Apply Trace Contour to Video in Photoshop CS6

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Video: Apply Trace Contour to Video in Photoshop CS6

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You're watching VisiHow. In this video, I'm going to show you how you can apply a trace contour to a video clip in Photoshop CS6 in Windows 7. As you can see, I've already opened Photoshop CS6, and I've imported my video. We have a preview in the middle, the timeline at the bottom, and the layer on the right-hand side. Make sure you've selected the layer you want to work with and converted it to a smart object. This is something you should do before you add any filters to video because otherwise, Photoshop will apply it on a frame-by-frame basis. The smart object basically makes the whole video clip one frame, so you're restricted with some things, but you can add filters as if it's an image. If you need to find out how to do that, then refer to our tutorial on how to convert a layer into a smart object in Photoshop CS6.

1. 1
   Click "Filter"

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   It can be found in the navigation bar along the top of the program.

   

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2. 2
   Hover over "Stylize"

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3. 3
   Click "Trace Contour..."

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4. 4
   Look at the preview

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   It is also being previewed on the canvas. We can generally see what the filter is trying to do. Trace contour basically follows contour lines within the video or the image, and traces along those in different colors.

   

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5. 5
   Zoom out of the preview by clicking the "-" icon beneath the preview image

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6. 6
   Zoom in on the preview by clicking the "+" icon beneath the preview image

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   We prefer to zoom in and see how the detail is.

   

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7. 7
   Select the "Level" by clicking, holding, and dragging on the slider beneath it

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   This determines how likely the program is to trace something. A lower level will have less contouring. On a higher level, it selects contours on other parts of the image.

   

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8. 8
   Click in the field next to "Level" and type a number in manually

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   This is another way to change the "Level".

   

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9. 9
   Choose the edge

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   Click the radio button next to "Lower" or "Upper", according to preference. It will depend what is being worked on as well.

   

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10. 10
    Click "OK" when ready to apply it to the canvas

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    It has a really nice effect, especially with video. Experiment with it.

    

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11. 11
    Look at the layer on the right-hand side

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    Our smart filter has been added as a sub-layer, called "Smart Filter".

    

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12. 12
    Click on the eye to the left of "Smart Filter"

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    This hides all smart filters on this layer.

    

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13. 13
    Click again to return the eye and show all smart filters on this layer

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14. 14
    Click on the eye to the left of "Trace Contour"

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    This hides this specific filter only. This is useful when we have multiple filters applied.

    

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15. 15
    Click again where the eye was to re-enable the "Trace Contour" filter

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    Our image was quite plain, where it had very strong highlight and shadow. If an image is generally more neutral, the filter can give some really strong detail.

    

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16. 16
    This is a VisiHow video, and I've just shown you how you can apply a trace contour filter to a video clip in Photoshop CS6 in Windows 7

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    If you have any 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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