Pixelated dream
To demonstrate this technique I'll use a picture of the J-Rock singer Camui Gackt, for no reason apart from the fact he's cute. (And yes, it's a he.). This is our starting image. We'll be using PSP7, but a work-around for earlier versions (a more tedious way to pixelate an image) is available at the end.
Let's start by duplicating the background layer. The easiest way to do that is through right-clicking the layer in the layer palette, which we'll need later on anyway.
Now make sure you're on the duplicated layer and let's pixelate it a bit... alright, a lot. Go to Effects, Geometric Effects, Pixelate and use the settings: block height 30, block width 30. Apply, and you should get something like this:
Ugly, isn't it? But all in a good cause. All that's left is to play some magic - in the layer palette, switch the pixelated layer's blend mode to Difference. Presto!
Well, not quite. In this particular case, the image is a bit dark. Here we have to exercise some creative judgement - in my case, I used Adjust, Brightness/Contrast, set to Brightness +30 and Contrast +20. That's better.
Fun, isn't it? This simple image modification can be used in lots of ways, especially if you aim to attract attention to your picture. Want to see a Gackt wallpaper I made?
Versions 6 and below:
If your version of PSP doesn't have the Pixelate effect, here's another way of doing it: after duplicating the layer, Image>Resize, Percentage of original: 5, resize all layers Unchecked, maintain aspect ration checked.
Now resize again, Percentage of original: 2000, Resize type: Pixel Resize.
The image used in this tutorial comes from The Japanese Channel.
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