Hidden Image

Step 1 - Creating the Pattern for the Trick

Guest Tutorial: Donated by NightSabre

These tutorials are donated to N-sane Art by generous members of the Photoshop community. We at N-sane Art edit the text and images these tutorials for clarity only when necessary in order to preserve as much of the original tutorial as possible.

First we will be creating the pattern we will be using for the trick.
Create a new image 2x2px and using the Pencil Tool set to 1px, draw something like the image to the right. You may want to Zoom In ( View > Zoom In ) to do this.
Define your pattern ( Edit > Define Pattern ) and close the image.

Step 2 - Preparing the Images

 

Open two images: one as the cover image, and one as the image that is hidden until selected.
I will be using the image with the woman’s face for the main image and the n-sane logo for the hidden image.
Crop and resize the two images so they are the same size.

Step 3 - Creating the Trick

Create a new image the same size as your other two images and paste both your images onto it.
The two images should be on two separate layers. Move the cover image layer above the hidden image layer.
Create a new layer and move it above the hidden image layer but below the cover image.
Fill ( Edit > Fill ) this layer with the pattern you made in Step 1. Change the Blending Mode of this layer to “Exclusion”.

Step 4 - Final Adjustements

Activate on the hidden Image layer on the Layer Palette and invert the colors ( Image > Adjustments > Invert or press Ctrl-I ) .
Change to opacity of the cover image to change how well you can see the hidden image when selected.
More opacity means a less obvious hidden image when not selected but a much weaker hidden image when selected.
Less opacity means a more obvious hidden image when not selected but a much more visible hidden image when selected.
Have fun!