How to Make Tidal Waves in Photoshop
- 1). Start Photoshop.
- 2). Select a picture of a large wave about to crash and a picture of a famous landmark, such as the Statue of Liberty. You could use pictures from your own collection or use a stock photo website to collect these photos. The goal of the project is to depict a tidal wave about to wash over a large building or landmark.
- 3). Select "File" and "New" from the drop-down menu. This will open a small window containing information for the new file you are going to create. Name the document "Tidal Wave Picture" and enter the height and width of the new document. (In this example, the image document width and height are both 600 pixels.) Save the document.
- 4). Select "File" and then "Open." This will open another window in order to find the photos you will be working with. Locate the two photos on your computer and then click "Open." The photos should open in two different windows in Photoshop.
- 5). On the Tools palette, select the Move tool and find the picture of the wave. Drag the picture onto your new document. This will create a new layer and be the background for the picture. In the Layers palette, name the layer "Tidal Wave." You may want to resize the photo depending on its original size. To do this, go to "Edit" in the top navigation in Photoshop. Select "Edit," then "Transform" from the drop-down menu, then "Scale." A transparent box will appear around the photo. Hold the "Shift" key, and with your mouse, select one corner of the box and pull inward to resize the photo.
- 6). On the Tools palette, select the Move tool and find the picture of the landmark. Drag the landmark picture onto your new document. This will create another new layer. In the Layers palette name the layer "Landmark." Your landmark photo will be on top of the "Tidal Wave" background. Again, you may want to resize the photo. Refer to Step 5 if you need to resize the layer.
- 7). The landmark layer has a background that needs to be erased. On the Tools palette, select the Magic Wand tool. On the landmark layer, select the sky by holding the "Shift" key and, clicking with your mouse, select all of the sky. This will create a dotted outline within the sky. Continue clicking while holding the "Shift" key until all of the sky is selected. Keep the area selected and go up to "Edit" in the top navigation. Select "Edit", then "Cut" from the drop-down menu. This will erase the sky in the landmark layer.
- 8). On the Tools palette, select the Move tool and move the landmark into a position toward the front or base of the wave. Move the landmark into a desired position, keeping in mind you want a small portion of current or sea foam around the landmark.
- 9). On the Tools palette, select the Erase tool and select "Brush" from the mode drop-down menu located towards the top left side, next to the navigation. Go to the brush selection to the left and select a soft brush. You can select any size. Look for the opacity to the right and change it to 40 percent.
- 10
Select the landmark layer on the Layers palette and change the opacity to 60 percent. The landmark is now transparent. With the eraser, begin to remove the bottom area of the landmark and continue to erase upward until more than half the landmark has been erased. Continue to erase close to a small wave or sea foam in the background picture. Go back to the brush selection at the top and select a hard brush around size 19. Go back to the landmark and erase the landmark with the hard brush in the current or sea foam area. Be careful not to erase the landmark past the current or sea foam area. This will create an illusion that the current is in front of the landmark. - 11
On the Layers palette, change landmark layer opacity to 100 percent. The landmark will no longer be transparent. With the hard eraser still selected, erase around the entire landmark to remove any rough edges. You should have a realistic picture of a landmark being consumed by a tidal wave.
