Photoshop Elements > Retouching >

Liquify Filter

You can use tools in the Liquify filter to:

• Remove bulges from arms, legs, and thighs.

• Make a nose smaller.

• Make eyes or lips larger.

• Make chins, stomachs, and thighs, smaller.

• Refine a chin or jaw line.

• Change an expression slightly.

• Adjust eyebrows slightly.

Grid

You may want to display the grid.

Go to View > Grid.

When you compare the retouched Background copy layer—to the unretouched Background layer—the grid facilitates seeing the evenness of the retouching.

Unfortunately, the grid isn't visible when you're using the Liquify filter.

Liquify Filter

Go to Filter > Distort > Liquify.

Tools

The tools are on the left side

The tool shortcuts are below.

Forward Warp	w
Pucker	p
Bloat	b
Shift Pixels	s
Reconstruct	e
Zoom	z
Hand	h or hold down the space bar

Brushes

Brush modifications are on the right side.

You can't change the values using the scrubby slider.

Press the bracket keys to change by single digits.

To change in increments of ten, press and hold Shift while using the bracket keys.

Reduce the brush pressure to slow down a tool's action.

Brushes are not able to be feathered when using the Liquify filter.

Generally, a smaller brush reacts more slowly than a larger brush.

If you move the brush, usually, move it slightly.

Background

Usually, you want the tools to act only on the skin, not the background.

Typically, the tool is acting on skin and the background.

If there's a plain background where you're going to edit, the tool action probably won't show.

If the background has a distinctive pattern, try these two strategies.

Strategy #1

Select the background area.

You may want to feather the selection.

Then, "flip" the selection.

Go to Select > Inverse.

Now, when you open the Liquify filter, the tools will only affect the selected area.

However, some of he background will be dragged "out-from-under" the selected area.

This area may need to be repaired with Strategy #2 below.

Strategy #2

If the background area becomes noticeably distorted, use the Clone Stamp tool to cover the distorted area with undistorted background.

Three Undo Methods

#1

The Reconstruct tool is like an undo brush.

Use it to erase a distortion you've made to the photograph.

A single pass of the Reconstruct brush over a retouched area won't de-liquify the area completely.

Multiple passes are required to revert back to the original.

#2

Click the blue undo arrow, or press Ctrl + z, to undo your last action.

#3

Click Revert to start over.

Which Tool?

Choosing which tool to use can be confusing, as their actions are similar.

Experiment!

Download the photograph of a grid for experimenting.

Because it's abstract, you can see what the different tools do.

Then, experiment with an actual face.

Download the Grid

Forward Warp Tool

The Forward Warp tool pushes pixels in front of the brush as the brush moves.

Use the Forward Warp tool to push edges in or out.

Pucker & Bloat Tools

The Pucker tool pulls the image inward toward the center of the brush, as long as you hold the mouse button down.

For example, center the brush on the tip of a nose.

Click and hold briefly, to make the nose smaller.

Use the Pucker tool make a chins, stomachs, and thighs smaller, as well.

The Bloat tool is similar to the Pucker tool.

It expands the image from the center of the brush outward.

For example, center the brush on an eye.

Click and hold briefly, to make the eye bigger.

You can also use the Bloat tool to enlarge lips.

Shift Pixels Tool

Think of this tool as the right-angle tool.

When you move the brush up or down, the pixels move to the left or right.

When you move the brush up, the pixels are shifted to the left.

When you move the brush down, the pixels are shifted to the right.

You can reverse the above actions by pressing and holding Alt.

When you move the brush clockwise around an area, the area becomes smaller.

When you move the brush counterclockwise around an area, the area becomes larger.

Summary

Move Brush Up	Pixels go to the left.
Move Brush Down	Pixels go to the right.
Alt & Move Brush Up	Pixels go to the right.
Alt & Move Brush Down	Pixels go to the left.
Drag Clockwise	Makes area larger.
Drag Counterclockwise	Makes area smaller.