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Creating A Mosaic Effect

by Didik Wijaya
This tutorial needs you to understand basic use of Adobe Photoshop.

Creating A Mosaic Effect In this tutorial, you will create a Mosaic Effect, an image formed by a lot of the same image but in smaller size. Do you think that we will resize and copy the image one by one? Of course not, that would need a whole lot of time. Following this tutorial, you will create this effect in no time.

1. Open an image in Photoshop. As an example I use 600x600 pixels. I created this girl image in 3d animation software. You can use any picture you want. Just make sure your picture size is big enough and can be divided by 20.

Creating A Mosaic Effect

2. Go to Image>Image Size. Fill Width=20 and Height=20 and the click OK. Your image is as small as an icon now. Go to Edit>Define Pattern. Fill a name. I named this pattern "mosaic". After that, press Ctrl+Z to undo previous action. Your image size is back to normal, but your pattern is still saved in Photoshop.

Creating A Mosaic Effect

3. Go to Layer>New>Layer t ocreate a new layer. Next, go to Edit>Fill. In Fill dialog box, change drop down list next to Use to "Pattern". For custom pattern, use our newly created pattern "mosaic". Zap, a lot of small images appear!

Creating A Mosaic Effect

4. Now, go to Image>Adjustment>Desaturate to change this layer to black and white. And in Layer Palette, decrease its opacity to 50%.

Creating A Mosaic Effect

5. In Layer Palette, select your original image (layer Background), right click and choose Duplicate Layer. Move this layer up in the top row. With this layer selected, go to Filter>Pixelate>Mosaic. Use Cell Size=20. Remember, we use the same size as custom pattern. Press OK when finished. Your image will be pixelated.

Creating A Mosaic Effect

6. Last step, change your pixelated layer Blending Mode to Color. When we use Color, Photoshop will use this layer color information to another layer below. Your mosaic effect if finished. If you want, you may uncheck original layer visibility to reveal this mosaic effect more clearly, or just leave as it is. Tips: This mosaic effect is best if you look from a far. To create more satisfying mosaic effect, use larger original image and smaller pattern.

Creating A Mosaic Effect

Any question or comments regarding this tutorial should be sent to:
Didik Wijaya, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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