Harry & all Photoshoppers

[MikeMc]

I know it can be used but how?

I would like to preview body mods and the like. For example, I'm working on a 32 ford sedan. I would like to preview a top chop but don't know how to do a 2" 4" and 6" chops with the software. YES I'm trying to find a class to learn more...but I want to now!!!

[Harry P.]

The problem is, learning Photoshop is not particularly easy or fast.

You can learn the basics in a few days, but there's so much more that Photoshop can do... it would take a long time to learn it all. I've been using Photoshop pretty much every day for the past 20 years and there's still plenty of functions that I never use, plenty that I don't know how to use, and probably plenty more that I don't even know about!

If you're really serious about learning, I'd download the free 30 day trial of Photoshop from the Adobe site, and get a "Photoshop for Dummies" type book... they explain things a lot better than the actual Photoshop help or tutorials, which just seem to make things more complicated than they really are.

[MikeMc]

The problem is, learning Photoshop is not particularly easy or fast.

You can learn the basics in a few days, but there's so much more that Photoshop can do... it would take a long time to learn it all. I've been using Photoshop pretty much every day for the past 20 years and there's still plenty of functions that I never use, plenty that I don't know how to use, and probably plenty more that I don't even know about!

If you're really serious about learning, I'd download the free 30 day trial of Photoshop from the Adobe site, and get a "Photoshop for Dummies" type book... they explain things a lot better than the actual Photoshop help or tutorials, which just seem to make things more complicated than they really are.

I've got the full blown edition already....I was hoping for a little cut and paste help...this is my start...

[Harry P.]

ok, this is "down and dirty"... I didn't bother fixing the background, because all you want to see is how the chop would look.

A small chop:

A bigger chop:

[MikeMc]

I think that showed me the way to go Harry!

Looking at the "rat trap" logo ...I'm gonna get a better picture and try it!

Thanks Big Guy!!

[Eric Stone]

If you want to try a known amount of chop (2", 4", 6", etc), then measure the windows on the actual body and get an idea of how high they are. Let's pretend they're 18" in scale. Then on the image you have, draw a box or make a selection or do something that will give you an idea of how many pixels it takes to cover that 18" (if you draw something, it can be undone, you just need to get the number in your head). Let's say the window opening is 180 pixels tall. Then do the math and you'll find that on your image, each scale inch is 10 pixels. Then you can select the top portion of the roof like Harry has done, cut, and paste, and from where it was originally sitting, slowly drag it down 20 pixels, 40 pixels, 60 pixels, etc. to see how the different chops would look. When you're dragging that section, there should be some coordinates of your pointer displayed in the bottom of the screen somewhere (I have Paint Shop Pro, but I assume Photoshop is very similar) that you can use to monitor how many pixels you're moving. I've used this method to photoshop a pic of my buddy's car to see how it would look with 1.5" lowering springs. In that case, my known distance was the 17" wheel, then I just did the math and cut a large chunk of the image around the bottom of the sheetmetal, around the inside of the wheel openings, and up and across the top to include the sky and background, then dragged that top half down 1.5" (or X # of pixels) over the wheels to make the car sit lower in relation to them.

Hope this helps.