Warp in CS5?

[momoffduty]

How can I warp a graphic in CS5? I have 10 items in a group (folder) and would like to warp the group similar to a Bezier Warp in AE. When I select the group and edit>transform> the warp is not active. The others like skew are there, but they are too rigid. Thanks.

[Gerlinde]

Cheryl, I believe it is now called >Puppet Warp< and is quite different the the old warp in the transform menu. It is more powerful now but also not so easy to use. Best look for a tutorial Here is one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0oeqDij34k

[momoffduty]

Thanks Gerlinde, looks that is exactly what I want to bend the group at different points. I'll give it a try.

[Bob]

The reason warp is grayed out is that you cannot apply warp to a group. Same with the Puppet warp tool. To use warp, you need to convert the group to a smart object.

One feature that seems to get overlooked is that there is now a switch to warp toggle button in the tool properties bar for transform next to the cancel/commit buttons. You can, for example, use transform skew to skew the image and then click the warp toggle to switch to warp mode (with the warp grid aligned with the already skewed image) to make further adjustments. Very handy.

The puppet warp tool and the warp transform are not the same thing.

[momoffduty]

Yes the Puppet Tool was grayed out, Bob. I figured it was the group because it was active on an individual layer. I could not figure out how to export the group as its own file. And I did not want to merge the layers. So I created a doc the same size, DVD insert in this case, and dragged the group to the new doc and merged the group layers. Saved the new psd file. Dragged the new merged layer to the original doc and used that layer with the puppet tool. The group layer turned off the eye and kept if I made a mistake or wanted to change later.

Is there an easier way to export a copy of a group to a new psd doc?

The puppet tool worked great! Thanks.

[Gerlinde]

Did you try Bob's suggestion to convert your layer group to a smart object? That way you can apply the warp/puppet warp tool to your group and no export needed. Here is a good explanation how converting to smart object works: http://creativecurio.com/2008/07/unders ... ts-layers/ It says toward the bottom of the page, your layer group stays intact and you can re-edit your layers if you have to. At least that's how I read it.

[Bob]

Gerlinde's right. There is no need to export a copy of the group to a new doc. Either select the group layer in the layers panel and from the main menu use Layer>Smart Objects>Convert to Smart Object or right click on the group layer in the layers panel and select Convert to Smart Object in the context menu. Once converted to a smart object, you can use it like an ordinary single layer. This gives you all the benefits of the export, merge, and copy back in method without the extra effort to create the external doc, merge the layers, and copy back. The original group is still there and you can access it and make modifications by double clicking on the smart object. And, it's all self contained in the same PSD file.

The link Gerlinde provided applies to an earlier implementation of smart objects, but it's still basically applicable. Current versions of Photoshop have a much improved implementation. For example, the article says the alpha channel of the smart object is not used. That's no longer the case. You can apply drop shadow or stroke and it will do what you expect.

If for some reason you do need to create a new doc and copy layers to it, the easiest and fastest way is to use Image>duplicate. You can then modify the copy any way you like.

[momoffduty]

Thanks Gerlinde & Bob for all of the tips. I did it the long way, but will keep in mind the smart object & image>duplicate. Just had a thought after the fact that I could have duplicated the layers or the group and merged the second set. Was in a hurry to get this project done. Thanks for the tips. I am still feeling my way into PS from PSE.