Digital swirling

[Jill H]

Don't know if this technique has been shown before - I learnt it from an online course - it is cool, so thought I'd share it with you. I love the swirling glass ball effect. There are a few more samples on my album page under Digital Swirling - if you want to take a look. They make great greeting cards or cd covers.

Have a go and show me results too. Have fun!

Before -

From Life Images by Jill

After -

From Life Images by Jill

Here is how you do it - lots of fun - and you can get some great effects - although it doesn't work with every photo.
Using - Photoshop Elements:

"Open" the image (very sharp images work the best)
"Crop" the image to a square (I use 4x4 to make card size, or cd cover size).
Go to "Filter",
"Distort",
"Polar Coordinates" and click the bottom button on the left; "Polar to Rectangular".
Click "Okay".
Go to "Image",
"Rotate",
"180",
Back to "Filter",
"Distort",
"Polar Coordinates" and click the top, left button; "Rectangular to Polar",
then "Okay" and you're done!

[miketxgm]

Very cool indeed. Will have to try this. Thanks for sharing.

[katmd]

Hello Jill H!

I tried Digital Swirling and I love the outcome!

Thanks so much for sharing!

Kat

[zona5101]

Very cool - thanks for sharing!

[RubyT]

Wow, fun! Thanks for sharing.

[knixpix]

Thats really cool! I love the effect!

[FallinWoman]

Love the effect. Your pic looks like one of those paperweights with flowers in glass.
I tried it with a wedding picture...kinda a cool effect!

[the-c-view]

Hi Jill

Just tried this and its wonderful. . .Thanks a ton for sharing. . .

Carl

[Jill H]

I am glad you all had fun swirling.

[Goldcrown4]

Wow! this is a really creative tip. Thank you! I've been experimenting with a variety of subjects in addition to colorful flora, like billiards (with toddler), autumn trees, landscapes, and sunsets, all yielding spectacularly different results. I suspect this would be a nifty way to come up with new bowling ball skins!

Again, thanks for sharing!