Create a kaleidoscope in Photoshop

Almost any image can be converted to a wonderful kaleidoscope using this Photoshop technique. To begin, you will cut out a triangle from an image and then rotate and copy it a number of times until you create a repeating pattern. You’ll then flatten the image and duplicate and resize that shot to create a finished kaleidoscope effect.

Step 1: Make a Rectangle

Drag and drop the image at the top of this post into Photoshop and crop the left edge of the image as above. Make a rectangular selection. Now choose Select>Transform Selection. Set the Angle to 30 and drag the shape to the top left corner.

Step 2: Set Reference Point

Hit Return then choose Layer>New Layer via Copy. Hide the Background Layer. Choose Edit>Free Transform. Set the Reference Point to the bottom left corner.

Step 3: A Full Rotation

Set the Angle to 30 degrees and then press Return. Press Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T a total of 11 times to create a full 360 degree rotation. Choose Image>Reveal All.

Step 4: Choose Top Layers

Now select the top 12 layers and choose Layer>Merge Layers. Duplicate this layer and reduce its size while holding down both the Shift and Alt keys.

Step 5: Apply an Adjustment

For an additional effect in your kaleidoscope, you can also alter the Blend Mode of these layers if desired or alternatively apply a Hue/Saturation adjustment to them.

Step 6: The Final Crop

Target the Background Layer, choose Layer>New> Layer then hit OK. Fill with a matching colour or gradient and finish by cropping the image to a square shape.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2012 at 7:00 am and is filed under Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.