Using the Displacement Map effect
You can warp, or displace, one image (the displacement map) based on the contents of another image (the source image). For example, you can apply text to an image that depicts something with an uneven surface, making it look like the text was there all along.
To apply a displacement map
Edit workspace
1 Open the images you want to use as the displacement map and the source image.
2 Make the source image the active image.
3 Choose Effects Distortion Effects Displacement Map.
4 In the Displacement map group box, click the image drop-list, and choose an image to use as the displacement map.
If the displacement map and the source image don’t have the same dimensions, choose either the Stretch map to fit image option, or the Tile map to cover image option.
5 Type or set a value in the Blur control to set the amount of blur to apply to the displacement map.
Lower values produce jittery, pointillistic effects; higher values produce smoother warping effects.
6 In the Displacement properties group box, choose one of the following options:
• 2D offsets — uses the red and green channels to displace the image
• 3D surface — treats the source image as though it were a 3D surface in which pixel luminance values determine height
7 Type or set a value in the Intensity control to set the amount of displacement.
Lower values result in less change to the image; higher values yield greater deformation.
8 Type or set a value in the Rotation control to determine the rotation of the displacement data.
9 In the Edge mode group box, choose one of the following options to determine how to handle out-of-bounds displacement:
• Wrap — treats the image as though it were a tile repeating in each direction
• Repeat — finds the edge pixel of each side and repeats it outward infinitely
• Color — lets you choose a color to represent out-of-bounds pixels. You can click the color box to access the Color dialog box, or right-click the color box to access the Recent Colors dialog box.
• Transparent — makes out-of-bounds pixels transparent (available only with layered images)