How to Get Started with Liquify in Photoshop 2021 – Change the Shape of Anything

Get Started with Liquify in Photoshop. Learn how to use the Liquify Tool to drastically improve your photos! Reshape clothing and add volume to your subject’s hair in a non-destructive way, allowing you to make changes to your photo at any time.

How to Get Started with Liquify in Photoshop

Today it’s all about how to get started with liquify in Photoshop. I’m going to share my favorite tips and tricks for using the liquify tool in Photoshop.

Create a Smart Object

Tip number one is before you use the liquify in photoshop tool, create a smart object. So first thing we’re going to do is create a new layer that shift+command+N. We’re going to call it liquify, Say OK, and move this layer Up. Next thing we need to do is create a stamp visible layer. Now stamp visible layer is a copy, of all the layers below this liquify layer. It’s going to put it all in that one layer. We hit Shift+option+command+E. There’s our stamped visble layer.

Now we need to create a smart object from our stamp visible layer. We’re going to come up here to layer, smart objects, convert to smart object. Now we have our smart object and now when we use the liquify filter with the smart object will have a smart filter. That means when we’re done using the liquify filter, we can go back in and continue to make changes. So to get to the liquify in photoshop filter. Come up here to filter. And here is liquify in photoshop.

Keep it simple

Now the next tip is. Keep it simple. When working with this tool, there are many options, but there are only a few of these options that we’re going to be using mostly. This is the liquify in photoshop dialogue.

To help make things not so confusing, if you see all these panels here like face-aware liquify, just twirl that closed mask options, you’re not going to use that much. View Options twirl that closed and now you have a more compact interface. Until you’re really comfortable with this, I would work on it like this. Remember, you’re just getting started.

The tool that we’re going to be working with mostly is called the Forward Warp tool that appears on the top left. And of course, there is a brush for it and a lot of the times we’re going to be doing with the brush is making it bigger and smaller and you can use your left and right brackets.

So with the forward warp tool, you can basically pull or push. Now we have our settings here on the right hand side and you can also change the size of the brush with the size here. I usually do it with the left and right brackets. Next is pressure which will be how much actually gets affected. Like if I put the pressure all the way up it’s going to have a larger effect on your warp tool.

So I recommend keeping that relatively low say about, 20, and that way the effect isn’t his drastic. You have a little bit more control over it. And next is density. That is how close to the edge of your brush, basically this effect is going to happen. So I would keep this low to like about 50.

Working with Different Brush Sizes

Tip 3 is working with the brush size. We’re going to be mainly working with clothing and hair today, not too much with altering somebody’s actual physical appearance. So I’m going to zoom in here just a little bit in this point, right here. You make the brush size just a little bit bigger than that point. And you just nudge in easily. Thats just to nudge it a little bit. Don’t try and do it all at once, just kind of nudge carefully. And here’s another little point here and push that in. Make the brush a little bit bigger. Going to push that side in.

Now we know this style of top that she has on is supposed to be ruffled and for our purposes, we’re just going to show how to use the tool. So if I will have a bigger area that I want to push in. I can make my brush bigger. And pushing like that. And push in more area at once.

Sometimes you have to watch out for the background and see what is moving. This background here is textured. So it’s not going to matter too much. But you have to be aware of when you are using this liquify in photoshop tool. What else is it moving around the area that you’re trying to liquify and you can go around the image.

And like I say, making your brush size makes all the difference in the world as to what it’s moving and you want to go slow, you don’t want to rush, just want to push very slowly and easily. Choosing the areas that you want to change. Now you may be wondering if you want to start all over again instead of hitting cancel and getting out of liquify. You could click on restore all. You can hit alt or option and your cancel button turns into reset and that will reset all your changes.

You also have the reconstruct dialogue here. If I feel like I’ve gone too far with all my changes, I can bring this up maybe to 50% and I could say OK so that’ll help you. If you think you’ve gone too far with your changes. Of course, you have your preview checkbox down here. The before and the after.

And up here you have the reconstruct tool. Now what that will help you do is if you want just one section, that you want to bring back so you can see I’m painting right here. And that’s bringing back that area that I had once to pushed up. I’m going to say Command+Z and undo that and if you have a larger area that you want to work on, you want a smooth transition. Use a larger brush so you can see I’m pulling that area in and I’ll do a little bit on this side If you’re getting value out there so far, hit that like button.

Using the Freeze Mask

Tip #4. The next tool is very important and this is something which can be used often. That is the freeze mask. So with the freeze mask does it actually freezes some areas from being liquefied. So over here is a freeze mask. If I click on that and actually paint. In the areas that I do not want to move.

So what I’m going to do here is I’m going to move her hair. Add a little volume to it and so these are the areas that I do not want to move. If I come back here to the forward warp tool, make my brush a little bit bigger and I’m moving her hair. And it’s not moving anything else. It’s not moving her or face, it’s not moving her hand. All these areas are protected from moving, So there’s before there’s the after.

Now use a thaw mask tool which allows me to remove the freeze mask. And there’s before and there’s the after. So some subtle changes. And now if I say OK, I’m out of the liquify filter dialog. If I click over here on the right of the liquify filter layer, here’s my smart filter. There’s before and there’s the after. If I double click I can go back into my liquify filter and make any other changes that i want to.

Best Time to Use Liquify in Your Workflow.

Tip 5 has something to do with where do you actually do your liquify in photoshop? What stage in your retouching? Here you see I did it at the end. And I’ll explain why. So this image has got a lot of layers down here. Retouching layers some frequency separation, some changes in color.

If I would have done liquify right up front, I would have to go all the way down to try and change that. Say if I did it right away, I would have all these other layers on top of it that I would be changing. If I did it last you’re still thinking that how am I going to change any layer below that. I would have to redo all my liquify in Photoshop. But all I would need to do would be to turn off my liquify layer and I come down to any of my other adjustments an I can turn them off or make adjustments to the color. I can go down to my frequency separation and do more blemish removal.

Now I did all that work on my liquify. How am I going to get it back. Well you would make a new layer and then make it a new stamp visible layer. That shift+option+command+E on a Mac. And convert it to a smart object layer. Smart objects convert to smart object and now all we need to do is copy the smart filter so hold alt or option,

Click on the smart filter and drag it up to my new layer and my new layer now has a smart filter. The same one that I had before. If I turn that layer off. There is before. And there’s the after. I can delete my old liquify layer. And there is the way to be able to change everything below your liquify layers, so you would probably want to do it last. Liquify in Photoshop.

See my previous blog article here 👉 https://charlescabrera.com/create-custom-keyboard-shortcuts-in-photoshop/

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