picture can be deleted.

Reset the Blending Mode of the Masked Wave Pattern Layer to Color Burn.

Create a New Layer below your Picture and fill it with any color that you want.

Select Alpha Strip and load default.psp. Turn the Angle to where ever you want it and press Ok.

Turn on the Layer you just made, Picture and the Wave Pattern. Turn everything else off. Flatten the image and convert it to a resolution of 72 dpi and you're done...

Enjoy…

C-Wied

© 2007 by C-Wieds Graphic Arts

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