How to Make Your Skin a Different Texture for Creepy Effects Using Pixlr or Photoshop

Have you ever had a photo of yourself that you wished looked a little more unique, different, or creepy? With Halloween around the corner you will most likely have said yes. Lucky for you I will use the following tutorial to teach you how to create a different skin texture on your very own pictures!

Preparations:
- 1 picture of yourself, family, or friends (make sure you have permission first)
- 1 picture of a texture (CLICK HERE to get several different pictures of textures from Google Images)
- photo editing program of your choice (I will be using photoshop and pixlr in my examples but any program should work similarly)

Throughout this tutorial I will be using terminology frequently used within editing programs, other tutorials, and the design world. I will list the words you need to know below with their description to help you. I will also place the definitions in the steps they apply to.
- canvas: the canvas is the area that you will be working in. When you start working on a project chances are you will open several pictures. Instead of referring to each picture in individual files the programs create 1 canvas and opens all of the pictures into that one location.
- layer: these are the individual pieces of your canvas. Each photo will be 1 layer. Layers will appear in the order they are listed. The best way to look at a layer is to compare it to a cake. When you look at a chocolate cake you see the frosting and fun designs but underneath you know there are other layers of ingredients. You may only see the finished outside but each layer within is necessary to arrive at your final project.
- mask: masking is a term used when you hide aspects of the canvas. Imagine a mask that you would wear on Halloween. It will cover up the areas you don't want to be seen.

Helpful tip: name your pictures something you will remember if you come back to them later. img203_a2.jpg is not a good name because you will never remember what it is. Use descriptive words or numbers like dates, names, scenery, etc.

Helpful tip: While following the instructions when you see a bold word those are the actual words you will see in your program. The best part of this project is feeling accomplished and proud of the picture you will be creating. Being frustrated at the instructions will never help you feel accomplished and I wanted to remove this aspect so you can enjoy your work.

At the end of this tutorial I will post several photos that I made using these simple steps to show the many different possibilities you can have just by changing the pictures and adjusting locations.

Note to those without Photoshop: pixlr is a very powerful program with many of the same features as photoshop. Just because you don't have photoshop doesn't mean you can't have fun editing photos. It is a great program for those that like to manipulate photos as a hobby and I highly recommend it! To use pixlr visit this link PIXLR .

Step 1 Opening both images in your editing program

Once you have selected both of your images that you will be using open the program that you will be using. Once you have opened the program open both photos. Do not worry about opening the pictures in any certain order. I will show you how to change the order if needs be.

Instruction for Photoshop:
1. Open the program on your computer.
2. Go to 'file' and 'open' the first picture from the location it is saved in. (see image 1)
3. Go to 'file' and 'place' the second picture in your document. (see image 2)
4. Look at your layers panel located to the right and make sure both images are open. (see image 3)

Instruction for pixlr:
1. Open pixlr in your browser.
2. Go to 'file' and 'open' the first picture from the location it is saved in. (see image 4)
3. Go to 'layer' and 'open image as layer' and open the select your second picture in your document. (see image 5)
4. Look at your layers panel located to the right and make sure both images are open. (see image 6)

Helpful tip: if you are not seeing one of the pictures double check the location you saved them and start from step 2.