blank
  • Free

    Tutorials

    • All free tutorials
    • Manipulations
    • Effects
    • Abstract
    • Techniques
    • Quick tips
    • Photography

    Popular tutorials

    Review articles

    Latest posts

    blank

    Amazing masonry photo gallery in Photoshop in 5 minutes

    03 March 2021
    blank

    Lost Love – Easy Photoshop Manipulation

    18 February 2021
    blank

    Integrate elements on new backgrounds

    15 February 2021
    blank

    Create an energetic portrait in Photoshop

    08 February 2021

    Photo apps

    Get to know other photo editors for mobile and desktop devices

    Manipulations stock

    Download free high quality stock assets for manipulation projects

    Browse by level

    Beginners tutorials

    Photoshop tutorials for beginner users

    Intermediate tutorials

    Tutorials for experienced users

    Advanced tutorials

    Tutorials for highly skilled artists
    Learn Photoshop online for free. Andrei Oprinca
  • Premium
  • Login
  • Sign up
  • Español
  • English
Home Tutorials Effects New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial
New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects
EffectsFreeIntermediateTutorials

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial

Andrei Oprinca
28 January 2011 02 February 2021
1
56,985
243
24
Revolutionary tools and AI technologies for creative photo editing
Available languages for this post
  • EnglishEnglish

I wanted to write a tutorial about this a long time ago but I was busy with other projects. Recently I saw on the cover of the Advanced Photoshop Magazine a manga effect and I decided I will go ahead and make my own version. I’m not using the same technique as in the magazine but the result is really cool. Enjoy

I don’t know how the guys at Advanced Photoshop magazine made this effect because I didn’t purchase that issue but I guess the only way of doing this is using the Liquify filter. You will see how many things you can do with this filter. I will show you my way of making the manga effect.

Final result preview

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

Resources used

  • http://cyanide-rain-stock.deviantart.com/art/UT-Stock-117-191972251

Step 1

As I said in the introduction of this tutorial, I used Photoshop’s Liquify filter to achieve this effect. It is best if you use a high resolution image because applying the Liquify filter on a low res image, it’s very likely that you will loose quality on that image.

For this tutorial I used a free stock image that’s 3000×4000 pixels. Using high resolution images like this gives you room to resize to a smaller resolution after you apply the filter.

So open your image in Photoshop and duplicate it so that you have one copy as backup. Now go to the duplicated layer and name it liquified, from now on you will work on this layer.

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

Step 2

Go to Filter>Liquify. Now let’s see what you can do here in order to create the manga effect. If you look at manga pictures you will immediately notice several things: 1 – big eyes, 2 – small eyes and nose and 3 – rounded head with pointed chin.

That’s exactly what you have to achieve using the Liquify filter controls. I suggest you use a big brush when you work with this filter because if you work with small brushes you will have irregularities on the straight lines and edges if the face.

The liquify tools that we will use the most are the Bloat Tool to make the eyes bigger, the Pucker Tool to make the nose and mouth smaller and the Forward Warp Tool to change the position of the nose and retouch the chin.

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

Step 3 – the eyes

Let’s start with the eyes. On the right side of the window you have the brush settings. As I said, use a big brush. How big? depends on the resolution of your image and the element you’re working on. On the eyes for example, use a brush size that is bigger than one eye.

We will use the Bloat Tool to make the eyes bigger and circular so select that tool. Click over one eye and you will see how it starts to change shape. Make several clicks on different spots of the eye and increase the size gradually keeping it’s rounded shape. Use the Forward Warp tool if needed to position the eyes correctly.

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

Step 4 – the mouth

You need to make the mouth a lot smaller. If your model has the mouth opened, this step will be more difficult. Select the Pucker Tool and as before, increase the brush size and make it bigger than the mouth itself.

Set the Brush Rate to about 30 and Brush Density to about 50. Start “brushing” on the lip corners and then on the center.

After that, get the Forward Warp and click and drag the corners of the mouth to make it narrower. See image below.

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

Step 5 – the nose

If you got the eyes and mouth right, I suggest you duplicate the layer before moving forward, just in case. Use the same technique as on the mouth to make the nose smaller. Use the Forward warp tool as many times as needed and use smaller size brushes to fix details.

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

Step 6 – head shape

Here you will have a bit more of work. The main objective is to make the lower half of the head smaller and rounder and the chin more pointed.

The main tool used here is the Forward Warp Tool. Use a big size brush to move parts of the face. You will have to lift the mouth and place it closer to the nose.

Try to keep the shape of the hair and not make very big “mutations” because people will mediately notice those mistakes. Decreasing the Brush Density will help avoiding that. Brush density works like the brush hardness when you paint with a regular brush.

