Captain Kirk's Head On A Superman Costume

[Elbee]

I've seen this kind of thing done but I have never been able to figure out how to do it and I would appreciate it if somebody would show me a tutorial on how I could do this please.

For example, say I wanted to put Captain Kirk's head, from the first Star Trek television show, and substitute it for Christopher Reeve's head. How would I use photoshop to do that?

Thanks.

[handrawn]

you need to cut out the pieces you need

for example you might cut out the head and place it on a new layer above the new background

you may need to cut out both head and body

there are many ways of cutting out in photoshop - pen tool, selection tools, extraction tool, filters - which is best depends on the source material and the version of photoshop you are using

do a google search for photoshop cutout - should bring up lots of info

[RTW1]

What you are asking for would fill a large book of instruction, as Steve said you need to do cut outs etc but the hard bit is matching the colours and grain of the two or more images so that they match up without it looking childish. You will see loads of internet examples where the chosen images have been taken with the same camera in the same lighting, those composites are seldom any more challenging than plonking one bit from one image on another for the finished item to look OK , real life stuff is always harder to do.
Here is a link to the best video help on the net, start from the bottom of the page and work up.
http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html

[steve.ledger]

Reminds me of the 'Mug Swapping' challenge of last year.

Which also included animals
http://www.talkgraphics.com/attachme...1&d=1206237054

Fairly easily (and quickly) done in Xtreme.
Never attempted it in Photoshop (becuase I know it would tak much longer

[steve.ledger]

Xara Xtreme - a few minutes work.

[handrawn]

should this fanboy stuff be in the photoshop forum?

[steve.ledger]

Haha - funny man. Nothing emotional or fanatical quite yet though Steve.
However if I can poach a PS user and get them to think about alternative software which I (or other members) are more likely to be able to help with a mini-tutorial, perhaps they are more likely to hang around TG than set off to Google in search of PS tut's and sail off into the wind.

[handrawn]

that is part of your brief is it - poaching

actually I think Elbee is a painter user that is considering buying photoshop or photoshop elements to do additional jobs [from other thread]

whilst it is true xtreme may do some of the jobs, maybe not all

nice to know where your priorities are though Steve

may I remind you of this?:

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=32494

think I prefer Mike Bailey's take myself, but - no worries eh?

[RTW1]

While some examples posted seem to prove the point that heads on other body’s etc is incredibly easy, if you want to do a job that may be printed to say 20x16 inch without it looking like a head with a fuzzy halo you need a good understanding of the power available to you in Photoshop.
Lets, shatter the myth that everything in Photoshop takes longer than other programs. Open the two images that you want to transfer face etc in Photoshop. Step one use the lasso selection tool draw around the face- then menu selection feather- feather a few pixels. Step two select the move tool from the tool bar now mouse click left on the selection and just drag across to the other open image then release, that will have placed the face on a new layer on second image. Step three with the move tool position the face where you want, if you need to re-size the face just press Ctrl+T, pull the control handles about to size or rotate then click OK , job done, just save the file .
Follow those instructions that job would take no more than 30 secs tops, and you would have something that would be iffy quality wise may be just fine for the web but not on a large print.

[RTW1]

Another quick face on face ,job if the images have faces that are very close to the same size. Open both images in Photoshop so that they are side by side, then select the clone tool with a soft edge brush, and Alt left mouse click on face one (I would start at an eye) keep pressed down until you are over the second images eye then release clone in the new face, job done.
Not a lot of Photoshop users know that you can clone across to other opened images, useful at times.
OK Xara fan club, that would take about 12 secs tops beat that for speed
PS I am a Xara fan too.