February 7, 2006
tutorial - how to clone people
A couple years back I figured out a way to clone people in a picture real quick and easy like. Here’s an example of one I’m most proud of. I had the chance to create another “cloned-people picture” this past weekend:
While I was going through the process of making this one, I decided I would document all the steps it takes. Now anyone with a tripod and basic Photoshop skills can make one of their very own!
Step 01 - Get a Tripod
If you want to create less work for yourself when you get to Photoshop, finding something to keep the camera as steady as possible while your taking the pics is essential.
Step 02 - Make Sure You Have This Thing
I have no idea what it’s called, but It’s called a quick release plate and it screws into the bottom of most cameras to lock into the tripod (Thanks Jeff for the heads up).
Step 03 - Find a Scene
An open outdoor space is ideal, but a room with lots of light will do fine.
Step 04 - Find a Model
A good-looking friend will suffice. Someone who will trust you enough to order them around for a bit. This is Tucker.
Step 05 - Take the Pics
Tell your model to move to different spots within the scene. Take a picture whenever he/she is settled in a good spot. You want a little overlap here & there, but not so much that the Photoshop work becomes too overwhelming. Unless you like that sort of thing.
Step 06 - Computer Time
Transfer the pics to your computer and open them all in Photoshop. Close the pics that aren’t going to work. Narrow it down to a manageable amount of shots.
Step 07 - One Document / Many Layers
Stack them on top of each other as layers. If you don’t understand layers, this tutorial might not be for you.
Step 08 - Use the Selector
And cut out each clone quick and rough.
Step 09 - Clean Individual Clones
Use the eraser in airbrush mode. Turn down the hardness on that bad boy.
Step 10 - Erase
See how easy? There’s no need to cut the clone out exactly, because if you kept the camera steady, it’ll match up with the background.
Step 11 - Adjust Color
If needed — make sure the color layers match each other.
Step 12 - Check Yourself
With your bottom layer (the empty scene) turned off, you should have something that looks like this.
Step 13 - Flatten & Unsharp
Save your work as a .psd file before you flatten. I like to make the image a bit more crisp at this point by using Unsharp Mask. Also, play with the levels and such to enhance the image as you see fit.
Step 14 - Resize
You’re done.
I hope you found this tutorial useful. If you use it to make one yourself, I’d love to see it (and maybe someday show them off here). Leave a link to it in the comments or shoot me an email with it.
27 responses to “tutorial - how to clone people”
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Desiree:
Hi…. I only ventured to cloning yesterday… and appreciate that you have this tutorial here. I use PSP8, not Photoshop, but was still able to enjoy your tutorial. Thanks. :)
Tanner:
i just got photoshop and i have my tripod and my camera, im in photoshop and i know how to layer them, but when im erasing my un wanted part of the picture im having trouble erasing it all and the magic eraser dosent work very well as well as the eraser itself and i was wondering if there was any other way that was easier to going about it. (peices of my picture still apear little pieces)
if you could please help me that would be great!!
Matt:
Found you though a link in a Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/multiplicity/discuss/72157594398633542/
Great tutorial!
Kris:
very cool, thanks for the tutorial! just one question: what do you do when there are overlapping parts, in this case: your shoe behind the shoulder of your clone ?
thanks!
tauri:
i really want to make a picture like this but i dont have adobe and i dont want to download it. can you teach me how to do it on PhotoImpact Pro 11? It doesnt look anything like adobe so i was totally lost.
thanks
-Tauri
Rew:
Hey,
Thanks for the cool tutoria, great stuff, here’s the link to my first try, which i was actuall quite happy with…..
http://flickr.com/photos/sendersept/393447731/
Comments would be welcome obviously, from any fellow flickrites!!!!
peace
Rew.
Brandi:
I saw this tutorial and 10 minutes later had my first clone. It was sooo easy and simple. I dont know how I didn’t think of it before. Thanks so much for putting this up here and letting us all in on the secret of great cloning!
Liana Robert:
hihi this is o cool!
diskostu sagt… links for 2007-02-27:
[…] How to clone people Wie man Leute auf Fotos mehrfach darstellen kann (tags: foto tutorial artikel bildbearbeitung) · Gelesen: 1 · heute: 1 […]
links for 2007-03-05 « blah! blah! blahg!:
[…] energyface ยป tutorial - how to clone people how to clone people (tags: howto tutorial) Filed under: Uncategorized | […]
stephanie:
wow i’ve been trying to do this for a while not not coming out very well and i dont have photo shop yet just paint and it came out very well…..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephledbetter25/414787118/
mento:
is camera tripod is same with handycam tripod?
Spondicious Photography » Tutorial on how to do cloning in PhotoShop:
[…] Here’s how to make a funny photo that looks like there has been some over production of someone in the cloning centre. […]
Image Design » Blog Archive » Flickr: Clones Meet Clones:
[…] …and look! Someone even made a nice “How to Clone People” tutorial. Can you spot the production error along with what added step might make the process easier? […]
Marisa Bennett:
Hey I just saw an example of this yesterday in Wired Magazine. It’s a feature called “Found: Artifacts from the Future” and this one is a clone reunion picture.
Check it out: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.05/found.html
Marissa:
THANK YOU!
I’ve been looking for a cloning tutorial for a long time.
This helps alot.
:]
kristian:
Hey,
My friend has a few cloned pictures and he tried to tell me how to do it but it was kind of confusing. I dont have photoshop but i do have Photoimpression so i was wondering if you could help me through that…or just on regular paint!
Thankx that would be amazing
Kristian
fernando:
How do you clone people in movement (video footage)?
photographyVoter.com:
How to clone people…
Easy way to clone people….
Cloning People Using Photo Techniques and Photoshop at Imaging Insider:
[…] Read More… […]
Stephanie:
I’ve been doing complicated cloning images for a while now, and this is the first tut I’ve found on how to do it. You can go see them on my Myspace. Thanks!
Updates, The Sloan’s, Canon 7D, Manual Settings and More | Photography Bay:
[…] The secret to cloning people. […]
Link Roundup 08-18-07 | Epic Edits Weblog:
[…] How To Clone People energyface Nope, this isn’t an article on how to clone people out of photos — it’s quite the contrary. […]
BOINKOLOGY: Insightful analysis of sex and culture.:
[…] Got a great idea for some self love action, but not sure how this Photoshop voodoo works? Check out this tutorial for some tips. […]
m@cs:
Hey man! your tutorial is the best!!!
I wanted to do it via Photomatix, but I realized that was impossible, so, your tut do it!
hahathatsawsome:
kool
lexy:
that pretty interesting