Info: In this lesson we will cover Mesh Warp and Warp Brush tools.
The Mesh Warp and Warp Brush tools are great tools which can have many uses. In this lesson we will cover the basics on how to use them. The Warp Brush is used to warp images at the pixel level letting you control which pixels you want warped and in what way. The Mesh Warp tools allow you to warp the entire image, an image layer, and/or a selection using a grid. The grid size is determined by the size of the image and what you put in horizontal and vertical. Warping is also known as distortion so you may be asking why would I want to "distort" my images. The fact is you can warp your images without distortion such as making a dress fit a model, creating curtains, making fingernails longer and so on. With all that said let's get started using these tools. We will start with the Warp Brush and create a seamless "satin" tile.
1. Create a New canvas. (Click File|| New [Ctrl+N])
Width = 200 pixels
Height = 200 pixels
Resolution = 72.00 pixels
Background = Raster
Color Depth = 16 Million Colors (24 Bit)
Color = Transparent Checked
2. Set your materials to a light color and a dark color of your choice. Flood fill your canvas with the light color.
3. Select the Paint Brush tool. Choose the Instant Satin preset from the drop-down preset list.
4. Paint your canvas. Don't try to get it all one color as you want a variation of light and dark.
5. Select the Warp Brush. Settings are up to you. I used Size = Varied, Hardness = 0, Strength = 100, Step = 25, Edge Mode = Wraparound, Draft Quality = Medium, and Final Apply = Best Quality Checked.
Edge Modes:
Background fills the area of the image with the current background or transparency.
Fixed duplicates the edge pixels and uses the duplicates to fill the areas between warp and the image edge.
Wraparound produce a wrap around effect by using the pixels on the opposite side to fill the area between the warp and the image edge.
6. This is where the lesson takes a twist; meaning instead of telling you how to do it step-by-step I told you what the goal is which is a Seamless Satin tile. I will tell you what the different warp modes do. What I want you to do is SEE what they do by using the different modes to produce something you like.
7. Every once in a while, you can click Effects || Image Effects || Seamless tiling with the default settings and continue to use the different modes until you achieve something you like. Note: to make your tile truly seamless you must apply a seamless tiling effect last. With all that said let's learn what all these tool options and warp modes do.
The key things to watch in the tool option settings are the Size and the Strength. Strength determines the amount of warping with 100 being the maximum amount.
The next thing to note is Time Independent and Time Dependent. If a mode is Time Dependent it means the longer you hold down the mouse button the more warp is applied. If a mode is Time Independent it does not matter how long you hold down the mouse button. Following the description of each mode I will let you know if it is Time Dependent or Independent.
Deformation maps allow you to save the warp so you can apply the same warp to other images. We will be discussing deformation maps in more detail when we cover the Mesh Warp tool. They work the same way for both tools.
Warp Modes:
Push: Moves the pixels underneath it in the direction of the stroke. Time Independent
Expand: Starts in the center of the brush and expands the pixels away from the center. Time Dependent
Contract: Starts from the edges of the brush and contracts the pixels towards the center of the brush. Time Dependent
Right Twirl: Starts at the center of the brush and twirls the pixels around the center of the brush in a clockwise direction. Time Dependent
Left Twirl: Starts at the center of the brush and twirls the pixels around the center of the brush in a counter-clockwise direction. Time Dependent
Noise: Moves the pixels underneath the brush randomly. Time Dependent
Iron Out: Removes unapplied warps. Time Independent
Unwarp: Removes unapplied warps. Time Dependent
Note: The key thing here is to see what the different settings do while at the same time creating something you like. It is meant to be fun and educational at the same time. If at any time it gets frustrating get away from it for a while.
8. Save and Close.
Now that you know how the Warp Brush works I am sure your mind is full of ideas how you can use it. I will give you one more idea though use it for animations. For example find a picture of a waterfall, duplicate the layer, use the warp brush on it (push and noise modes at small sizes work best). We will be covering how to do animations later, right now let's move on to the Mesh Warp.
9. Create a New canvas. (Click File|| New [Ctrl+N])
Width = 400 pixels
Height = 400 pixels
Resolution = 72.00 pixels
Background = Raster
Color Depth = 16 Million Colors (24 Bit)
Color = Transparent Checked
10. Click on Foreground in the Materials Palette. Click on the Gradient tab and select one of the Duotone gradients Angle = 90, Repeats = 10, and Linear chosen.
11. Click on the Selection tool and click the Custom selection button in the toolbar. Set Custom selection to Left = 0, Top = 0, Right = 200, and Bottom = 400.
12. Flood selection with Gradient and Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D]).
We are creating drapes. Let's use the Mesh Warp tool to gather the "drape" in the middle.
13. Select the Mesh Warp tool and reset to default. Click the box in Front of Symmetric then change Mesh Horizontal to 10 (since Symmetric is checked the Vertical will change to 10 also). To save resources change the Draft quality to Medium. Note: There is really not much difference between Medium and High.
14. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the node (box) at (x:35 y:181) to the left. Note: Holding down the Ctrl key will curve and move the entire line. Since we are dragging to the left the vertical line is moved. If we went up or down the horizontal line would move. Holding down the Shift key will move an entire line also but does not curve it. Move one node at a time by not holding down the Ctrl or Shift key.
15. Repeat step 14 for the next 5 nodes to the right of the node you moved.
16. Now moving one node at a time drag all the nodes under the nodes you moved to the left until they line up vertically with the nodes you moved in steps 14 and 15. In other words we want the top curved and the bottom straight.
