merging a barcode with skin in photoshop

[loki1982]

I came up with an interesting idea last night and I have the pictures im just not sure how the best way in photshop would be to do it.

I want to merge a small picture of a bar code onto some skin and make it look like a tattoo. I dont want the white around the black bars, I want skin around the bars.

Any advice on what I need to do in photoshop for this. Im only half decent at photoshop, but if you can give em some direction I can probably figure it out.

[elora.daphne]

I'm no super expert in PS either, but I think you could use the magic wand to select the black and copy it into a new layer. Then drag the copy onto the person's skin in the other shot. Only the black should transfer over as the rest has become a transparent layer. Then you can blend it using whichever method you like best.

[dcclark]

I don't use photoshop (I prefer Gimp), but the process should be pretty similar --

First, have an image of skin.

Second, add the bar code into a new layer.

Select the white area of the bar code, either by select-by-color, or with the magic wand. I'd suggest feathering the selection a little, so that the edges of the bar code will be slightly fading down to transparent -- this will probably make it more realistic looking. Remove this section to get a transparent background.

Move the layer around to position it as appropriate. Now, you'll probably want to use the perspective / distort tools to make the bar code appear to "line up" on the skin. I'd also make the whole bar code layer slightly transparent, so that a bit of skin texture shows through too.

Good luck!

[OsmosisStudios]

Instead of doing it in post, though there are some very good methods, try getting it done right on the model. No, I'm not suggesting you get him/her to get a tattoo, but you can get temporary tattoos custom made or, barring that, draw a stencil and use various kinds of makeup to get the effect.

[loki1982]

Thanks for all the advice. Il going to run through and see if I can get what I need from these tips. Thanks again

[candleman]

the easy part is getting the skin where the white is....
the hard part is getting the TEXTURE of the skin to show through the ink of the barcode...

...i cant remember what the larer is called that brings out details of texture.. aaaarg!.. my brain is melting.. i dont have photoshop on my work machine.

[zona5101]

maybe you were thinking of something like what Christy does in this video tutorial on PS'ing skin....She selects the skin as it's own layer and adds it back on top varing the opacity to bring out the texture. I think this technique would work in intergrating the barcode and the skin...

[Free]

Originally Posted by loki1982

I came up with an interesting idea last night and I have the pictures im just not sure how the best way in photshop would be to do it.

I want to merge a small picture of a bar code onto some skin and make it look like a tattoo. I dont want the white around the black bars, I want skin around the bars.

Any advice on what I need to do in photoshop for this. Im only half decent at photoshop, but if you can give em some direction I can probably figure it out.

First I'd say do it they way I did and get the tattoo

But if that's not really an option, add the barcode to a new lyer and set the blending mode to multiply, that will show the black but not the white.

Another way is push alt+s wait half a second and push c (something or rather > select color) and then click anywhere on the black, hit enter and then click n the lay mask icon at the bottom of the layers palette (third icon from left looks like a grey rectangle with a white circle in it).

HTH

BTW - Sorry for the dodgy menu locations, I only use keyboard shortcuts in PS and don't where to find the same stuff in the menus.

Cheers
Free

[edbayani]

after all the good suggestions of the other members, maybe you can use liquify to bend and shape the barcode to follow the contour of the skin to make it more natural looking.