PhotoshopElements

Liquify

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.

Apply the Liquify filter

  1. Select an image, layer, or area.
  2. Choose Filter > Distort > Liquify.
  3. 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.

    • Select a tool from the toolbox.

  4. Select one of the following tools from the toolbox:
    Warp
    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.

  5. 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.

    • 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.
  6. To apply the changes in the preview image to the actual image, click OK.
  7. (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.