Create a Sliced Head Manipulation in Affinity Photo

In today’s tutorial, we will create a sliced head manipulation in Affinity Photo. This inspiration comes from Photoshop Tutorials – PSt on YouTube. This sliced head manipulation is a type of surreal effect. In addition, this is also a type of 3D illusion effect.

Before you begin the tutorial, download the man in red jacket image. Now, let’s begin.

Step 1

First, go to File > Open and select the image you downloaded. Once the image opens, you can unlock the picture by clicking on the Lock icon in the Layers Panel.

Step 2

Second, go to the Tools Panel and select the Selection Brush Tool. With the brush active, select the man’s head. If you need to increase the size of the brush use the right bracket key ]. Use the left bracket key [ to decrease the size of the brush.

Step 3

Once you select the head, go to the Context toolbar and select Refine. When the Refine Selection box appears, set the Output to New Layer with Mask. Then, hit Apply.

Step 4

In the Layers Panel, label the pixel layer Head.

Step 5

Now, drag a guide down from the ruler section. Place it between the mouth and the chin. To pull the ruler down, place your cursor by the ruler and drag it. The cursor will turn into an up and down arrow as you drag it down.

Note: If you don’t have your rulers activated, go to the View menu and click Show Rulers. Or you can press CTRL + R for the shortcut.

Step 6

Once you drag the first ruler down, drag more guides down and place them where you see them in the picture. You should have a total of 5 guides on the head.

Step 7

In the Layers Panel, select the Head layer. Click on the Adjustments icon and add a Black and White adjustment (leave the settings as they are). Then, drag the adjustment inside of the Head layer.

Step 8

Next, go to the Tools Panel. Grab the Rectangle tool. Draw a rectangle over the entire document.

Step 9

In the Colors Panel, double click on the white fill color and give the rectangle the following color #9A9A9A.

Step 10

Select the rectangle and go to the Toolbar. Click on Move to Back to place the rectangle at the bottom of the list.

Step 11

In the Layers Panel, select both the rectangle and the Head layer (Hold CTRL to select them both).

Step 12

With both layers selected, right click on them and select Merge Visible. Label the new layer as Head 2. Then, uncheck the original Head layer.

Step 13

Next, go to the Tools Panel. Select the Freehand Selection Tool. With the Freehand Selection tool active, go to the Context toolbar. Set the Type to Polygonal.

Step 14

In the Layers Panel, make sure the Head 2 layer is selected. Take the Freehand Selection tool and select the chin.

Step 15

Go to the Context toolbar and select Refine. When the Refine Selection box appears, set the Output to New Layer. Then, hit Apply.

Step 16

In the Layers Panel, name the new pixel layer Chin. In addition, turn the Head 2 layer back on.

Step 17

With the Freehand Selection Tool still selected (make sure you’re still using the Polygonal Type), select the Head 2 layer in the Layers Panel. Take the selection tool and select the mouth section.

Step 18

Next, go to the Context Toolbar and select Refine. Set the Output to New Layer when the Refine Selection box appears.

Step 19

In the Layers Panel, name the new layer Mouth. Place the mouth layer at the top of the list. Then, turn the Head 2 layer back on.

Step 20

Select the Head 2 layer again. With the Freehand Selection tool still active, select the nose area.

Step 21

In the Context toolbar, hit Refine. Set the Output to New Layer. Then, hit Apply.

Step 22

Label the new layer Nose. Then, move it to the top of the list. Next, turn the Head 2 layer on.

Step 23

Now, select the Head 2 layer again. Take the Freehand Selection tool and select the eye area.

Step 24

Next, hit Refine in the Context toolbar. Then, set the Output to New Layer.

Step 25

Name the new layer Eyes and move it to the top of the list. Then, turn the Head 2 layer on.

Step 26

The next step in the sliced head manipulation tutorial is doing the forehead. Select the Head 2 layer. Now, take the Freehand Selection tool and select the forehead area.

Step 27

In the Context Toolbar. Click Refine. Then, set the Output to New Layer.

Step 28

Name the new layer Forehead. Move the Forehead layer to the top. Next, turn the Head 2 layer on.

Step 29

Now, select the top part of the man’s head with the Freehand Selection tool. Make sure the Head 2 layer is selected.

Step 30

In the Context toolbar, select Refine. Set the Output to New Layer. Then, hit Apply.

Step 31

After that, label the new layer Hair and move it to the top of the list in the Layers Panel.

Step 32

Go to the Tools Panel and select the Move Tool. Get rid of the guides on the face by dragging them back up to the ruler area. Make sure that when you’re dragging the guides up that you drag them off the document.

Step 33

In the Layers Panel, select the Chin layer. Next, select the Group Layers icon. Then, label the group Chin.

Step 34

Do this step again for the other layers we named. Each pixel layer that makes up the head should be inside of a group. The groups should be named the same as the pixel layer it is connected to. So, the groups should be Hair, Forehead, Eyes, Nose, Mouth, and Chin (6 groups total).

Step 35

Now, select the Chin pixel layer inside of the Chin group. Next, hold Shift and drag the chin slightly down.

Step 36

Go to the Tools Panel and grab the Ellipse tool. Draw an ellipse over the top part of the chin and give it the following fill color#FFAA01.

Step 37

Next, go to the Context Toolbar and select Convert to Curves to change the ellipse to a curve. Make sure the curve is above the Chin layer inside of the Chin group.

