add realistic fire to photo using photoshop

In Photoshop tutorial we will teach you to add realistic fire to photo using photoshop. Here we given full steps with screen shots and details instructions,

add realistic fire to photo using photoshop

Step 1: Now I’m going to show you how to add a fire to photo using Adobe Photoshop. We need couple of images,  girl’s image & 2nd image of fire. So I’m starting with these two images:

Step 2: Let’s start with girl image, name it FireGirl and hit OK.

With the “FireGirl” image active, duplicate the “background” layer. Set the foreground and background color to black and white by pressing D on the keyboard. Click the “background” layer again and fill it with the foreground color ~ which is set to black. See the images below.

Step 3: Reactivate “Layer 1,” then press Command + Shift + U to apply desaturate command. Now invert the color by pressing Command + I. Your image should look like a film’s negative now.

Step 4: Duplicate “Layer 1,” then apply the find edges filter from Filter > Stylized > Find Edges. Next, invert the color by pressing Ctrl + I and change the Blending Mode to Hard light. There, your image now has contrast white line and a very dark background.

Step 5: To give the white line more contrast, duplicate the “Layer 1” copy then change the Blending Mode to Screen.

Step 6: Now we move to the second image. Drag image “Fire” into “FireGirl” document image window using the Move tool.

Step 7: The fire image from “Fire” should be in “Layer 2” now. Change its Blending Mode to screen, this will hide all the black colors in “Layer 2.” If done right, your image should be similar to the one below.

Step 8: Duplicate “Layer 2” by pressing Ctrl + J. Make sure you use the Screen Blending mode, same as the original “Layer 2.” Next, make “Layer 2” become invisible by hiding it from the layers panel.

Step 9: Click the “Layer 2 copy” to make it active, then use the Free Transform command ( Edit > Free Transform) to rotate and resize the fire image like shown below. Don’t forget to press Enter when you’re done transforming.

Step 10: Still in the same layer, now use the warp command (Edit > Transform > Warp) to bend the fire image – so it following the hair flow. Press Enter when done. See the example below as a reference.

Step 11: If you feel the result is not quite good enough, simply use the Liquify filter to fix it. I assume you already know how to use the liquify filter; the Forward Warp tool and Twirl Clockwise tool is the only tool I used to get this result (see image below).

Step 12: Duplicate the “Layer 2” copy, then use the Free Transform command to resize and rotate the fire image in the current layer. Don’t forget to reposition the fire image too. Once you get this composition (see image below), hit Enter.

Step 13: Repeat the previous process to get the hair covered with fire. Just duplicate and modify the layer until you get all the hair part covered. If needed, use the Liquify Filter again. The end result of this process should look like the image below, notice how many layers are used.

Step 14: Okay, now activate “Layer 2” and make it visible again. Then Change the Blending Mode to Vivid Light. This step will colorize only the white line in the layer below it.

Step 15: Still in “Layer 2,” apply the Free Transform command to resize and rotate the fire image like shown below. The purpose is to cover up the girl’s body and hair with the fire texture. Press Enter when you’re done transforming.

Step 16: We’re gonna blur the fire image in “Layer 2,” To do so, apply the Gaussian Blur filter from the Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur menu. Fill the Radius around 10 to 15 pixels, then click OK when done. Blurring the fire image will cause its texture to blend smoother with the layer below it.

Step 17: Now add a layer mask to “Layer 2.” Then use a soft round Brush tool with Opacity at 100%. Set the brush size according to your need, then just mask until the fire outside becoming hidden. See the process below.

Step 18:

Now go to the top most layer (mine is: “Layer 2 copy 5”), add two adjustment layers which is Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast. Careful not to change the layer adjustment order, or the color effect will be wrong. Below you can see the setting I used to complete this step, also pay attention to the adjustment layer order.

By adding a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, we unify all colors. The Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer brings more color contrast and makes sure the image color’s looks like real fire.

Step 19: I’m sure you notice the fire sparks effect. I create it using the Brush tool with this simple setting. No special brush needed, but if you have one that will be useful then feel free to use it. Below you can see all the settings I used within the Brush palette, of course you can change the setting as you like. Just make sure the brush spatter enough and vary the size.

Step 20:

Now to use the modified brush, create a new blank layer below the adjustment layers ( mine is named “Layer 3”). Choose 50% gray from the swatches palette, then you can start creating the fire sparks. Remember not to be monotone, resize the brush size if needed. I start using a big sized brush, then reduce it to smaller size (you can change brush size faster by pressing the bracket keys on the keyboard ).

If you’re not sure how to do this steps, just imagine where and how the fire sparks will flow if it was real fire. For me, imagining stuff is very helpful.

Step 21: To make it more interesting, copy the “Layer 3” by pressing Ctrl+J & set the Blending Mode to “Screen” of Layer 3 copy then reduce the Opacity to 25%.

Now my image is looking like this.

And we done it! Here’s my final image.

Hope you learned something new and had fun.

Thank You!