17. Click the disk icon under Deformation map and name it drape, curtain, or something you will recognize. Checker board size = Medium. Click Save. This saves the deformation map so you don't have to move all those nodes again the next time you want to make a drape gathered in the middle.
18. Click the checkmark in Tool Options to apply the warp.
19. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer).
20. Click on the Selection tool set to Rectangle. Starting at around (x:0 y:180) draw out around a 117 x 20 rectangle.
21. Select the Flood tool. Tool Options settings: Match Mode = None, Sample Merged = UNChecked, Blend Mode = Normal and Opacity = 100.
22. Change the settings on the gradient to Angle = 0 and Repeats = 1. Flood the selection.
23. Use the Deform tool to rotate, size, and position the rectangle where it looks like it is holding the drape. Don't worry about going past the drape, we will fix that.
24. Select the layer with the drape on it in the Layer palette.
25. Click the Magic Wand tool and click anywhere outside the drape.
26. Select the layer with the rectangle on it in the Layer palette.
27. Hit the delete key to erase any portion of the rectangle that goes past the drape.
28. Click Layers || Merge || Merge Visible.
29. Click Layers || Duplicate and Click Image || Mirror.
30. Click Layers || Merge || Merge Visible
31. Add a New Raster Layer (Layers || New Raster Layer)
32. Click on the Selection tool and click the Custom selection button in the toolbar. Set Custom selection to Left = 0, Top = 0, Right = 400, and Bottom = 75.
33. Change the settings on the gradient to Angle = 90 and Repeats = 25. Flood the selection.
34. Hide the Drape layer in the Layer palette.
35. Select the Mesh Warp tool and change the Mesh Horizontal to 3.
36. Move the node at (x:100 y:100) down to (x:100 y:125).
37. Move the node at (x:200 y:100) up to (x:200 y:90).
38. Move the node at (x:300 y:100) down to (x:300 y:125).
39. Apply the warp.
40. Change to any tool to exit Mesh Warp.
41. Click Effects || 3D Effects || Drop Shadow with the following settings: Vertical and Horizontal = 2, Opacity = 50, Blur = 5.00, and Color = Black.
42. Click Effects || 3D Effects || Drop Shadow with the following settings: Vertical and Horizontal = -2 (neg), Opacity = 50, Blur = 5.00, and Color = Black.
43. Select the Drape layer in the Layer palette and repeat steps 42 and 43 on the drapes.
44. Use the deform tool to resize swag if you wish.
45. Click Layers || Merge || Merge Visible. Save and Close.
Now let´s use the Mesh Warp to create a cool text effect.
46. Create a New canvas. (Click File|| New [Ctrl+N])
Width = 400 pixels
Height = 400 pixels
Resolution = 72.00 pixels
Background = Raster
Color Depth = 16 Million Colors (24 Bit)
Color = Transparent Checked
47. Select Text Tool and set Tool Options to Create As = Floating, Font = Impact, Size = 72, Stroke = 0.00, and Anti-alias = Checked.
48. Set Foreground to Null and Background to whatever you desire as we will be changing the fill later anyway.
49. Click inside your canvas to open the Text Entry Dialog. Type in your desired text in All Caps (keep it on the same line in the canvas). Click Apply. Deselect (Selections || None [Ctrl+D])
50. Cut (Ctrl+X) and Edit || Paste || Paste as New Layer (Ctrl+L). This centers the text in the canvas.
51. Select the Mesh Warp tool with these settings Mesh Horizontal and Vertical = 4, Symmetric = Checked, Show Mesh = Checked, Edge Mode = Background, Draft Quality = Medium and Best Quality = Checked.
52. Holding down your Ctrl key left click on the node (box) at (x:160 y:160) and drag it up to (x:160 y:125) and release mouse button. Note: Using the Ctrl key moves the whole line of nodes at a curve.
53. Left click on the node (box) at (x:240 y:135) and drag it up to (x:240 y:125) and release mouse button.
54. Holding down your Ctrl key left click on the node (box) at (x:160 y:240) and drag it down to (x:160 y:270) and release mouse button.
55. Left click on the node (box) at (x:240 y:260) and drag it down to (x:240 y:270) and release mouse button.
56. Click the Apply button (check mark) in Tool options to apply warp.
57. Select the selection tool to exit Mesh Warp.
58. Selections || Select All (Ctrl+A), Selections || Float (Ctrl+F), and Selections || Defloat (Ctrl+Shift+F). Just your text will be selected.
59. Select the Flood tool. Tool Options settings: Match Mode = None, Sample Merged = UNChecked, Blend Mode = Normal and Opacity = 100.
60. Set the Foreground to Color, Gradient, or Pattern of your choice.
61. Click inside the selection to fill it.
Optional Steps:
62. Selections || Float (Ctrl+F)
63. Click Effects || 3D Effects || Cutout with these settings: Vertical and Horizontal = 0, Opacity = 50, Blur = 5.00, and Color = Black.
64. Click Effects || 3D Effects || Drop Shadow with the following settings: Vertical and Horizontal = -1 (neg), Opacity = 50, Blur = 10.00, and Color = Black.
65. Click on the Selection tool then click on the Layer Opaque button in Tool Options.
66. Click Selections || Modify || Expand = 10.
67. Click Image || Crop to Selection
68. Save and Close.
That's it for the Warp tools.