Step #1:
Choose a car. I chose this nice Subaru for fun. Open up the file in PS.


Step #2:
If you look to your left there should be a little tool box with all your tools in PS. I am using Photoshop Elements 2 so my box will be different then the one you have if you are using a different version. But all PSs are esentially the same.

Click the Polygonal Lasso Tool. If it is not already on the tool box there then find the Freehand Lasso or Lasso tool and click on it and hold down the button until more options appear. Then choose the polygonal lasso tool.


Step #3:
Now take the PL (Polygonal Lasso) tool and start at the left of the car and work your way right. You want to be going around the bottom of the body and up in all of the wheel wells. This tool allows you to click then move to another spot and click again to complete the line. You do not have to hold this tool down. When you get to the other side of the car take the PL and click just about 2MM past the edge of the pic into the grey area. Then go up and around the whole image in the grey outside untill you are back on the other side of the picture to where you started. Connect the end with the start and you should have something that looks like this.


Step #4:
Now when the whole outline of the bottom of the car and the whole top of the image is outlined still using the PL tool right click on that selection and choose layer via copy.


Step #5:
Go back to the tool box and click on the 'Move Tool' it should look something like this.


Step #6:
Now you are ready to lower the car. Click on the body of the car with the move tool and then hold down the shift key. While holding down the shift key click and hold onto the body of the car and carefully drag it down. The shift key makes the car stay on the same lines as it was when the car was at it's original height. When you have the car where you want it in height then you release the mouse before you release the shift key and now your car will be lowered and look something like this.


Step #7:
Now it is time for clean up on the picture. You dont want the car to have ugly outlines around it where you didnt get close enough to the frame so it leaves a coloured line around the edges. If you dont know what I am talking about look at this picture.

Notice the gray lines around the edge of the bumper. That is not allowed. Just look around the car and see if there are any of those.

Step #8:
To clean this up go back to the tool box and click on the eraser tool. It should look something like this.

When you have that selected then look up just under the menu bar at the top of the screen. There should now be an area that looks like this.

Play with the brush sizes and styles untill you get one that is the right size for the clean up you need to do.Then proceed to go around the spots you need to clean CAREFULLY. If you make a mistake you can always choose undo and start again.


Step #9:
Now you might of noticed this at the top of the page.

That is the extra stuff that is left over from when you lowered the car. You have to clean that up. So go back to the tool box and click the Rectangular Marquee tool.

Then take that and line it up with the bottom edge of the line and select all the area that you can without going onto the car and not going above that line. It should look something like this.


Step #10:
Now go back to the tool box and click back on the move tool.

Now the selection that you made with the Rectangular Marquee tool should look different. There should be little squares at the corners and the middle of the outline. If you look at the top of the outline there should be a little box on it. Move your mouse over it and notice that it changes to 2 arrows one pointing up and one pointing down. This means that you can now stretch the selected area either up or down with this little box. Since we want to cover up the area above the selection then we click on the box and drag it up. This will now stretch the selection over that top area. Stretch it so that it is slightly past the top of the whole image. It should look something like this.


Step #11:
Click on the RM tool and then click on the grey area outside of the picture. This should remove the lines around that selection. And that is it. You are done lowering your first car and it should look something like this.


CRX Forum

 

thanks man!!!! :thumbup: :goodjob:

 

ya thats way kewl. thx

 

Nice work man! I never take the time to do photoshop DIYs... just car DIYs.

I appreciate the effort! :goodjob:

 

ditto on the PS DIY. Good write up with pics!

 

why does mine snap a line from the lat point all the way back to the first point?

 

That's what it is supposed to do. With the polygonal lasso too you keep clicking where you want the dotted line to go next. If you just want to free-hand it, use the regular lasso tool. If you want it to follow the edges, use the magnetic lasso tool.

 

no no no.....like I go from left to right with the lasso, then when I get to the back end of the car it snaps a line all the way from the last point on the line to the first point at the front of the car

 

RED X's dun lower :dunno:

 

are you double clicking?