How to Create a Scar in Photoshop

▶ Download the practice files for this tutorial (free with a PHLEARN account): phlearn.com/tutorial/create-scar-photoshop/

Turn a plain photo into a Halloween-ready wound using layered clone stamping, dodge and burn, and a little fake blood.

Aaron builds a completely believable scar from scratch: shaping it with the Lasso tool, cloning in recessed skin with a clipping mask, dodging and burning around the edges for depth, adding reddened skin and blood, and finally matching the blur of the rest of the photo so the wound looks like it was always there.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro: A Scar for Halloween
1:00 Drawing the Scar Shape with the Lasso Tool
2:09 Filling the Scar with the Clone Stamp Tool
2:58 Using Clipping Masks on the Scar Layers
4:29 Dodging and Burning for Depth
6:28 Adding Red Around the Wound
7:40 Painting in Blood
10:24 Blending the Scar with the Blur Tool
11:39 Wrap-Up

THE STEPS
1. Draw your scar's outline with the Lasso tool, then fill with black (Shift+Delete)
2. On a new layer, clone stamp skin tone from nearby, then clip it to the scar layer (Opt/Alt+Cmd/Ctrl+G)
3. Use Curves (Cmd/Ctrl+M) to darken that cloned skin so it reads as recessed flesh
4. On a new Soft Light layer, paint black and white to dodge and burn raised and folded skin around the wound
5. On a new Overlay or Soft Light layer, paint a dark red sampled from the image to redden the surrounding skin
6. Clone stamp real blood from elsewhere in the photo, mask it to stay off the black, and finish edges with a hard-edge brush
7. Use the Blur tool (with Sample All Layers on) to match the scar's focus to the rest of the image

Get the full step by step breakdown here: phlearn.com/tutorial/create-scar-photoshop/

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#Photoshop #Halloween #PhotoEditing