How to make your subject jump out of the frame in Photoshop CS4

The original image.

There's a technique which can give your images a 3D feel and make your subject look like they're jumping out of a framed image. Here's how to do it:

First, you need to open your image, duplicate the background layer (Layer>Duplicate Layer) and rename it.

Next, we need another new layer but this time it needs to be a fill layer (Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Colour). By selecting fill layer a new window will open where you can rename and choose the colour of the layer. For this tutorial we picked grey.

Once you're happy click ok and you'll notice your image has disappeared – don't panic! Your new layer has just covered it up and you can bring the image layer back to the front by dragging the image layer above the fill layer in the layers panel.

Now create another new layer and rename it frame. Make sure you have the layer selected and select the rectangular marquee tool and draw a rectangle towards the bottom of the image. Once you're happy with the shape, go to edit>stroke and pick the width and colour you want the frame to be then press OK.

Deselect the rectangle (Select>Deselect) and go to Edit>Transform>Distort. Use the anchor points to adjust the frame to make it appear like it's laying down. This may take some time to do but once you're happy hit the enter key on the keyboard.

Next we want to go back to the image layer to select your subject. If you have a steady hand you can do this with the Lasso Tool but the quick select tool works just as well. Be careful with this and take your time to make sure every part of your subject is selected. The process is a little time consuming and does take a lot of adjusting but patience does pay off. Remember you can alter the size of the brush you are using, add or remove parts of the selection and zooming in with the magnifying tool will help you make your selection more easily. If you do zoom in and need to move to a different part of the image you can hold the space bar down and drag your cursor along to do this.

Once your subject is selected go to Select>Inverse to reverse the selection. Then select the erase tool and erase all of the background apart from what's inside the frame. Again, be careful near the frame and remember you can alter the size of the eraser if you need to. By erasing small areas at a time and unclicking the mouse you'll be able to undo if you go wrong and not have to worry about starting a huge chunk all over again.

Adjust the frame to make it look like it's layed down.

Erase the background to make the fill layer appear.

When the background has been removed click on the frame layer and use the Erase Tool to remove all parts of the frame that overlap your subject then zoom out using the magnifying tool.

Your image is now almost complete, all there's left to do is add a drop shadow. To do this click on the Fx icon on the layers panel and select drop shadow. A new window will open where you can change, among other things, the opacity, angle and size of the shadow. When you make changes to the settings you can preview it on your image and once you're happy click ok to see your finished image.

Finished image.