Apply Displacement Map in Photoshop CS6

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Video: Apply Displacement Map in Photoshop CS6

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You're watching VisiHow. In this video, we're going to show you how to apply a displacement map on Photoshop CS6 on Windows 7.

1. 1
   We have an image open of a brick wall, and this is our texture layer

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   We can use whatever texture we'd like, depending on what it is that we want to map onto another object. The textures are a good example.

   

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2. 2
   Find and click on "Channels" on the right-hand side panel where the layers are

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3. 3
   After selecting "Channels", we can hide and see which ones we have, which allow for the highest contrast

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4. 4
   This one is a little bit lighter

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5. 5
   We can try red as well

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6. 6
   In this case, blue has the best contrast

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7. 7
   Then if we'd like, we can press Ctrl + L

   

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8. 8
   Use the slider at the bottom to make those a little bit stronger to darken the dark areas and lighten the light areas

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9. 9
   Click on "OK"

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10. 10
    What we should do then is duplicate that channel by right clicking on the selected layer, and then on "Duplicate Channel"

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11. 11
    We now have the option to create a new channel, so we'll just leave the title "Blue copy"

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12. 12
    Under "Document", select "New"

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13. 13
    We can change the "Name" to "Test map"

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14. 14
    Click on "OK" to accept the changes

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15. 15
    Once we have our new document, we can see that on the right-hand side panel

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16. 16
    It then is recommended to apply a Gaussian Blur, so we'll go up to "Filter" on the menu across the top

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17. 17
    Go down to "Blur"

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18. 18
    Then select "Gaussian Blur..."

    

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19. 19
    We'll change the "Radius" to ".7"

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    This will make it very subtle, but it will make for a smoother transition onto our other image.

    

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20. 20
    Then click on "OK"

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21. 21
    Then we should save our document by clicking on "File" at the top left and "Save As..."

    

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22. 22
    Choose where to save the file

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23. 23
    Give the file a name, such as "Test Map"

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24. 24
    Then we should ensure that we have the "Photoshop" file "Format" selected

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    It should say "Photoshop (*.PSD, *.PDD)"

    

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25. 25
    Then choose "Save"

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    We've put the file in this example on our Desktop, so bear in mind the file location when saving.

    

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26. 26
    Come back to the original document and then select other RGB channels to get the document back to how it was before

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27. 27
    Then go to the Layers tab on the right-hand side and bring in whichever thing it is that we want to put a map over

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    We'll use this picture of some flowers.

    

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28. 28
    We'll click on the double arrows at the top right corner to get rid of the "History" panel

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29. 29
    We can see now, we have a layer over the top

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    We need to ensure that on this layer we have everything as one flat layer. If there is any text, then this would be where we rasterize the text, which we've shown in another video.

    

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30. 30
    Now, we should add our displacement map

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    Selected onto our new layer, go to Filter on the top menu.

    

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31. 31
    Go down to select distort

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32. 32
    Then move over to displace

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33. 33
    We want to ensure that these details are kept the same, so they should be "Horizontal Scale 10", "Vertical Scale 10", "Stretch To Fit" and "Repeat Edge Pixels"

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    If we know later more details on what we're doing, then we can change these, but for beginners, this setting is recommended.

    

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34. 34
    Then we simply press "OK"

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35. 35
    Now, we have a pop-up window asking us to find our displacement map, which we made at the beginning

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36. 36
    We'll click on "Test Map" and then on "Open"

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37. 37
    Although it's not the best example, we have now displaced the flower image over the brick texture

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38. 38
    If we zoom in and move the image over, we can see it's very subtle in the center but very obvious on the edges

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    Feel free to experiment with it. If we're trying to wrap an image around a curved surface or something similar, then this works really well.

    

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39. 39
    We have the option to save this as a new document or jpeg, or we can hide our smart filters over on the right-hand side

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    When we do that, we can see the difference the displacement map has made.

    

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40. 40
    This is a VisiHow video, and we've just shown you how to apply a displacement map to an image on Photoshop CS6 on Windows 7

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    If you have questions or comments, feel free to add them to the section below, and we'll do our best to get back to you.

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If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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