Droste Effect - How I Did It.

anonymouscuban

I posted a photo yesterday of my interpretation of the theme "Optical Illusion" of DSS #92. I thought I'd share how I did it so here you go...

First off, I used Pixel Blender which is a plugin for Photoshop. You can get the plugin for CS5 here for free:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/pixelbenderplugin/

You'll also need to download the Droste filter file that you copy to the Pixel Blender directory. You can can get it here along with some brief instructions on how to use it. It's also free. I love free stuff :clap
http://www.subblue.com/projects/droste

OK... so I decided to use a different image just to make sure I can actually get the effect right a second time. The first time was total trial and error. Additionally, that first photo was a bit disturbing so I'm sparing you from looking at it. :deal

I took a shot of myself in the mirror, uploaded it to Lightroom and then to CS5. This is what I started with:



I unlocked the layer by dragging the little lock icon on the layer pallet down to the trashcan. This would allow me to erase part of the image. I then erased the inside of the lens since I wanted to "frame" the recurring image inside of it. 100 different ways to erase a selection... since it's a perfect circle that I wanted to remove, I just selected a round brush and adjusted it to size. Ended up with this:



Now I was ready to run it through the filter. Go to Filter>Pixel Blender>Pixel Blender Gallery to open the filter utility.



First thing I did is set the sliders to the size of my image. Then I adjusted the "radiusinside" slider to get the size of the inside image to fit in the lens. Then I unchecked the "transparentoutside" box since the outside of the image is not transparent. Then I moved the "centershift" sliders to get recurring image lined up inside the lens. Last, I played with the "center" sliders to move the overall image up and down. I went back and tweaked each slider until I got everything perfect and closed the filter. I then edited the image as I wanted and viola:

slpollett

Thanks for the simple to follow tutorial on a very fun effect. Might actually need to try this one!

Sherry

Cuong

Good stuff, Alex. It's always easier when someone explains in layman's term.

Cuong

Latinooo

Thanks a lot .. it was really helpful

GretaPics

Really appreciate your sharing this info. (I don't know from optical illusions myself in terms of creating them.) I was quite taken with your challenge entry-definitely kept me looking and wondering. Thanks, GP

PedalGirl

Very cool... I need to get CS5... right now I just have Elements 10... so no pixelbender for me.

anonymouscuban

PedalGirl wrote: »

Very cool... I need to get CS5... right now I just have Elements 10... so no pixelbender for me.

Actually, you can download a stand alone version of Pixel Blender. You can find it here, top right of page. There is a version for Mac and one for Windows:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/pixelbender.html

PedalGirl

anonymouscuban wrote: »

Actually, you can download a stand alone version of Pixel Blender. You can find it here, top right of page. There is a version for Mac and one for Windows:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/pixelbender.html

Sweet! Thanks... I'll have to download that and play when I get home tonight! :ivar

tinamarie52

Glad to see you back in the Challenges forum...challenging us, as usual. I think the last time I saw you here you were up to your wazoo remodeling a bathroom or a house or something like that.

This is a very cool tool. Thanks for shairng it with us.

Chris

Bendr

Can I say, I really like this one!

Ben

Ayman Fouad

hi .. i did all the steps to download the filter into my pS 5 and still cant show it in the filter menu !!! can u help me with this please !

ziggy53

A wonderful use of an interesting effect.

In addition to using Pixel Bender, a similar Droste Effect is available in the GIMP, using G'MIC.

http://gmic.sourceforge.net/gimp.shtml

It is simply called "Droste" and available in the "Arrays & Frames".

travelways

Very cool, indeed!