Animal Morphing Tutorial in Photoshop

Stock images used

Horse – http://www.sxc.hu/photo/553364

Ostrich – http://www.sxc.hu/photo/438886

Step 1

For this tutorial I worked with the original sized of the stock images. Open the ostrich stock image in Photoshop and duplicate it so that you have a backup.

Now get the Clone Stamp Tool (S) and sample the grass around. Then start brushing over the head of the ostrich to cover it with the grass you sampled. If you use the clone source you will have more control. To know more about the true power of the Clone Source visit read this awesome article by   SmashingMagazine The Ultimate Guide To Cloning In Photoshop. 

Step 2

On, now let’s mask the neck. If you look just where the neck of the ostrich bends, you will see that the background changes. That makes things a bit more difficult in terms of cloning but luckily there are no straight lines so let’s move on.

With the Clone tool still selected, increase the size a bit so that you sample dirt and grass at the same time. Try to recreate the separation line between the grass and the dirt. See image below.

Step 3

Once you have the neck and head hidden, open the horse stock photo in Photoshop. Get the Pen Tool (P) and start drawing a path around the horse and the rider.You only need the frontal part of the horse’s body and the rider so don’t worry about the back.

When you’re done, with the Pen Tool still selected right click and choose Make Selection. Mask or delete the background and then paste the horse on a new layer above the layer that contains ostrich.

Step 4

We’re almost there. All you have to do now is to mask parts of the horse you don’t want like the legs or the belly. I suggest you use a layer mask instead of using the Eraser Tool (E) in case you want to rebuild masked areas.

There you have it. Hope you liked this tutorial. If you need any assistance on this tutorial post a comment and let me know. Also feel free to stumble it or tweet it. See you on the next tutorial.