Photoshop Tips : How To Make Your Own 3D Images 0

Learn how to make one of those cool 3D images that you can look at with those 3D glasses.

What you are getting yourself into

We’ve all seen those cool 3D images on the back of cereal boxes or in the “Spy Kids 3D” movie. Even the Mars Lander has sent us 3D Photos. Now you can make your own 3D image by following this simple tutorial.

NOTE: It helps if you actually have a pair of these glasses. If you don't there are websites out there that offer them for free if you send them an adressed enveloppe.

Okay so let’s dive into the depths of the 3D world. Okay bad pun, I know.

As you all know there are usually more than one way to achieve a desired affect, but this method is what I’ve found works best for me. I used Photoshop CS, though it can easily be done in other versions as well as PaintShop Pro.

Taking the photos

First of all you’re gonna need to take your photos. Easiest would be with a digital camera but of course you can use a regular camera and scan the images… Up to you…
What the 3D image does, is simulate your eyes seeing 2 different photos, one for the left, and one for the right eye. So naturally, you’re gonna have to take 2 photos.
Find a nice subject with some nice depths and some texture. A bare wall with one subject won’t really do. It would be best to use a stand or something to put your camera on so that it doesn’t move vertically. Take one picture, for the left eye, and then move the camera a bit to the right, about the same distance as the distance between your eyes, about 7cm.
(This will give you the most realistic view, but feel free to increase the space for a more dramatic effect.)

Feel free to practice with my left eye and right eye pictures.

Left Eye

Right Eye

Upload your pics and save them “left_eye” and “right_eye” respectively.

And then there was no color...

Now we start working on the images, so fire up Photoshop or whatever program you use, and open your 2 images.(If you want to adjust your images before you start working on them, make sure you do the same layer/color adjustments on both images.)

First we will edit the left_eye photo. Select that image, and then change it to grayscale by going to Image…Mode…Grayscale. Then change it back to RGB

Next, change the right_eye photo to grayscale, but don’t change it back to RGB mode.

Here come the Red & Blue
 

Save your left_eye image as 3d_image, as this will be your final image.
Select your 3d_image, and display the channel window. If it is not visible, activate it by going to Window…Channels.
Select only the BLUE and GREEN channels by clicking one of them, and then selecting the other by pressing SHIFT as you click. Your image should now be only in blue.

Next select your entire right_eye image by going to Select…All. Copy it and paste it into the 3d_image, with only the blue and green channels still selected.

Now click the eye next to the RGB Channel, to activate all channels. Your image will now have a blue and red image overlapping.

Technically, you are done now, but your image might need some adjusting…

Now get some glasses
If your image was taken from very far away, you might need to move the 2 overlapping images closer. To do this, choose a point in the middle of the image that would be the same for both eyes.

Then select the red channel only, by clicking it once, and move the image so the point matches for both the red and the blue image.

Congratulations, you have your own 3D image. Let’s just hope you have one of those dorky glasses now.
NOTE: To get optimal results, move your head farther and closer to the image until you get a perfect 3D image.

For different results, experiment with different distances between your left and right eye phpotos, as well as the distance form the subject.