In this tutorial we are going to create a painted effect look by overlaying an image distorted with a Displacement Map.The Displace filter is one of several Photoshop filters that require the use of a displacement map, which works like a texture map, placing the image over a grid that creates a textured look.

The Displace filter shifts a selection using a color value from the displacement map—0 is the maximum negative shift, 255 the maximum positive shift, and a gray value of 128 produces no displacement. If a map has one channel, the image shifts along a diagonal defined by the horizontal and vertical scale ratios. If the map has more than one channel, the first channel controls the horizontal displacement, and the second channel controls the vertical displacement. So without loosing anymore time let’s have a look at the examples bellow.

Press CTRL+N to open a new document.

Type the name of document.

Enter the desired Width, Height and Resolution.

Click OK.

Select the Move Tool (V) and move the flag and the brick wall to the new document.

Select the UK Flag Layer and change the blending mode to Hard Light.

Select the Brick Layer and hit CTRL+J to duplicate the layer.

Move the layer above the Flag layer and hit CTRL+SHIFT+U to desaturate it.

With the copied layer still selected go to Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur.

In the blur dialog box enter the amount of blur desired for this tutorial 1px will do just fine. (experiment to get the settings you like, tis layer will be used later on as a displacment map.)

Select File Save As or hit SHIFT+CTRL+S to save the displacment man you just created.

Select the Flag Layer and go to Filter-Distort-Displace.

In the displacment dialog box enter the Horizontal and Vertical scale.(experiment with the settings to get tthe desired result) Click OK.

Select the Displacment Map you saved erlier and click OK

When the Displacment Map filter is applied it has a dramatic effect, although the distortions look random, they line up precisely with the wall.

Select the Brick Layer and in the Blending options choose Hard Light. Combining the displaced flag with the duplicated Hard Light brick wall layer produces a more realistic effect.

Set the Opacity to 80% just to give the layer a more natural look. (Play with the settings to get the desired result).

(Roll Over Images)

Here are some other example using the same technique.

Displacement maps are images or patterns that are saved in the Photoshop format and applied as part of a mathematical formula that moves each pixel in the original image according to the values in the displacement map.You can actually use any image saved in Photoshop format as a displacement map. Just choose it instead of one of the default files. Make sure you play with the Blur, Vertical and Horizontal scale of the Displacment Map also you don’t need to limit your Displacement Maps to existing photographs.Try creating your own maps but remember to apply at least a small amount of Gaussian Blur first: otherwise the result will be harsh and unconvincing.

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