When you done, get the Spot Healing Brush Tool and remove as many spots and imperfections from the skin. Remember to create as many duplicate backups as you feel comfortable.

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

Step 7 – color adjustments

Once your happy with the shape of the head, you can go ahead and add some color and contrast effects to make it look a bit more interesting.

First desaturate the image slightly using the Channel Mixer Adjustment layer at 45 Opacity. I gave it a touch of yellow using a Color Balance Adjustment layer and I increased the Yellows on the Mid and Highlight channels and the Cyans on the Shadows layer.

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

Step 8 – enhancing the eyes

Create a new layer above all the other layers, go to Edit>Fill and fill with 50% Gray. Set blend mode to Overlay and paint with the Dodge and Burn Tools as shown in the image below. Use about 30% of Strength on the Dodge/Burn tool. Do the same for both eyes.

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

That’s pretty much it. The rest of the things that I made are explained on my other manipulation tutorials. Basically I created a new layer, added Surface Blur to make he face smoother and erased the parts that I wanted to keep sharp.

Then  I created a Stamp with Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E, turned it into a Smart Object and added the Lighting filter. It’s a technique explained on the ending of the Manipulation Secrets part 3 – Global Light

Final Result – Before & After

New Manga Effect – Photoshop Tutorial Effects

Post views: 56,985
I Like ThisUnlike 243 Please Login to Vote
I Dislike ThisUn-Dislike 24 Please Login to Vote
Tags cartooncosplaycustom mangacute manga in PSeffectfree tutorialsjapanesemangamanga in PSmanganize youselfmanualphotoshopphotoshop mangarealturn you photos into mangatutorial

Similar tutorials

Hard Light Effect in Photoshop27:18

Hard Light Effect in Photoshop

Andrei Oprinca
2,199,856
15,753
devil-bride-psdbox-tutorial00:33:24

Devil’s bride – Create an angel of fire

Andrei Oprinca
498,480
5,794
Dramatic Lighting Photoshop Tutorial31:09

Dramatic Lighting Photoshop Tutorial

Andrei Oprinca
732,938
5,237
dramatic-skin-tones-retouching-photoshop

Dramatic Skin Tones Tutorial

Andrei Oprinca
84,541
5,128
breakeven-final-HD01:15:13

Breakeven – Advanced Manipulation Tutorial

Andrei Oprinca
15,594
2,468
Create a Fantasy Manipulation With Light Effects in Photoshop01:44:02

Create a Fantasy Manipulation With Light Effects in Photoshop

Andrei Oprinca
398,656
3,609
the-cowboy-final-HD34:48

The Cowboy – Composition Tutorial

Andrei Oprinca
78,319
2,841
cassiopeia-final-HD01:09:38

Cassiopeia – Manipulation Tutorial

Andrei Oprinca
11,524
2,566
blank
blank

Join PSD Box for more downloads

Create an account now

PSD Box photoshop tutorials

Welcome to my blog, I’m Andrei Oprinca and here you’ll find Photoshop tutorials for beginners and advanced users. Photoshop courses and advanced tutorials for professionals.

I also publish photo app reviews and graphic design articles to help you improve your design skills.

Useful links

  • PSD Box on Skillshare
  • Online design suite for your brand
  • My cheap Stock photos choice
  • Take your photo editing to the next level
  • Millions of top quality design assets

[FREE COURSE]​ Express Photoshop for Beginners

Learn the basics of Photoshop with 16 video episodes that will introduce you to the world pf Photoshop

Create a free account and start the course

    • No videos yet!
      Click on "Watch later" to put videos here
    • View all videos  

    • Don't miss new videos
      Sign in to see updates from your favourite channels

      Sign In  

    • You are not logged in!
      Login  |  Create new account
    • Free

      Tutorials

      • All free tutorials
      • Manipulations
      • Effects
      • Abstract
      • Techniques
      • Quick tips
      • Photography

      Popular tutorials

      Review articles

      Latest posts

      blank

      Amazing masonry photo gallery in Photoshop in 5 minutes

      03 March 2021
      blank

      Lost Love – Easy Photoshop Manipulation

      18 February 2021
      blank

      Integrate elements on new backgrounds

      15 February 2021
      blank

      Create an energetic portrait in Photoshop

      08 February 2021

      Photo apps

      Get to know other photo editors for mobile and desktop devices

      Manipulations stock

      Download free high quality stock assets for manipulation projects

      Browse by level

      Beginners tutorials

      Photoshop tutorials for beginner users

      Intermediate tutorials

      Tutorials for experienced users

      Advanced tutorials

      Tutorials for highly skilled artists
      Learn Photoshop online for free. Andrei Oprinca
    • Premium