UPLOAD
Create an
Insect Eye
I wanted an insect-eye effect in
Photoshop, but I wasn’t satisfied with
the ones that I found as plugins. So
I made my own. This procedure works
with Photoshop 6 or later.
1. CREATE A NEW DOCUMENT
Begin a new blank document in RGB mode, size
21"× 21", 100dpi, filled with solid black.
2. MAKE A GRID
Go to Edit → Preferences → Guides and Grid to specify a gridline every ½", with 1 subdivision. Now select
View → Show → Grid, and View → Snap To → Grid.
3. PASTE IN YOUR PHOTO
Open a photo, crop it to 6"× 6" at 100dpi (Figure A),
select all, copy, and switch to your blank document.
Paste the photo, which will show in Layer 1 over the
black background. Use the Move tool to drag the
photo down to the bottom-right corner of the canvas.
4. DEFINE A MARQUEE
First we’re going to take multiple samples from
the photo at steps of ½". Choose the Rectangular
Marquee tool, use Window → Show Options to
display the Options Palette, and in its Style pull-down menu, select Fixed Size, then enter width 6",
height 3". (Type “ 6 in” and “ 3 in” if inches are not
your default units.) Feather should be 0.
5. COPY ROWS 1–6
Imagine the grid dividing your photo into 12
horizontal slices, numbered 1–12 from top to
98 Make: Volume 16
Make a multifaceted image
from any portrait photo.
By Charles Platt
bottom. Click with the Marquee tool to select rows
1–6. Hold down Command+Option (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt
(Windows) while dragging a copy all the way up to
the top-right corner of the canvas.
6. COPY OTHER ROWS
Now select rows 2–7 and drag a copy of them up to
touch the bottom edge of the previous copy. Repeat
this procedure to copy rows 3–8, 4–9, and so on,
until your copies look like Figure B.
7. COPY COLUMNS
Reset the Rectangular Marquee tool to a fixed size
of 3"× 21". Imagine your photo segments divided
into vertical grid-columns numbered 1–12, from left
to right. Use the Marquee tool to drag a copy of
columns 1–6 over to the extreme left-hand edge
of the canvas, then drag a copy of columns 2–7
to touch the previous copy, and so on. The result
should look like an array of 49 tiles, each containing
6× 6 grid squares (Figure C). Save your work so far.
Photography by Charles Platt