Step 38

If you want or need to refine the chin area, select the Chin group. Then, click on the Mask Layer icon. Next, select the Mask layer. Now, grab the Paintbrush tool from the Tools Panel. Make sure in the Color Panel you have your black fill color active. Finally, take the brush and mask whatever part of the chin area you need to mask to help you in creating the sliced head manipulation.

Step 39

Add a pixel layer inside of the Chin group by selecting the Add Pixel Layer icon. Then, drag it inside of the Chin group. Label this layer Chin Shadow.

Step 40

Make sure you have the Chin Shadow layer selected. Grab the Paintbrush tool. In the Color Panel, make sure your black fill color is active. Set the brush to the settings you see for the Opacity, Flow, and Hardness. Then, draw a mark on top of the orange curve.

Step 41

With the Chin Shadow layer selected, click the fx icon. Check Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to 14px. Then, in the Layers Panel, lower the Opacity of the Chin Shadow to 47% (I then changed it to 56%).

Step 42

Select the Mouth group. Now, select the Mouth layer. Hold Shift and drag it down.

Step 43

Go to the Tools Panel and grab the Ellipse tool. Draw an ellipse on the top part of the mouth slice. Make sure it appears inside of the Mouth group. Go to the Color Panel (double click the black color) and give it the following fill color #00D818.

Step 44

With the ellipse selected, go to the Context toolbar and select Convert to Curves.

Step 45

To add some masking to the mouth, click the Mouth group. Then, click the Mask Layer icon in the Layers Panel. Grab the Paintbrush tool. In the Color Panel, change the Fill color to black. Now, mask the parts of the mouth area you need to mask to help you create the sliced head manipulation.

Step 46

Now, click the Mouth group. Select the Add Pixel Layer icon. Drag the pixel layer inside of the Mouth group. Label the pixel layer Mouth Shadow.

Step 47

Grab the Paintbrush tool. Make sure the black fill color is active in the Color Panel. Then, take the paintbrush and draw a line over part of the green curve.

Step 48

With the Mouth Shadow layer selected, click the fx icon in the Layers Panel. Select the Gaussian Blur. Then, set the Radius to 18px. Finally, set the Opacity of the Mouth Shadow layer to 66%.

Step 49

Select the Nose group. Now, hold Shift and drag the nose area down.

Step 50

Go to the Tools Panel and grab the Ellipse tool. Draw an ellipse on the top part of the nose area (make sure you have the nose group selected). The ellipse should be inside of the Nose group. Now, give the ellipse the following fill color #002BD1.

Step 51

With the ellipse selected, go to the Context toolbar and click Convert to Curves.

Step 52

In the Layers Panel, select the Add Pixel Layer icon. Drag the pixel layer inside of the Nose group. Label the layer Nose Shadow.

Step 53

Now, grab the Paintbrush tool. Go to the Color Panel and set the fill color to black. Then, draw a line on the blue curve.

Step 54

With the Nose Shadow selected, click the fx icon in the Layers Panel. Check the Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to 12px.

Step 55

Set the Opacity of the Nose Shadow layer to 75%.

Step 56

Next, select the Eye group. Hold Shift and drag the eye area down.

Step 57

Grab the Ellipse tool and draw an ellipse over the top part of the eye group area. Make sure the ellipse is inside the Eyes group. Then, give the ellipse the following fil color #F03200.

Step 58

With the ellipse selected, click Convert to Curves in the Context toolbar.

Step 59

In the Layers Panel, click on the Add Pixel Layer icon. Drag the pixel layer inside of the Eyes group. Then, label the layer Eye Shadow.

Step 60

Now, grab the Paintbrush tool. Set the Fill color to black in the Color Panel. Then, draw a line on the red curve.

Step 61

In the Layers Panel, click the fx icon. Next, select the Gaussian Blur. Then, set the Radius to 22px.

Step 62

Set the Opacity of the Eye Shadow layer to 65%.

Step 63

Select the Forehead group. Then, hold Shift and drag the forehead layer down.

Step 64

Now, onto the next sliced head manipulation step. Grab the Ellipse tool again. Draw an ellipse over the top part of the forehead area. Set the fill color of the ellipse to #D93DDF.

Step 65

With the ellipse selected, go to the Context toolbar. Then, select Convert to Curves.

Step 66

Select the Forehead group. In the Layers Panel, click the Add Pixel Layer icon. Drag the pixel layer inside of the Forehead group. Now, rename the pixel layer Forehead Shadow.

Step 67

With the Forehead Shadow layer selected, grab the Paintbrush tool from the Tools Panel. In the Color panel, set the fill color to black. Then, take the brush and draw a line on the pinkish curve.

Step 68

Select the Forehead Shadow layer. Now, select the fx icon in the Layers Panel. Check the Gaussian Blur box. Then, set the Radius to 22px.

Step 69

Set the Opacity of the Forehead Shadow layer to 65% in the Layers Panel.

Step 70

It’s now time to assemble the head. For this, you can rearrange the pieces however you see fit.

Step 71

After you rearrange the pieces, grab the Ellipse tool. Draw an ellipse underneath the chin. In the Layers Panel, name the ellipse Bottom Shadow.

Step 72

With the ellipse selected, click the fx icon in the Layers Panel. Check the Gaussian Blur box. Set the Radius to 74%.

Step 73

Finally, set the Opacity of the ellipse to 40%.

If you’ve made it to the end of this tutorial, congratulations! You have created a sliced head manipulation in Affinity Photo. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial. In addition, I hope you’ve learned some new tricks and techniques for creating photo manipulations of your own.

For more Affinity Photo tutorials, check out this tutorial on how to create a letter portrait text effect.