A tutorial on how to emboss an image in Photoshop
This tutorial will explain how to emboss an image in Photoshop Elements 3 but it may work in any Photoshop version. It also explains what embossing is, as well as what kind of photos are best to use for embossing.
What is embossing?An image is embossed when highlighted parts of the image are raised and shadows are lowered and transfered into grayscale at the same time.
What kind of images can be embossed?The image you want to emboss needs to have some texture, highlights and shadows or depth to it. A simple graphic won't work as well as a photo. However photos may have too much detail which needs to be removed so choose a simple uncomplicated image such as the petunia below.
Embossed image of a petunia
Remove the backgroundWe need to remove the background and the other partial blooms before we can emboss the image. Take the magic wand tool and adjust the tolerance until it picks up most of the background. Hold down the shift key and it will let you pick up another section. On the petunia image I used 97% tolerance because the background is so varied.
If you are using a non-optical mouse you may have to clean the mouse ball so it rolls smoothly. Be careful you don't erase part of the image you want to emboss. Increase the magnification if needed. Save the image.
Background RemovedThe petunia image is rough around the edges and needs to have the edges smoothed out. Reduce the tolerance to 1 and highlight it again with the magic wand but this time go to select/feather and input 3 pixels in the dialog box and then hit delete. Your image should now have a smoth edge (undo and try a different setting if it doesn't look right). Save the image.
Emboss the imageOpen the image in RBG mode. Go to the Filter menu and choose Stylize/Emboss. This will change the image to an ugly gray color. Adust the sliders for height and angle then save the image (we'll change the color in the next step). This one was saved at 3 pixels height with 62% opacity so it can be used as a background image (for more detail increase the opacity). Save the image.
Adjust the ColorTo change the gray to a more pleasing color go to Enhance/Adjust Color then choose Adjust Hue/Saturation. Click on the Colorize option. Move the Hue slider to chose the color (pink, blue, etc) and Saturation slider for grayed variations and to lighten or darken the image move the lightness slider. Make it real light if you want to us it as a background title. Save the image.
Embossed Background Tiles
Embossed Praying Hands
This logo was produced in Fireworks by taking a photo of a motorcycle, making it all one color, removing non-essential details, embossing it and placing the name on top in an arc drawn as a path and attaching the letters to the path.
Copyright © November 12, 2006 - Updated 9-12-14
All Rights Reserved.
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