Curious about 3D technology and visual effects? Did you know that you can easily make your own 3D photos on your own computer? With a pair of red-blue 3D glasses, a digital camera, and some photo editing software, you too can make your very own three-dimensional photographs, also known as anaglyphs. See Step 1 below to get started!
Method 1 of 2: Photoshop Method
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1Find a subject. If you cannot take two pictures at once (say, with a stereo camera, or with two similar cameras), then make sure your subject has almost no movement between shots. Scenes that have a lot of depth and that are photographed without blur in the foreground and background make the best 3D shots.Ad
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2Take two photos of the same scene, moving the camera at least 2 inches horizontally. It's not critical that you make the boundaries exactly match, but it is critical for many shots that both photos are close to perfectly horizontal. It would be a good idea to use a tripod with a level.
- Name your files "right" and "left" for easy distinction.
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3Open your images separately in Photoshop.
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4Select the right image by clicking the Select tab at top and clicking All, or by using CTRL-A.
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5Copy the right image. After you've selected the right image, you can copy it either by clicking the Edit tab at top and clicking Copy, or by using CTRL-C.
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6Open the left image. You can close out the right image by clicking the smaller, gray X in the upper right corner (but not the large red X).
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7Paste the right image onto the left image. Click Edit at the top and then Paste, or use CTRL-V.
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8Know your layers. Now that you've pasted the right image on top of the left image, the left image contains layers, which you can see on your right-hand toolbar under the layers tab. The right photo is Layer 1; the left photo is still listed as Background.
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9Double-click Layer 1 to bring up the Layer Style Box.
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10Under Advanced Blending and Channels, uncheck R. This will keep all the Red in the right photo unblended. Click OK. You'll notice red-cyan strokes on your photo now.
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11Double-click Background. You're going to make this into Layer 0. Just click OK on the box that comes up.
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12Grab the move tool. This should be the top-most arrow on your toolbar at the left.
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13Choose a focal point. Where you place your focal point will effect how your photo looks 3D. To have a sort of "backwards and forwards" depth, choose one that's at about the middle - not too far in the background, but not directly in the foreground, either.
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14Using the move tool, drag the red portion of your focal point over to its counter part in the other image. Your focal point shouldn't have any crazy red or cyan strokes directly around it.
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15Crop off the leftovers. Grab your crop tool and select the portion of the image that includes both colors. Exclude the strip of bright red or cyan around the border that you generated when you matched up focal points.
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16Save your file.
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17View the photo with 3D glasses, keeping the red lens over the left eye.You should be able to view the image on your computer or on a printed sheet.
Method 2 of 2: Free 3D Photo Maker
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1Download a free 3d photo maker online.
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2Select input images. You need to take two shots of a still set object captured with a small horizontal shift. Usually the distance must be about 2 to 3 inches to create the correct effect.
- Exclusive feature: You can make a 3D picture out of one source image file. Just check the "Use single image" box.
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3Select the output location. Name your new file.
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4Select True Anaglyph on the drop menu.
- 5Click the Make 3D button.Ad
Do you know about photography? We could use your help!
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Tips
- Having a stereo camera, or two identical cameras, to take two pictures side-by-side gives you a lot more flexibility, because you get full color results, and you can take objects in motion, even ones moving very fast.
- You should ideally move the camera 2 cm for every 1 m to the subject for the best effect. For instance, if your subject is 3 meters away, move your camera 6 cm for the next shot.
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