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This is a simple, fun technique that can bring a dull image to life and make people who see it do a double take. Truly symmetrical things are very rare in nature and cause us to look at the picture for much longer, searching out the differences. Even man-made objects are very rarely symmetrical - but that doesn't trouble us! We're digital photographers and we can edit our pictures!
We're going to be using Photoshop but almost all image editors will have commands that do the same - they may be in a slightly different place on the menus but once you find them you should be able to repeat this on as many images as you want.
Even if you don't like the effect it's worth trying this technique because it will introduce you to some of the basic techniques of image editing such as layers and feathering.
Here's the picture I started with
and here's where I got to a couple of clicks later...
Not the most flattering portrait ever but one that deserves a second look. Even better, you can apply this technique to all kinds of pictures for effects ranging from the subtle to the outrageous. There are some more examples at the end of this article but first let's look at how I did it. All we are going to do is select part of the image and flip it over.
First open your image in your editor - it helps if the image is nearly symmetrical already. Once you have tried this a few times you'll get an idea of what works well. As with all our editing tutorials make sure you are working on a copy of your file! If you don't like the effect then you haven't damaged your original picture.
1. Using the box or marquee selection toll, draw round the area you want to flip.
2. If we just flip this part then we will get a very hard line at the join so instead, go into the select menu choose feather and enter a suitable amount in the pixels box. The number of pixels will depend on how big your file is but try 10 for starters. If you're not happy with the results then start all over again and choose a higher or lower number.
3. Now go into the layer menu and select “new layer via copy”.
Your picture won't change but your layers palette will now look like this.
Your picture hasn't been changed but you have created a new layer on top of it with just the bit you selected.
4. Go into the edit menu and from the transform menu select “flip horizontal”. This will flip over only the layer you created in step 3. Your picture now should look something like this
5. Select the move tool (it's at the top right of the toolbox and looks like a little black arrow).
6. Click on the area of the picture you flipped and drag it over until you are happy with your masterpiece. That's it! Sit back and admire your work.
This technique doesn't just work for portraits - here are some more examples.
In this last one I flipped a section of the mountain but the sky looked a little too regular so I used the eraser tool and erased the clouds from the top layer to show the original underneath.
Summary of steps
- Using the box or marquee selection toll, draw round the area you want to flip.
- Go into the "select" menu choose "feather" and enter a suitable amount in the pixels box (10 is a good starting point). This is to prevent the hard line at the join
- Go into the layer menu and select “new layer via copy”
- Go into the edit menu and from the transform menu select “flip horizontal”. This will flip over the layer you created in step 3
- Select the move tool and drag the new layer across until the mirror effect becomes obvious.
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