The
Liquify filter makes it easy to manipulate areas of an image as
if those areas had been melted. You work with a preview image of
the current layer, using special tools to warp, twirl, expand, contract,
shift, and reflect areas of the image. You can make subtle changes
to retouch an image or drastic distortions to create an artistic
effect.
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Select
an image, layer, or area.
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Choose Filter > Distort > Liquify.
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To zoom in on or out of the image preview, do one of
the following:
-
Choose a zoom level from the pop‑up menu
in the lower- left area of the dialog box.
-
Select the zoom tool from the toolbox in the dialog
box, and click in the image to zoom in, or Option-click to zoom
out. You can also use the zoom tool to drag over an area of the
preview you want to magnify.
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Select a tool from the toolbox.
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Select one of the following tools from the toolbox:
- Warp
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Pushes pixels forward as you drag.
- Turbulence
-
Smoothly scrambles pixels and creates fire, clouds, waves,
and similar effects. To adjust the smoothness, drag the Turbulent
Jitter pop‑up slider in the Tool Options section, or enter a value
between 1 and 100 in the text box. Higher values increase smoothness.
- Twirl Clockwise
-
Rotates pixels clockwise as you hold down the mouse button
or drag.
- Twirl Counterclockwise
-
Rotates pixels counterclockwise as you hold down the
mouse button or drag.
- Pucker
-
Moves pixels toward the center of the brush area as you
hold down the mouse button or drag.
- Bloat
-
Moves pixels away from the center of the brush area as
you hold down the mouse button or drag.
- Shift Pixels
-
Moves pixels perpendicularly to the stroke direction.
Drag to move pixels to the left, and Option-drag to move pixels
to the right.
- Reflection
-
Copies pixels to the brush area. Drag to reflect the
area perpendicular to the direction of the stroke (to the left of
or below the stroke). Option-drag to reflect the area in the direction
opposite the stroke (for example, the area above a downward stroke).
Use overlapping strokes to create an effect similar to a reflection
in water.
- Reconstruct
-
Fully or partially reverses the changes you’ve made.
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In the Tool Options section, adjust the brush size and
pressure of the tool, as needed:
-
To change the brush size, drag the pop‑up
slider, or enter a brush size value from 1 to 600 pixels.
-
To change the brush pressure, drag the pop‑up slider,
or enter a brush pressure value from 1 to 100.

A
low brush pressure makes more gradual changes.
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If you’re using a stylus tablet, select Stylus Pressure.

To create the effect of dragging in a straight
line between the current point and the previous point that you clicked,
Shift-click with the Warp, Shift Pixels, and Reflection tools.
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To apply the changes in the preview image to the actual
image, click OK.
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(Optional) To revert to a previous state, do one of the
following:
-
Select the Reconstruct tool
, and
hold down the mouse button or drag over the distorted areas. The
restoration occurs more quickly at the brush center. Shift-click
to reconstruct in a straight line between the current point and
the previous point that you clicked.
-
To restore the entire preview image to its state
when you opened the dialog box, press Option and click Reset. Alternatively,
click Revert to restore the original image and reset the tools to
their previous settings.