Digital Pixel Effect With Photoshop

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Digital Pixel Effect With Photoshop

Written by Steve Patterson.

In thisPhotoshop Effects tutorial, well learn how to create a digital pixel effect, which is

often used in ads that sell anything to do with digital. Were going to first pixelate our entire

image using a very simple filter, and then well experiment with a layer mask, the opacity

setting and some layer blend modes to create different variations on our effect. At the end of

the tutorial, well even see how something as simple as changing the blend mode of a layer

can create an entirely new effect!

Heres the original image Ill be starting with:

The original image.

As I said, well be looking at a few different variations on the effect. Heres the first one wellbe working towards:


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One of the effects well be creating in this tutorial.

Heres the second one:

A variation on the same effect.


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And just as an example of how easily we can create what seems like an entirely different

effect simply by changing a layers blend mode, well finish off with this one:

The final variation on the effect.

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

The first thing I need to do for this effect is to duplicate my Background layer. With my

image open in Photoshop, I can see in my Layers palette that I currently have only one layer,the Background layer, which contains my image:

Photoshops Layers palette showing the Background layer.

Im going to duplicate that layer using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl J(Win)

/ Command J(Mac), and now I can see in my Layers palette that I have two layers, with the

copy of the Background layer above the original. Photoshop has named it Layer 1:


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Press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) to duplicate the Background layer.

Step 2: Pixelate The Duplicate Layer

Next we need to pixelate the new layer, and we can do that by going up to the Filtermenu atthe top of the screen, choosing

Pixelate

, and then choosingMosaic

. This brings up the

Mosaic filters dialog box. Drag the slider bar at the bottom to change theCell Sizeoption,

which increases or decreases the number and size of pixels that are created from the image.

Dragging to the right creates fewer but larger pixels, while dragging to the left gives you

more but smaller pixels. Im going to set my Cell Size to about 18:

The Mosaic filter in Photoshop. Drag the slider bar at the bottom to increase or decrease

the number and size of pixels.


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Click OK to exit out of the dialog box. Heres my image after applying the Mosaic filter:

The image after pixelating it with the Mosaic filter.

Now that weve pixelated the image, theres a few different things we can do with it, and

well look at them next.

Step 3: Add A Layer Mask

Im going to add a layer mask to the pixelated layer at this point. To do that, with Layer 1

selected, Im going to click on theLayer Maskicon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Click the Layer Mask icon.


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This adds a layer mask to Layer 1, and if we look in the Layers palette, we can see that it

also adds a layer mask thumbnail to the right of the layer content thumbnail:

A layer mask and layer mask thumbnail have been added to Layer 1.

We can also tell that the layer mask, not the contents of the layer, is currently selected by

the white highlight border appearing around the layer mask thumbnail.

Step 4: Select The Gradient Tool

Were going to use our layer mask to blend the original image on the Background layer and

the pixelated image on Layer 1 together, and for that we need theGradient Tool, so either

select it from the Tools palette or press Gon your keyboard:

Select the Gradient Tool.

Step 5: Reset Your Foreground And Background Colors If Needed

We want black as our Foreground color and white as our Background color. Normally those

are Photoshops default Foreground and Background colors, except when we have a layer

mask selected, which we currently do. Whenever we have a layer mask selected, the defaultcolors get swapped, with white becoming the default Foreground color and black becoming

the default Background color. To quickly set our Foreground and Background colors to black

and white respectively (remembering that we have a layer mask selected), press Don your

keyboard to reset them to their defaults, and then press Xto swap them. Youll see in the

Tools palette that the Foreground color swatch is now showing black and the Background

color swatch is now showing white:


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Press D and then X on your keyboard to set black as your Foreground color and white as

your Background color.

Step 6: Select The Foregroundto ackground Gradient

With the Gradient Tool selected and our Foreground and Background colors set to black and

white, look up in theOptions Barat the top of the screen to see which gradient you currently

have selected. If the gradient preview area is showing a black to white gradient, youre all

set:

The gradient preview area showing a black to white gradient.

If its showing some other gradient, click on the small, down-pointing arrow to the right of

the gradient preview area. TheGradient Picker

will appear below it. Select the Foreground

to Background gradient in the top left corner, then click anywhere outside of the Gradient

Picker to close out of it:

Click the down-pointing arrow to the right of the gradient preview area and select the

gradient in the top left corner of the Gradient Picker.

