In this tutorial, we will learn how to map a texture on a face according to its shape and contours.
To start, you will need a main photo on which you will apply the texture and a photo that you will use as the texture. This is my main photo.
And this is a close up of a rock that I’ll use as the texture.
Step 1
Switch over to the Channels panel.
We need to select a channel which gives the highest contrast. One by one, click on each channel and see how the photo appears. I chose the Green channel since it’s the one with the highest contrast.
After selecting the channel, click on the small menu icon in the top-right and choose Duplicate Channel.
Make sure that you select New as the destination of the duplicate channel.
Step 2
Now, we will be working on the displacement map we just created for some tie. We will remove most of the details of the man’s face or else they will cause problems. Go to Filter > Noise > Median and increase the Radius to remove as much detail as possible while still keeping the major edges intact.
Now, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and increase the Radius to blur as much as possible while still keeping the important details intact (such as eyes and mouth).
Convert the picture to Grayscale mode by going to Image > Mode > Grayscale. Now, go to File > Save As, name the file whatever you want and be sure to set the Format to Photoshop.
You can now close the displacement map.
Step 3
On our original photo, make sure that all channels are visible.
Now, go back to the Layers panel and using any selection tool, make a selection of the area you want to apply the texture to. I used the Lasso Tool to create a selection of the man’s face.
We now have to remove the eyes from the selection. Hold the Alt (Windows) / Option (Macs) key and make a selection around the eyes.
We don’t need to use our selection right now, but we will need it later. Save the selection by going to Select > Save Selection and name the selection “face”.
After saving, press Ctrl+D (Windows) / Command+D (Macs) to deselect the selection.
Step 4
Open the photo you will use as the texture in a separate window. Now, go to Layer > Duplicate Layer, name the duplicate layer “texture” and set the original image (the man’s picture) as the Destination.
You can close the texture image. Now, we will load the selection we saved earlier. Go to the Channels panel and you will find the saved selection. To load it, command-click (Macs) / ctrl-click (Windows) on the channel’s thumbnail.
Go back to the Layers panel and you will see the selection outline has reappeared.
With the texture layer selected and the selection loaded, press the Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers panel.
Now, change the texture layer’s blending mode to Overlay.
Step 5
The image is looking pretty good, but to add a bit more realism, we will use the displacement map to make the texture fit around the face’s contours. Select the texture layer by clicking on its thumbnail.
Click on the link icon between the texture layer’s preview and mask thumbnail.
Go to Filter > Distort > Displace and use the settings shown below.
In the second dialog box, open the displacement map that you saved earlier.
And we’re done!
