So a looooot of people have asked me for Manip tips recently (too many for me to continue ignoring lol). I don't claim to be any sort of expert, but there are some things I have noticed that I can share with you!
To try and avoid confusion, I'm going to refer to the original image you're adding a different head onto as the 'base image' and the image that you're adding on top of it I'll refer to as the 'top image'.
(Note: There are a few exceptions to most of these.)
Choose a top image that matches the head position of your base image as much as possible. You need to make sure that the angle of the head looks as natural as possible and not awkward or disjointed.
The easiest way to get the sizes to match up right is to change your top image to 50% opacity and then line up the features. Make sure the eyes on both pictures are the same and the same height; along with the top of the head, the hairline and bottom of the chin.
I usually try 4 or 5 top images (usually less for Regina, more for Robin grrrr) before I decide which one works best.
I don't know if 'texture' is the right word, but different types of image have different feels to them. For example if you are trying to manip a screenshot top image onto a photo shoot base image, the 2 images aren't equal in quality, lighting and finish so won't often work well together. Therefore I usually try to manip screenshots onto screenshots and photo shoot images onto photo shoot images.
Also, if your base image is a little pixelated - make the top image you're manipping onto it the same.
Never use candid/event images for a top image. Just... don't.
Don't ever flip images horizontally ever... they look weird. Have you ever done that thing where you take a photo of half of your face and then flip it to make up the other half and it looks really weird? No? Just me? Well the same thing occurs here. You can however flip your base image before adding a top image.
4) Matching images for couples
If you're making an image of a couple, make sure that your top images are similar in 'texture', colour, contrast and quality.
Be aware of lighting. If the light is hitting the face of one of the top images in a certain way, surely it should hit it's partnering top image in the same way.
If one person isn't looking at the camera it's unlikely that the other would be, so consider where their focus should be in the image. (If someone isn't looking quite the right way, what's to stop you from moving their eyes so that they are? Nothing! :))
If your couple is a guy and a girl... Dudes generally have bigger heads than women, so don't try and make them the same size. Match up the features on the top images to the base image individually. If someone is standing behind - it makes sense for them to be smaller than the person in the foreground.
The first thing I do when starting a manip is paste the top image onto the base image just to the side of where I want it, and then quickly match up the face colour of the top image to the base image as best I can. You can adjust this more after, but I do it roughly first so that when I cut it out and mask it into place I'm already getting a reasonably accurate view of what it's going to look like.
If your base image is dark, make your top image the same darkness. Check where light is coming from on your base image and try and make sure it's hitting your top image in the same way. If you have a strip of light on the arm of the base image and then have a strip of light on the opposite side on the face of the top
Learn how to mask and use the extraction filter. Masking is my absolute favorite technique of cutting out an image because if you remove something you can put it back whenever you want and fade and blend using different types of brushes.
Before I finish an image, I usually save it, flatten the whole thing, duplicate some layers and play around with options like - soft light, overlay, multiply, screen and exclusion to balance out the entire image instead of just the person/people in it. Check everything is the right brightness and that all of the skin tones and colours match.
Leave it for at least an hour or get someone else to look at it. Whenever I don't do this, I always end up hating it later and then secretly deleting it in shame. And these are ALWAYS the ones that get less comments haha.
When I stare at something for so long, I feel like I stop seeing it realistically, so you need a break or another opinion on it.
Well there you go... I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.
