Putting a Name to the Face

I first saw this Photoshop tutorial here. It was wonderful but used CS4, a program that I can't afford. I knew I could do this with PS Elements (it doesn't have all of the bells and whistles as the CS series or the cost) and went about adapting and hopefully simplifying this lesson. There are a number of steps and photos so bear with me.

Take your photo and cut out the background. Make it black and white (remove color). Use levels, if necessary to provide a bit of contrast if your photo, like mine, is a little washed out. Posterize this to 4 levels. It should look like the above; black, dark gray, light gray, white.

Open a new document and type the person's name. Duplicate the name twice more, using a different typeface for each layer. After some experimentation I found that simpler typefaces were better so don't use script, old english, or any of those fun fonts. I found a heavy, a medium and a fine font to use.

With the rectangular marquee tool select a name then go to EDIT>DEFINE BRUSH and name your brush (in this case - aj3). Do this for each layer (name).

Go back to your posterized photo and select just the black with the magic wand. (make sure you haven't clicked "continuous" in the options bar)

Add a new layer above the background layer. Click the eye off the background layer so that just the transparent layer with the selection "marching ants" show.

With the brush tool select the boldest name brush. Resize it by clicking on the bracket keys to enlarge it or make it smaller. Click the brush all over the picture to fill the black areas with the name. The letters will only fill in the selected areas, so no need for precision here. Change up the size to add variety and even though the majority of the letters should be bold, you can add some of the other name brushes as well. Fill it in fairly well. SELECT>DESELECT to remove the marching ants.

Make another blank layer. With the magic wand go back to the background and select the dark gray areas.  Click the eye off of the background and bold layers. Use the medium name brush (as opposed to the bold or fine name brushes) to fill in those areas in the new blank layer. Mix up the sizes and intersperse some of the other brushes as well. Don't fill it in as densely as the black areas. SELECT>DESELECT.

Make a new blank layer and the magic wand for the light gray areas and, using the lighter name brush as above, fill this selection even sparser. Don't forget to turn off the other layers by deselecting the eyes so that all you have showing is the light gray areas. SELECT>DESELECT.

Click the eyes on on all of the layers except the background. Merge all of the lettered layers together then add a few random names around the edges. Add a new blank layer beneath this merged layer. Fill it with white. Discard the original background. Leave as is if you like the black and white graphic look.

To add some color, use the magic wand to select all of the white areas. Go to SELECT>INVERSE to select all of the lettering. Make a new blank layer above the black and white merged layer. Select the gradient tool. Go to the options bar and on the left you will find a bunch of color bars. Choose one, then with your mouse, drag a line from the top of your picture to the bottom. The letters will become different colors. Flatten your image.

What a colorful child.