Swap Faces in Photoshop

We all know how hard it is to take a good group photo. Learn to swap faces using editing software and never end up with a bad group photo again. Or play a trick using your digital skills and swap the faces of your friends, creating a goofy picture. Simply select your images, merge them together, and make your personal adjustments.

Steps

Preparing Your Two Images

  1. Select two images. Decide which image will be the background and which is the desired face.
    • The images faces don't need to be the same skin tone, or even of the same sex. Using Photoshop tools, you'll be able to convincingly merge the images.
  2. Open the images in Photoshop. You should be able to load them into layers, so that they'll appear open in two tabs.
    • Make sure to duplicate the image, so you may go back to the original image at any time if you made a mistake (or if you just want to redo everything).
  3. Open the image of the desired face. You'll want to remove the face, in order to place it on your background, or final, face.
  4. Select either the lasso or pen tool. Click the lasso icon on the tools panel or select the L key. The lasso will allow you great flexibility to freehand select the face. You could also choose the pen tool, located on the tools panel. The pen tool is preferred because it allows you more control by setting anchor points.
  5. Draw a line around the desired face. Make sure to include all the unique features of that particular face such as creases, moles, wrinkles, dimples or scars in your selection.
    • If using the pen tool, you can adjust your selection by clicking on the points while holding the Ctrl key to reposition. After setting anchor points, right click and select “Make Selection” from the drop down menu.
  6. Copy the selection. Press Ctrl + C on your keyboard or click on Edit>Copy from the menu to copy the selection.

Merging the Images

  1. Paste the desired face into your background image. Drag your desired face onto the face you'd like to replace.
    • You can also create a new layer by choosing Layer>New>Layer and Press CTRL + V or Edit Paste to paste the face onto the other head.
  2. Convert the image to a smart object. Right click on the image and select convert to smart object. This will allow you to resize the image.
  3. Resize the desired face to fit the other head. While you are on the active layer, click Edit>Free Transform, or Press Ctrl + T and resize or rotate as necessary.
    • Change the opacity to 50 percent so you can see both images when resizing the faces.
  4. Align the face. The best way to make sure both faces are in alignment, is to use the eyes and mouths as guides. Simply make sure the eyes completely overlap, then tilt your desired face till the mouths match up.
    • To tilt, click on the corner of the image and then gradually rotate till the images align.
  5. Press okay or enter. Your images are now aligned and you can return the opacity to 100 percent.
  6. Make a layer mask to merge the faces. Select the brush tool and use it to fade the edges of the face into the background image. You'll want to use the lowest percent of the brush, so that the edges aren't noticeable.
    • When using the brush tool to merge, black erases the top image and reveals the background, while white returns the background.

Making Adjustments

  1. Create an adjustment layer. Select Layer>New Adjustment Layer and choose Hue/Saturation. Be to put a check on Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask.
    • Creating an adjustment layer is a safe way to make a variety of changes to the images, without losing any of your previous work.
  2. Adjust the skin tone. In this step you need to make the adjustments in Hue/Saturation by clicking Image>Adjustment>Hue/Saturation.
    • Enter values in the appropriate boxes or use the sliders to adjust.
  3. Adjust the brightness. Use the same menu as you did when adjusting the color of the face.
  4. Use the brush tool. If you notice specific details that need attention, use the brush tool to make small changes. For example, if you notice the eyes are looking washed out, use the brush tool set to a soft setting and play with the brightness or color levels.
  5. Check your progress. Compare the images to see if your merged image looks realistic. If not, you may need to go back and re-align or blur the edges.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Swap_Faces_in_Photoshop&oldid=302304"