displacement map HELP

[calebm12]

SO everyone said that these displacement maps were hard. and i am seeing they are much harder than the tutorial (which is taking text and distorting it to a rock). i am trying to do insert a pic inot the white square of a flag. the problem is that when i apply the displacement it repeats the image...sorta. i can bring down the displacement to 1 hor and 1 vert and it fits but it doesnt show any of the texture. its as if when i apply the displacement the image i have overlayed is not big enough to cover the area. check out the pic i have attached. any advice would greatly be appreciated. i tried not using hte displacement and just using overlay, but the image becomes to faded.
caleb

[urstwile]

Is it possible you have tile instead of stretch to fit checked on with the filter?

[calebm12]

i have tried both and they give me the same thing. its like when the pic gets pulled to the texture it is too short. what i am doing is magic wanding the white square, transfering it to a new layer, than using the cloning brush to bring in the pic. meaning the pic i bring in is the exact size of the white square. i think this is the problem...but dont know how to get the pic in there anyother way.

[hewligan]

There are two parts to putting your image onto the flag.

What you've been referring to as the texture is the result of the flag not being flat. This has two results for an image that would be placed on top of it:

1) The image will be distorted in places because of the shape, and

2) There will be shadows and highlights as a result of the light hitting the bumps in the flag

The displacement map covers (1), while setting the mode to overlay gives you (2).

Unfortunately, because the background you're trying to overlay on is white, the image will come out faded. The way around this is to make a copy of the flag layer, and mask out the bits you won't be overlaying with a layer mask.

Apply the Other -> High Pass filter to the copy of the flag. If it's anything like the flag I just tried it on, you'll want a radius of about 1.5-2. What you're aiming for is to get an image that is predominantly mid-grey, but with all the highlights and shadows visible.

Then overlay onto that.

Man, this sort of thing always looks much easier when I see it done on TV...

[calebm12]

so i mask out the black squares in the copy layer of the flag? and if this is correct....how do i mask out the black squares...i understand the high pass filter part. but do i just cut out the black squares of the copy before applying this filter? i am kinda new to psd. would really appreciate the help.

[hewligan]

You could cut them out, but it's generally better to use a layer mask.

To add a layer mask do Layer -> Layer Mask -> Reveal All. It won't look any different, but if you look in your layers palette, there is now a white preview box next to the preview box for the layer. If you click in there, you can select either the layer itself or the layer mask.

Anything part of the layer mask that is white, that part of the layer will be visible. Any part that's black, that part of the layer will be transparent. Greys make up a scale of opacity.

So just use whatever method you like to fill the relevant parts of the layer mask black.

That may sound complicated, but if you just give the layer mask a try, you'll probably quickly see what I mean.

[calebm12]

ok hew. forgive me. you got me turnign in circles with all this black and white stuff. i figured out how to apply the layer mask. no problem. just unsure...how this is gonna help me. it seems to make the texture radial.
also, do i combine the copied layer with the original layer of the flag. and if i color the white squares black...arent i just back where i started but with a radial texture to overlay instead of the original texture. i have attached a copy of the flag i am working with as it is rather strange.

caleb

[hewligan]

Don't worry too much about the layer mask if you don't get it. At least, not yet - it's something you will need to learn about :)

The point is that once you've applied the high pass, your flag doesn't really look like a flag anymore. You only want the filtered flag level to be visible in the places where it will be covered by picture.

Still, given the image you've got, here's an easy way...

1) Switch to your original flag layer.

2) Select the magic wand tool. Set your tolerance to 75, make sure that contiguous is unchecked, and sample all layers is unchecked.

3) Click in the middle of one of the white areas. That should, basically, select all of the white areas in the flag. You may need to tidy up the selection a little.

4) Switch to your filtered flag layer.

5) Do Layer -> Layer Mask -> Reveal Selection

Now, the black from your original flag should be showing through, but the white should be covered by the filtered grey.

[calebm12]

ok. will give that a shot.
when i do the high pass....the whole high pass layer is visible. it doesnt show the layer underneath it (the original flag layer)...probably doing something wrong..will go to barnes and noble tomm for a book. will try your directions though tomm....going out now. thanks again for your patience...and help.
take it easy.
caleb

[hewligan]

That's what the layer mask is for - to hide the parts you don't want.

["Technical" Terry]

I agree with the use of displacement map to achieve the look, but it will not "fit" your picture into the square. I would just use the "warp" command for fitting, especially if you are going to put more than one picture in on the flag. (Edit>Transform>Warp)