[Pentaxbuff]

Hi everyone,
It has been quite some time since I posted here ... took hundreds of new pics over the past few weeks/months but never had the time to post them.
Anyway, here is my dilemma:


I have looked all for a way to "shrink" an unwanted protruding stomach/belly on a photograph ... not mine, rather an oldie aunt who loves the pics I recently took of her in a flower garden but she says that her "tummy" looks too big!!
(No worries: she is well dressed and very decently attired)
Perhaps the angle of view is inadequate but, nevertheless, I'd like to shrink that to a more satisfying result.

I have tried using the Filter>Liquify>pucker-bloat tools, to no avail!

Is there anywhere here that this is explained in details?

Help would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

[Pentaxbuff]

Alright, I have solved the problem.


It was not as difficult as it seemed.

[Rob Barron]

Glad you worked out how to do it Pentax, it isn't difficult but may I continue the thread just a little by adding a point that is important when using this tool please?

The liquify tool is very powerful and extremely easy to completely overdo things and make things look ridiculous. However, it is also an extremely useful tool that will earn you big kudos with your 'slightly spreading' mother-in-law when you take off the excess pounds (there are limits but don't tell her I said that! ) so it is worth persevering with. The most important thing to remember is this:

Use subtle touches by keeping the Brush Pressure and Brush Density low but the brush size large. Zoom in to the area you are working on so that you can see the area you want to change but also a little of the area around it so you can see how much effect you having on the overall picture.

Although the bloat tool is useful, as is the shrink tool, I generally use the forward Warp tool (W) more as it allows me more control and subtlety than the others which apply the change all round equally.

I hope those points will help you to make use of this powerful tool well and do remember there is a reconstruct tool if you have gone too far and want to restore areas. Always work on a duplicate layer anyway so that you can revert back should you need to much more simply than waiting around for the Revert button to do its job

Cheers,
Rob

[Pentaxbuff]

Rob, thanks again!
Yeas, I tried the Warp tool and it does marvels on a waistline!

I am still struggling with this "Layers" thing and, in spite of numerous attempts, I still don't know what I am doing or should be doing. Nevertheless, I get around quite comfortably with a few essentials.

Your comments are always appreciated ... what would we do without you!!??

Cheers!

[Rob Barron]

Simplest way to think about layers is as a series of overhead projector acetates. If I put a red cross on the top of one of the clear sheets and put it on the OHP, it will show a red cross on the screen.

If I take another acetate and put a blue box at the bottom and then put this on top of the other acetate on the OHP, we will see on the screen a red cross at the top and a blue bx at the bottom because the two 'layers' are being merged together.

Whatever I do to the first acetate will not effect the second acetate and vice versa.

So, whenever you are working on an image, duplicate it first so you have a top layer identical to the bottom layer. Wrk on the top layer and if you mess it up, you can just turn off the top layer and you still have the untouched original underneath :o)

Keep at it Pentax, you're doing just fine and you'll get to grips with it, just play

Thanks for your kind words. We all help each other on here, that's why we love it so much

Cheers,
Rob

[Pentaxbuff]

Thanks to you too Rob!
I'll make sure to work at those layers more seriously!
Have a great weekend.