Monday, January 17, 2011

In Soviet Russia, Images Shoop You

And then there was one.
Figures airbrushed out of history as they were purged (shot) by Stalin.
(From The Commissar Vanishes by David King)



Small-Print Tutorial - Making Your Own Stalinist Purges

Messy divorce? Split-up with girl/boyfriend? Goofy looking stranger in the background? Removing embarrassing figures from images isn't just for genocidal Communist dictators any more. Here's how.

If the background is regular, without dramatic differences in shading, you may get away with just copying a suitable blank bit of the background and pasting it over the offending figure. Click the Free Select Icon in the Toolbox (or <Tools><Selection Tools><Free Select> or Shift+F). Then click around the area you want to copy. When you get back to your starting point the outline of the area will change to be a dashed line. Ctrl+C to copy and then Ctrl+V to paste. Use the Move Tool to move the pasted area into position, then click the anchor icon in the Layers window to lock it in place.

Often you can get away with cloning another region of the image. Click the Clone Tool icon in the Toolbox (or <Tools><Paint Tools><Clone> or Shift+C). Hold down the Control key while clicking on the area you want to copy from, then release the Control key and click and drag over the target area to paint a copy (clone) of the source area.

TIP: the source and target areas can be on different layers or even different images - just be careful! (Don't try this while drunk or high.)

Finally, a great tool for rubbing out blemishes or smoothing the edges of copied or cloned regions is the Smudge Tool (or <Tools><Paint Tools><Smudge> or Shift+S).

Tomorrow we'll post a step-by-step example of using these techniques on a "walking Leo" picture. For now, please play around with Smudge, Clone and Free Select.

As an exercise, edit out all the members of the Obama cabinet who've been accused of tax fraud or have resigned "to pursue other interests" since this first cabinet meeting.
Posted by Suciô Sanchez at 13:40
Labels:

45 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 2:00 PM

    Stalin's moustache is too epic! Love the tutorial :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. TheDude748January 17, 2011 at 2:05 PM

    makes you wonder how many of these little propaganda incidents went unnoticed...

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  3. watchmanJanuary 17, 2011 at 2:09 PM

    do you have an example?

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  4. The ChampJanuary 17, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    Well, I am newly single with no suitable facebook pictures...

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  5. BTN Hip HopJanuary 17, 2011 at 2:14 PM

    man they had photoshop back then?

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  6. Major MackJanuary 17, 2011 at 2:28 PM

    i was thinking, *************************************************************************************************************** afterall.

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  7. ZakkJanuary 17, 2011 at 2:42 PM

    The soviets were masters of photoshop lol

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  8. Sharon DayJanuary 17, 2011 at 3:06 PM

    I saw that and a song popped into my head and wouldn't leave, but I realize it's the perfect song, George Thorogood's "I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself."

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  9. MaxJanuary 17, 2011 at 3:18 PM

    Photoshopping using L-ate techniques such A-s the s-M-udge tool and the clon-E tool.

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  10. VaporJanuary 17, 2011 at 3:46 PM

    That not photoshop, that's Stalin raising his TK numbers.

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  11. IsaacJanuary 17, 2011 at 4:09 PM

    haha send those annoying strangers you met in the club off the the gulags!

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  12. Monster MadnessJanuary 17, 2011 at 4:43 PM

    I didn't know they had photoshop back then. Awesome!

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  13. Tal ZahnJanuary 17, 2011 at 4:51 PM

    At first I had some trouble understanding what you meant, but I think i did an okay job after fiddling with the cloning tool. Except for one small part, everyone was hilary and the guy next to her on one side.

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  14. G345tJanuary 17, 2011 at 5:32 PM

    So true. Orwell wrote about it, just keep editing and don't acknowledge it and people won't be able to tell the difference.

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  15. NatáliaJanuary 17, 2011 at 5:42 PM

    Uh, would there be anyone left in the cabinet picture?

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  16. CopyboyJanuary 17, 2011 at 5:46 PM

    I'm much better with a magnetic tool than a lasso.

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  17. A Beer for the ShowerJanuary 17, 2011 at 5:49 PM

    There are so many ugly people I want photoshopped out of my personal collection, I don't even know where to begin...

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  18. Guy Movie BloggerJanuary 17, 2011 at 6:01 PM

    So the last picture... you'd be left with an empty table, amirite?