Step 7: Drag Out A Black To White Gradient On The Layer Mask

Now that we have our black to white gradient, we can use it to blend the Background layer

and the pixelated layer together, creating our first variation on the effect. I want the

transition area of my blend to appear across the guys face, so half of his face (and half of the

image as well) is pixelated and the other half is not. To accomplish that, Im going to click

below his right eye and then, holding down myShift

key to make sure I drag in a horizontal

line, Im going to drag my mouse all the way over to the left edge of his face:


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Drag out a gradient through the area where you want the blend between the two layers to

appear.

The area between where I started and finished my gradient is going to become the transition

area between the pixelated image on Layer 1 and the original image on the Background

layer. When I release my mouse button, I get my transition effect:

The first effect.


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Step 8: Fill The Layer Mask With White

Lets look at another variation on our digital pixel effect. First, we need to remove the

gradient we added to the layer mask a moment ago. We could simply press Ctrl Z(Win)

/ Command Z(Mac) to undo it, but lets re-fill the layer mask with white instead. To do

that, with the layer mask thumbnail selected in the Layers palette and white as our currentBackground color, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl Backspace(Win)

/ Command Delete(Mac) to fill the layer mask with the Background color (white). The layer

mask thumbnail will once again appear solid white, and the image will now appear

completely pixelated once again:

Press Alt+Backspace (Win) / Option+Delete (Mac) to fill the layer mask with white and

reveal the entire pixelated layer in the document window once again.

Step 9: Select The Brush Tool

Select the Brush Toolfrom the Tools palette, or press Bfor the keyboard shortcut:

Select the Brush Tool


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Step 10: Paint With Black To Reveal Parts Of The Image

Using a soft-edged brush and with black still as our Foreground color, Im going to reveal the

main part of his face by simply painting over it with my Brush Tool. Since Im painting on

the layer mask and not on the image itself, anywhere I paint with black will hide the

pixelated layer and reveal the Background layer beneath it. I can resize my brush on the flyusing the left and right bracket keyson my keyboard, and I can set my brush to a soft edge

by holding down the Shiftkey and pressing the left bracket keya few times:

Use a soft-edged brush to paint away parts of the pixelated layer, revealing the original image

underneath.


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Heres my image after revealing the main areas of his face by painting over them with black,

giving the impression that he is somehow looking through the pixels:

The main parts of his face now appear as they were in the original photo, while the rest of

the photo remains pixelated.

Step 11: Lower The Opacity Of The Pixelated Layer

Im going to let the original image partially show through the pixelated image, and I can dothat simply by going up to the

Opacity

option in the top right corner of the Layers palette

and lowering the opacity value. Im going to lower it to around 75%:

Lower the opacity of the pixelated layer to allow the original image to partially show

through.


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Heres my image after lowering the opacity of the pixelated layer, creating our second

variation on the effect:

The second variation on the digital pixel effect.

Step 12: Experiment With Different Blend Modes For The Pixelated Layer For

Different Results

To create even more variations on the effect, experiment with different blend modes for the

pixelated layer by going up to the blend modeoptions in the top left corner of the Layerspalette and selecting different ones from the list. First, Im going to set the Opacityof my

pixelated layer back to a full 100%. Then, Ill going to change my blend mode of the layer

from Normal toDarken:

Set the Opacity of the pixelated layer back to 100%, then change the blend mode of the

pixelated layer to Darken.


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Heres the effect I get with the pixelated layer set to Darken:

The image after changing the blend mode to Darken.

Lets try theLightenblend mode, again by changing it in the top left corner of the Layers

palette:

Change the blend mode to Lighten.


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Heres the effect I get with the Lighten blend mode:

The image after changing the blend mode to Lighten.

Just to show you how much different an effect can look simply by changing layer blend

modes, well try one more. Im going to change my blend mode this time toHard Mix:

Change the blend mode to Hard Mix.


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I think youll agree that the effect now looks completely different, even though all weve

done is changed the blend mode:

After changing the blend mode to Hard Mix, we get a completely different looking effect.

And there we have it! Thats our look at how to create a simple digital pixel effect and a

sample of how we can create different variations on the same effect, and even create entirely

new effects, by experimenting with layer masks and blend modes in Photoshop.

Documents

Digital Pixel Effect With Photoshop