How to use liquify tool in photoshop

Photoshop is indeed one of the most powerful photo editors worldwide. It’s loaded with fantastic features required to help you edit images brilliantly so they appear appealing as if they were touched by a professional even when you aren’t. With Photoshop, you can perform several editing services conveniently. From removing background colors to adding new ones and more.

Another amazing service you could use Photoshop for is the modification of a subject or object. With the liquify tool in Photoshop, users can manipulate or adjust people’s body size and shape conveniently. The liquify tool is simple to use, however, many users find it difficult to implement.

Do you fall into this category of people? If so, we are here to help you out. In this article, we will discuss how to use the liquify tool in Photoshop. Continue reading!

1. Import an Image

Launch Adobe Photoshop on your PC after installation and click on the File icon at the upper left corner of your screen. Select Open from the options that pop up underneath the drop-down menu. Photoshop will redirect you to your local drive where your images are stored. Select an image file and tap on Open to upload it.

2. Copy and Use the Image as New Layer

Now that you have successfully added the photograph, press the hotkeys: CMD + Option + Shift + N and a new layer will immediately appear. Once done, use the hotkeys: CMD + Option + Shift + E to duplicate the image and paste it on the new layer. If you use a Windows operating system, simply use Ctrl + Alt in place of CMD + Option.

Another way, you can duplicate the layer very easily and quickly. On windows use the command: Ctrl+J & on Mac press the command on the keyboard CMD+J.

{Note: Select the background layer then apply the command line}

3. Open the Liquify Tool

Once done with the above, kindly launch the liquify tool. To do that, use the hotkeys: Shift + CMD + X (Mac computers) or Shift + Ctrl + X (Windows operating system). However, before launching the liquify tool, ensure you’ve selected the new layer. Another way to open the liquify filter tool is by clicking on Filter > Liquify.

4. Tools Underneath the Liquify Filter

The liquify filter holds several tools that you can use to manipulate or distort the different parts of the subject or object in an image. When you launch liquify filter, you will find seven (7) icons on the left sidebar and the brush option on the right-hand side.

For advanced features, simply tick the box underneath Advanced Mode. Once done, twelve (12) powerful icons will pop up with several advanced brush and mask options. Find below what each one of the 11 icons is designed for:

W – Forward Wrap

With the Forward Wrap feature, you can adjust an image pixel to suit your preference. It lets you push a selected portion/area of a photo in different directions. Forward Wrap enables you to adjust the shape of any object or subject on an image.

R – Reconstruct Tool

Did you make a mistake while using the liquify tool? You can undo such an error with the snap of your fingers by holding the hotkeys Ctrl + Z. You can hold the keys multiple times to go back to the previous image versions.

E – Smooth Effect

Do you feel you went too heavy when adding an effect to your image with the liquify tool? You need not worry about it as Photoshop has got your back. With a smooth effect, you can unload those heavy touches you’ve made on your image.

C – Twirl Clockwise Tool

By holding the Alt (or Option for Mac) key on your Windows keyboard, Photoshop will twirl your image in multiple directions without distorting the quality.

S – Pucker Tool

Here is another fantastic tool you will find on Photoshop’s liquify dialog box. The tool helps you move the image pixel toward the center. Here is a related image:

B – Bloat Tool

The Bloat tool offers the opposite result to the Pucker tool as it helps you move the image pixels away from the center. To activate this tool, hold the Alt button.

O – Push Left

Looking for a tool to push a section of your image to the left edge of the brush? The Push Left tool is what you need to do that. Simply hold down the Alt key and move the selected portion of the image in the desired direction.

F – Freeze Mask Tool

It’s pretty easy to distort unwanted sections of an image while editing. But do you know you can prevent that? With the Freeze Mask tool, you can easily protect an area of the image from manipulations.

Here is the corresponding image for the freeze mask tool:

D – Thaw Mask

The Thaw Mask tool is the opposite of the Freeze Mask tool. It lets you unmask the protected or frozen part of an image.

H – Hand

Need to move your image around the Photoshop window page? Simply hold down the Spacebar button on your keyboard to activate the Hand tool.

Z – Zoom

Magnify and reduce image size without hassles with the Zoom tool. The tool helps you enhance your view and makes editing easier and faster.

A – Face Tool

Making adjustments on your face in a photo is absolutely easy with the liquify tool. The Face tool is designed to recognize the faces on an image and separate them into different portions such as the forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, and chin.

5. Face Aware liquify

Face-Aware Liquify is an amazing feature of Adobe Photoshop that allows users to easily take their portrait photos and make subtle changes with just a few clicks. By using this feature, you can adjust the facial features of your subjects without having to manually move each one individually. With Face Aware Liquify, you can quickly and easily reshape eyes, noses, mouths, and other facial features in order to enhance or soften your subject’s expressions.

The process is simple: after loading the photo into Photoshop, the user selects “Liquify” from the Filter menu. The photo then appears onscreen with adjustable control points at key areas such as the eyes, nose, and mouth. You can then drag these points around to change shape by adding or subtracting pixels until you achieve exactly the look you want.

Benefits of Using Face-Aware Liquify tool

Face-Aware Liquify is an incredibly powerful and versatile tool that can help you improve the look of your images quickly and easily. From correcting minor imperfections to enhancing facial features, Face-Aware Liquify provides a wide range of benefits that make it a must-have for any photographer or digital artist.

One major benefit is its ability to retouch and refine facial features without compromising the overall integrity of the image. With just a few clicks, Face-Aware Liquify can subtly enhance eyes, cheeks, and other facial features in order to create more striking photos with a natural look. In addition, it offers precision control over each feature so that you can create subtle changes or dramatic transformations at your own discretion.

Limitations of Face-Aware Liquify

The Face-Aware Liquify feature in Adobe Photoshop is a powerful tool for transforming facial features, but it also has its limitations. This article will discuss the practical and technical limits of this popular feature.

Face-Aware Liquify allows users to reshape facial features with just a few clicks of the mouse. This feature is ideal for portrait photography, as it can tweak minor imperfections or create more dramatic changes such as enhancing cheekbones or enlarging eyes. However, it does have some limitations when editing existing photos. For instance, if an expression has already been captured in a photo, Face-Aware Liquify cannot be used to change the expression without distorting the image itself. Additionally, this feature may not be effective on larger images with multiple subjects in them; the liquified areas may become blurred or distorted if they are not adjusted accurately enough.

6. Additional Settings

The majority of the advanced features listed above have numerical values which you can adjust accordingly. To do that, click on the corresponding button on the right-hand panel of your screen and adjust the values to suit your preferences.

Video tutorial

Conclusion

Using the liquify tool shouldn’t be an issue anymore with this tutorial guide at your fingertips. We’ve provided a detailed description of what the liquify tool is, and how it works. You should use this knowledge in your next project. We are certain you will get professional results without stress.

Reference: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/liquify-filter.html