Creating a “Twirling” Digital Art effect in Photoshop Elements

This tutorial is about using a Photoshop Elements technique to produce a Digital Art image with a twirling effect.

Photoshop Elements Skill Level: Beginner Time:15 Mins.

Some notes worth considering before we start.

Effect radiating from the centre will require that our source image´s main content is centered on a horizontal plain and in the middle. An image where the main content is in a corner for example, will result in the effect emanating from that point, so cropping to suit the desired effect may be worth considering. At the end of the day it´s about experimentation.
My personal preference is for bright and vibrant colours, it´s what works best for me but again it´s personal choice and Hue and Saturation, Contrast and any sharpening can be dealt with in the final stages. The final image top left has had Hue and Saturation at +45,Contrast at +48 and Sharpening at +30. I have found HDR and Tone Mapped images work especially well, again due to the vibrancy of the colours.
Click on the screenshots for larger view.

load the source image in PSE. I´m using an old image of the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia.

Step 1: Select Filter>Pixelate>Mezzotint >Medium Lines> OK

Step 2: Select Filter> Blur>Radial Blur Move the amount slider to 100, select the blur method to Zoom and quality to best and> OK.

Step 3: Press Ctrl+f (Command+F). (you can do this three or four times, I usually go for three times).

Step 4: Duplicate layer (PSE default is “background copy”, no need to rename it as we´re only using these two).

Step 5: Select the top layer (background copy), select Filter>Distort>Twirl , on the bottom of the dialog go to the angle slider and move to 75 Degrees (It does´nt matter if you use +- values for the the top Background copy layer or bottom locked layer as long as you use the opposite values for each layer) then> OK.

Step 6: Select the locked layer (background) Select Filter>Distort>Twirl, On the bottom of the dialog go to the angle slider and move to -75 Degrees. (opposite values to the background copy layer) then> OK.

(You can choose any values, they don´t have to be 75 it is just what i´m using for this image and the values don,t have to be +- equivalent. e.g. we could use +235 for one layer and -135 for the other layer this would create a more abstract design).

Step 7: Go back to the Background Copy Layer and set the blending mode to lighten, which you can select from the little tab above your layers it´s set by default to “normal” .

Step 8: Go to the locked background layer and click on it select merge visible, add Hue and Saturation,Contrast and Sharpness as desired.

Step 8. Add Hue and Saturation,Contrast and Sharpness as desired. Save image and you´re done.

This is a very quick and easy way to produce stunning Digital Art, with a high Fun Factor and almost any images will do, so before you discard or delete those out of focus or blurred shots turn them into Digital works of art instead ….enjoy!