[PhotoMaster]

This is what the final image looks like.

Note: This is my preferred image. When I did the tutorial, the image came out slightly different.

01) Load image of choice.
02) Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel
03) Name layer "Puzzle"
04) Layer > New Layer > OK
05) Rename "New Layer" as "Bump"
06) Fill new with white
07) Filters > Render > Pattern > Jigsaw (The values shown are suggestions only. Adjust how you like it.)
Horizontal Tiles = 7
Vertical Tiles = 7
Bevel Width = 5
Highlight = 0.5
Style = Square



08) Turn off visibility of "Bump" layer by clicking eye on the layer toolbar.



09) Select "Puzzle" layer in Layer toolbar
10) Filters > Map > Bumpmap (The values shown are suggestions only. Adjust how you like it.)
Bump Map = Bump Layer
Map Type = Sperical
Compensate for darkening = On
Azimuth = 135
Elevation = 15
Depth = 5
All other values = 0



11) Layer > New Layer > OK
12) Rename "New Layer" as "Back"
13) Fill "Back" layer with background color of choice.
14) Layer > Stack > Layer to Bottom
15) Turn off visibility of "Puzzle" layer by clicking eye on the layer toolbar.
16) Turn on visibility of "Bump" layer by clicking eye on the layer toolbar.
17) Select "Bump" layer in layer toolbar



18) Using magic wand tool to select pieces to remove.
19) Turn off visibility of "Bump" layer by clicking eye on the layer toolbar.
20) Using rectangle slection tool and holding shift, Select all common separators.


This
Becomes This!


21) Select "Puzzle" layer
22) Edit > Cut
23) Edit > Paste
Click on new layer button to make pasted selection it's own layer.
24) Name new layer as "Pieces".

I recommend turning the visibility on and off for Puzzle and Pieces layers so you see what you have.

25) Image > Canvas Size > % > 140% (The values shown are suggestions only. Adjust how you like it.)
26) Select "Back" layer.
27) Layers > Layer to Image Size
28) Re-fill "Back" layer with selected color
29) View > Zoom > Fit Image in Window
30) Select "Puzzle" layer
31) Using Move tool drag "Puzzle" layer to middle of screen.



32) Using Rotate tool, rotate "Puzzle" layer to desired angle.
33) Using Move tool, move "Puzzle" layer to desired position.
34) Repeat steps 30 to 33 for "Pieces" Layer
35) Layer > New Layer > OK
36) Rename "New Layer" as "Shadow"
37) Select "Puzzle" layer
38) Select > Alpha to Selection.
39) Select "Shadow" Layer.
40) Fill selection on "Shadow" layer with black
41) Select "Pieces" layer
42) Select > Alpha to Selection.
43) Select "Shadow" Layer.
44) Fill selection on "Shadow" layer with black
45) Select > None
46) Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur > (The values shown are suggestions only. Adjust how you like it.)
X = 15
Y = 15



47) Set opacity of "Shadow" layer to 30%. (The values shown are suggestions only. Adjust how you like it.)
48) Move shadow layer down below "Pieces" and "Puzzle" Layer.



49) Using move tool, Move "Shadow" layer about 15 pixels right and 15 Pixels down (Approx - The values shown are suggestions only. Adjust how you like it.).
50) Select "Back" layer.
51) Filters > Artistic > Apply Canvas
Top Left
4



When posting on-line, I suggest rescaling image smaller, keeping your full sized image intact.



Have fun!

[inspectra]

Very neat technique you got there. Thanks!

[wbool63]

Photomaster , Nice tut . Here is mine . I used three separate tiles and I used Filters| Light and Shadows| DropShadow.



Thank You

[PhotoMaster]

Hey Wbool, That is awesome!! The original photo is remarkable and you really did an awesome job with the tut!

[Oregonian]

PhotoMaster said:

Have fun!

I had a lot of fun just playing around with this one. I learned some new things in the process. Cool tut PhotoMaster. :mrgreen:

I thought of making my final image the shape of a puzzle piece.

[PhotoMaster]

Excellent image, Oregonian! I like what you did with it!

Here is another one I am playing with.

[Oregonian]

I really like what you are doing there. Love those Oriental characters in your puzzle.

I'd never bunched selections using the Rectangle Selection tool before, and I can see that's a very handy piece of knowledge to have - it would have saved me a bit of time had I known how to do it.

[2-ton]

great tut, so many ways to modify the end result!

[PhotoMaster]

I love seeing everyone's versions and modifications. Wbool's image is superior to mine by far. Talk about a perfect choice for a source image! On top of that, the background color works with it perfectly. Oregonian's image has interesting abstraction to it, that makes it really stand out!

[wbool63]

ThankYou PhotoMaster for the nice rap.
The photo is of my sister taken around 1958 in a school in Den Helder (The Netherlands). I restored and coloured it. I tried quite a few backgrounds before I settled on the taupe colour.
Like Oregonian, I too, was unaware of your method of multiple selection gathering.
Cheers Wbool63

[2-ton]

I could not get step 20 to work...it wouldn't join the selections to one selection...is it because I use version 2.4?

[PhotoMaster]

Hey 2-ton. The error was on my part. I forgot to say hold shift to add selections. I went in and fixed it. Thanks for letting me know there was a problem.

Greg

[2-ton]

Thanx...I should have guessed!

[Wolverine]

simply MUST try this, really cool lookin tut ^_^

[Silvertayl]

I love this tut. I tried it but found my background wasn't large enough in the finished result. So my missing puzzle pieces once repositioned overlapped onto my puzzle instead of sitting seperately on the background.

Also I'm not sure what this means: When posting on-line, I suggest rescaling image smaller, keeping your full sized image intact.

How and when is the best time to resize the puzzle image so the background is bigger than the puzzle image.

Hope that makes sense???

[PhotoMaster]

Hey Silvertayl,
Luckily you can resize the canvas any time. See step 25. This will allow you to enlarge the canvas to fit the pieces. When you resize the canvas, I would recomend changing your zoom. View > Zoom > Fit image in window. This will let you see the whole image. If you did step 25 and didn't see a difference, change the view as outlined to see it.

Once your image is completed and saved as an XCF file (my suggestion), I would save a copy as a jpg. Then when you want to upload it, you can scale the image (Image > Scale image) to the size you want to upload. This way you still have the original in it's full size.

Let me know if this helps.

Greg

[Silvertayl]

Hi Greg

Thanks for the speedy answer.

That was was I was missing. I will give it a try as you have sugested.

Thanks again.

[mikethedj4]

Great tutorial man, and some stunning results as well.

[PhotoComix]

Very nice and well explained..i move with the official Tut

[PhotoMaster]

Thank You PhotoComix! I really appreciate it!