We’re about to show you how to DIY your very own Easter egg designs in Pixlr Pro. You’ll learn how to add a pattern to a photo of an egg, how to modify its shape for a 3D look, and how to shade it. We’ll also show you how to create a simple Easter background with some colorful eggs.
Let’s get crackin’!
We’ll need some assets first:
A pattern (you can use any pattern you want)
(This is optional) A background
Open your pattern in Pixlr Pro. Drag the egg photo into the file as well and place it under the pattern.
Go to Image > Image Size and change the file to 3000px wide. This will make it more manageable.
With the pattern layer selected, go to Filter > Liquify. Check Background and lower the Opacity to see the egg. Change the size to maximum and use Smudge tool to drag the pattern towards the edges of the egg.
Optionally, you can use Shrink tool to make the pattern even tighter around the edges.
You can also use Blow tool to make the central part bigger.
Hide the pattern layer for a moment. Use the Crop Tool (C to crop the image.
With the egg layer selected, go to Select > Color Range. Click the white background to take a sample, then adjust the Fuzziness to capture the outline of the egg. Press OK.
Go to Select > Inverse. Select the pattern layer and click Add Raster Mask to create a mask out of the selection.
Select the mask and use a black brush to clean up the selection. If you want to learn more about Layer Masks, check out this tutorial.
The pattern has been added to the egg, but there are no shadows in the photo now. Let’s fix it! Hide the pattern again and go to Select > Color Range. Sample white again, but this time adjust the Fuzziness to see a subtle shine on the egg.
Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
Press Control-D to deselect. Hold Alt key and click between the layer and its adjustment to clip them. Then increase Lightness of the selected area.
Use the same method to add another, smaller highlight.
You can add some shadow this way as well.
The egg is done, but what if we want to add it to a more interesting background? First, place a section of the background in the file. We used this background.
Use Select > Color Range to remove the white background from the egg.
Change the Blend Mode of the egg to Multiply to make the shadow under it transparent.
If it looks good to you, you can stop here. But if you want to make it slightly more realistic, you can add some adjustments. For example, you can add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, make it dark, and then paint on its layer mask to keep the shadow on the bottom only.
Similarly, you can add the reflection of the sky on top.
After you’re done, use Shift key to select the pattern and its adjustments, then right click and select Merge Layers. Then use the Blur Tool to blur the edge a little.
Now simply drag the pattern and the egg (shadow) to the file with the background.
Of course you can use this method for any patterns you wish! Just remember to always fit the adjustments to the colors.
And that’s all! Now you know how to DIY an Easter background with Easter eggs!