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  19. Justsayin'January 17, 2011 at 6:24 PM

    Photoshop can be an awesome tool :)

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  20. DooJanuary 17, 2011 at 6:32 PM

    Photoshop in communism was amazing :) and thats not the only example there are so many images that were altered over and over until they were happy with it

    Good tutorial for those who don't know how to do it =]

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  21. Niklas und SabethJanuary 17, 2011 at 6:39 PM

    No Movie Blogger! Stalin shopped all people away whom he killed... He didnt commit suicide though!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Mister SharafJanuary 17, 2011 at 6:39 PM

    haha nice post

    ReplyDelete
  23. PawawanpiJanuary 17, 2011 at 7:04 PM

    This post needs more moustaches.

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  24. systemAdminJanuary 17, 2011 at 7:24 PM

    Time for a nap.

    ReplyDelete
  25. BrutJanuary 17, 2011 at 7:34 PM

    In Russia, blog writes you.

    The government is just as corrupt now as it ever was.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Drew BriskiJanuary 17, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    soviet russia jokes are funny. That's some nifty advice you have in the small print there.

    ReplyDelete
  27. LesJanuary 17, 2011 at 8:33 PM

    Gotta love the old dictators. They knew how to get shit done.

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  28. Das Auto!January 17, 2011 at 8:38 PM

    good ol intimidation tactics.

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  29. stoneycaseJanuary 17, 2011 at 9:21 PM

    LOL, it's gonna be hard to get rid of him in the front Sucio :) Good job adding a lil bit of current politics to the post though. Well played sir, well played. Vote Sucio!

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  30. Painkiller!January 17, 2011 at 9:43 PM

    Following ;D

    ReplyDelete
  31. noogJanuary 17, 2011 at 10:02 PM

    I challenge thee to a Gimp vs Photoshop challenge contest face-off thing...

    ReplyDelete
  32. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 10:14 PM

    Stalin was the original king of photoshop.

    ReplyDelete
  33. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 10:24 PM

    Suciô...
    I love your very twisted sens of humor. Same as mine, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  34. xyJanuary 18, 2011 at 1:27 AM

    Hello lovely Sucio,

    I am very pleased with the picture. I love it. all images you take. thank you thank you thank you. very kind of you. I linked the picture to your page.

    wish you a nice day. Here in Germany it is very early .... need to work!

    Where are you from?

    greetings
    http://mar-iza.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  35. mrecanJanuary 18, 2011 at 6:33 AM

    really great turtorial

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  36. TsipiseJanuary 18, 2011 at 7:35 AM

    I used to let students erase the Twin Towers from the NY skyline...

    ReplyDelete
  37. The Angry LurkerJanuary 18, 2011 at 7:53 AM

    Good tutorial, very useful.

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  38. UsagiJanuary 18, 2011 at 10:18 AM

    it's a hard exercise

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  39. BartJanuary 18, 2011 at 12:08 PM

    good tips

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  40. JeffJanuary 18, 2011 at 3:28 PM

    I can't wait to try this. Last time I opened Gimp I didn't have a clue.

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  41. lulJanuary 18, 2011 at 4:55 PM

    "Making Your Own Stalinist Purges" haha this is seriously brilliant stuff. And the guy who asked if they had photoshop back then is hilarious as well. "Removing embarrassing figures from images isn't just for genocidal Communist dictators any more. Here's how." Haha do you always talk like that? kind of genius. You should consider writing for the Colbert Report or something. By the way, is it me or is the font of your tutorial really small? Either I'm blind or the rest of your readers have incredible eyesight. And in response to your question on my blog, I'm not dyeing my hair, flashy colors aren't my thing and I'm simply not cool enough!

    ReplyDelete
  42. tigeyJanuary 18, 2011 at 5:38 PM

    Heheh, ow this Stalin guy ,...

    ReplyDelete
  43. AaronJanuary 18, 2011 at 7:29 PM

    Brilliant as always. Time to shoop something!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Opto-MomJanuary 20, 2011 at 1:59 AM

    Great post! In the cabinet picture, can't we just crop it down to Obama and Hillary?

    And do you have a picture of all the czars we can photoshop?

    ReplyDelete
  45. AJanuary 20, 2011 at 9:53 AM

    great Shoop blog, following

    http://funnyfunnyfinds.blogspot.com/
    http://aboyandhisbeer.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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