New brush technique

[Doug Nelson]

This may be old news, but I accidentally came across it today when trying to do something else in PS. I can't think of any retouching use, so I'll throw it out to you Photo-Artists.

1. Load an image
2. Take a merged snapshot
3. Make a new blank layer, apply bevel and emboss layer style
4. Select history brush, with your snapshot as the source
5. Choose a natural media brush tip, preferably one with widely-spaced dots
6. With your blank layer active, start painting.

You'll need to fiddle with different emboss settings and brushes, but this is completely non-destructive, editable, and reversible.

[Doug Nelson]

A quick and artless demonstration of the above technique. Note that the raised areas are the original image, and that this is completely non-destructive (ie: my background layer is unedited).

[BigAl]

Hey Doug, nice to see you visiting this part of the forum

[jeaniesa]

Hey Doug - I just tried this out and got some really interesting effects! Very cool. For those of you who want to try this, make sure that after you've painted a few strokes that you adjust the bevel & emboss values - it can really make a difference in the effect you get, from soft to chiseled depending on soft vs. chisel setting, raised strokes to overall wash depending on size of bevel.

Thanks for sharing this Doug!

Jeanie

P.S. I did this attachment really fast and have no control of a "brush" in my hands, so please don't judge the quality of the result - I'm just posting to give another example of this effect.