Download Article
Download Article
This wikiHow teaches you how to swap one person's face onto another by taking the facial features of one face and blending it onto another person's face in Photoshop. For this tutorial, you will need two different images of people that have similarly sized faces, where both faces are looking in the same direction. This requires Photoshop CS6 or later.
Steps
-
Open Photoshop. It's the app with a light-blue "Ps" on a dark background.
-
Open the two images. To open both images of the faces you want to blend;
- Click File
- Click Open
- Hold down Ctrl (PC) or command (Mac)
- Click both images.
- Click Open .
Advertisement -
Select the first picture. Click the tab at the top to select the picture you want to start with. This will be the picture of the person you want to borrow the facial features from.
-
Select the Lasso Tool. Click the lasso icon the top of the toolbar on the left of the screen. If you don't see the Lasso Tool, you may need to first click and hold on the Polygonal Lasso Tool and then select the lasso tool.
- You can also press L to instantly switch to the currently selected Lasso Tool.
-
Trace an outline of the facial features. Click and drag the Lasso Tool around the eyebrows and eyes, the nose, the mouth, and include any wrinkles that are connected. Make sure the end of the lasso selection meets back up to where you started. A flashing dotted line will highlight your selection.
-
Copy the selection. You can do this several ways:
- Click Edit then Copy .
- Press Ctrl + C (PC) or command + C (Mac).
Advertisement
-
Select the second picture. Click the tab at the top to select the second picture that contains the face we are going to blend the first one with.
-
Unlock the background layer. To do this you can:
- Click the padlock icon .
- Right-click the layer and select Layer from background .
-
Paste the selection. This will paste the outline you just copied from the first picture onto a new layer on the second picture. To paste:
- Click Edit then Paste .
- Press Ctrl + V (PC) or command + V (Mac).
-
Lower the opacity. Click the next to the Opacity percentage (the default should be 100%) located in the Layers window in the bottom-right of the screen. Drag the slider to the left until you can see both the face and the image underneath it.
- 60% is probably ideal.
-
Click Edit , then Free Transform . This will put the face layer into free transform mode, allowing up to manipulate it further.
- You can also press Ctrl + T (PC) or command + T .
-
Transform the face to match the background face. Warp or stretch the picture to line up the eyes and mouth with the facial features of the background image. You can:
- Grow or shrink the image by dragging the corners.
- Stretch or squeeze the image by dragging the sides.
- Rotate the image by holding the mouse outside the corners and dragging.
- Move the image by clicking inside the box and dragging it.
-
Press ↵ Enter to apply the changes to the image. When you have the image lined up to your liking, pressing Enter will save the change and apply them to the image.
-
Turn the opacity back to 100%. Click the next to the Opacity percentage and move the slider back up to 100%.
-
Hold Ctrl (PC) or ⌘ Command (Mac) and click the thumbnail of the face layer. This selects the visible pixels in the layer.
-
Click Select then Modify , and then click Contract . This will open a new dialogue window.
-
Type in 6 pixels and click OK . This will make the selection overlap the face a bit.
-
Select the bottom layer and then press Delete . Click the name of the bottom layer to select it, then press Delete . This will delete the face on the bottom layer, leaving a 6-pixel overlap.
Advertisement
-
Select both layers. Hold Ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac) and click the name of both layers.
- When a layer is selected, it will be highlighted in gray.
-
Click Edit , then Auto-Blend Layers . This will open a new settings window.
-
Select Panorama and make sure the box for "Seamless Tones and Colors" is checked.
-
Click OK . Your faces have now been blended!
Advertisement
Community Q&A
Search
-
QuestionI've been attempting to do this and it keeps popping up with an error alert. What am I doing wrong?Community AnswerMaybe your image resolution is not good. Try using a higher quality photo, so you have more pixels.
-
QuestionHow do I make Photoshop tools colorful?Boulaabi KrayemCommunity AnswerUse adjustment layers or to edit in Adobe Camera Raw with adjustment layers, you apply edits on a separate layer in the image file, leaving the original image (background layer) intact. The easiest way to access the adjustment layer tools is clicking an icon in the Adjustments panel.
-
QuestionWhat do I do if the modify option is grayed out and I can't click on it when trying to swap faces in Photoshop?Community AnswerUse the quick-selection tool and select the face. The modify option should be available once the object is selected.
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
Advertisement
Video
Tips
- You can do a face-swap by repeating this process and starting with the other face first.Thanks
- Use high definition images when available for better results.Thanks
Submit a Tip
All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
Advertisement
Things You'll Need
- Adobe Photoshop Cs6 or higher.
- Pictures of two faces looking the same direction.
About This Article
Article Summary
X
1. Open both images.
2. Use the lasso tool to outline the facial features on one photo.
3. Copy the selection.
4. Unlock the background layer of the second picture.
5. Paste the selection onto the second picture.
6. Lower the opacity.
7. Transform the selection to match the face.
8. Blend both layers.
Did this summary help you?
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 734,032 times.
Reader Success Stories
- "The steps were clearly set out and easily followed using Photoshop. My result was very good for a first effort."
Advertisement
"The steps were clearly set out and easily followed using Photoshop. My result was very good for a first effort."
"This was excellent and helped me do exactly what I wanted, very simply! Thank you so much!"
"Superb article. It's helpful and full of designing. "
"Very useful. The steps are very exact."
"This article helped me to swap faces."
