Polar Coordinates: A 'Small Worlds' Tutorial

Here’s a sample of the technique, and the end result we’re looking for:

In this tutorial, my instructions are for how to create this effect using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 (but the steps will be similar using the full version of Photoshop or any other software that has a ‘Polar Coordinates’ filter).

This is the image I’m going to start with:

Step 1: See the thin black border around my starting shot above? Well, that needs to go, because it will create a messy end result, so we just get rid of it by using the crop tool (or resizing the canvas a bit smaller via Ctrl+Alt+C), so it looks like this:

If your starting photo has no border, you can simply skip Step 1 altogether, but I mention it because a lot of people here often leave a black edge around their shots when scanning them into the computer.

Step 2: We need to copy this original image for future use, so hit Ctrl+A (or Select > All) and copy it via Ctrl+C.

Step 3: Open the Canvas Size panel via Ctrl+Alt+C (or Image > Resize > Canvas Size). Make sure you click the centre-left arrow under ‘Anchor’, to fix your picture on the left. Now note what value is given in the Width field and multiply it by 4 (if your starting shot is square like mine, or if it’s a standard 4:3 ratio 35mm landscape shot; multiply by 2 if using a panorama shot made with a Horizon Perfekt or similar camera; skip this step altogether if using a 360° Spinner shot).

Enter the new value in Width and hit OK, then press Ctrl+0 (zero) to show the entire canvas at its new size, which should now look like this:

Step 4: Paste (Ctrl+V) the image you copied in Step 2, then flip it horizontally via Image > Rotate > Flip Layer Horizontal. (Note: do not select just ‘Flip Horizontal’, because that would flip the entire canvas, which is not what we want.)

Select the Move tool and move this flipped copy over to the left so that it aligns seamlessly with the right side of the first image:

Note that you should not leave any gap at all between the two shots, as this would create ugly lines in the end result. Move the image using Shift and the left arrow key for big jumps, and just the arrow keys for smaller, more precise movements.

Step 5: Now hit Ctrl+V again to insert a third copy of the image, and align it next to the second one, as before. Note that you do not need to horizontally flip this one because it’s already oriented the right way:

Step 6: Hit Ctrl+V once more to insert the fourth and final image, then flip it horizontally via Image > Rotate > Flip Layer Horizontally, and line it up neatly beside the third image:

Step 7: Each time you pasted a copy of the original shot, it created a new, separate layer for each one, and you now need to merge all four layers into a single layer via Layer > Flatten Image.

At this stage, zoom in close to the far right side and check if there’s a narrow strip of black canvas left there. If so, trim it away using the crop tool (or via Ctrl+Alt+C and reduce the canvas width). Trim just enough to get rid of the excess canvas — you don’t want to trim too much of the image itself, otherwise it will not create a seamless join with the left-hand side of the image after the Polar Coordinates filter has been applied.

Step 8: The next step is to make the image square, via Image > Resize > Image Size. On the Image Size panel, make sure Constrain Proportions is not ticked. Then, change the Pixel Dimensions (not the Document Size) so that the Width and Height values are the same. You can either change the width to whatever the height is, or change them both to a round number like 3000 pixels. It can be less than 3000 pixels if you like, but note that this will lower the resolution of the final image, so don’t go too low.

Hit OK and your image will now look something ugly like this:

Step 9: Now for the magic touch, achieved by selecting Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates. In the little preview pane that opens, make sure ‘Rectangular to Polar’ is selected (you might want to experiment with ‘Polar to Rectangular’ instead, but I personally don’t like the effect it creates). Then hit OK and… voilà! — you just created a marvellous ‘small world’!

If you’re happy with your result at this stage, simply go ahead and save your photo now. However, you may wish to try the additional, optional steps below to create a different look.

Optional Step 10: Hit Ctrl+Z to undo the Polar Coordinates step. Now rotate the image via Image > Rotate > 180°, then apply the Polar Coordinates filter again, as in Step 9. This produces an inverted, “inside out” version of the image, which, depending on the shot you’re using, might look better:

Optional Step 11: If you don’t like the diagonal lines in the corners of the photo, try this instead (note you can do this directly after Step 9 too): hit Ctrl+Z to undo the Polar Coordinates step, then increase the canvas height (Ctrl+Alt+C) by a few millimetres, making sure you click the top centre Anchor arrow, so the extra canvas gets added along the bottom of the image. Before hitting OK, change the ‘Canvas extension colour’ to black (or other colour if you prefer), then hit OK and apply Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates again. Whatever colour you chose for the canvas will now fill the corners of the resulting image:

Optional Step 12: Depending on the image, you might prefer how it looks when rotated 90°, which can be achieved very simply via Image > Rotate > 90° Left:

In this particular case, I preferred the result I got after Step 9, but wanted a blue canvas colour instead of the diagonal lines in the corners, so I hit Ctrl+Z a bunch of times to get back to just after Step 8, added a small canvas extension to the bottom as in Step 11, changed the canvas colour to a shade of blue selected from the photo itself with the Eyedropper tool, then applied the Polar Coordinates filter and rotated the image 90° to get the final result I found most pleasing:

And that’s it! With a bit of practice, it’s really easy to create this awesome effect. It’s worth experimenting with all sorts of different kinds of images, because it’s virtually impossible to predict what the end result will be. Sometimes the result is ‘Meh’, but many times it’s ‘Wowee, Señor!’ :-)

Here are some more samples of ones I think turned out particularly well:

Finally, if you’re interested in the debate over whether or not such digital manipulation of analogue photographs is ‘kosher’ in the Lomography world, you might wish to see the comments fellow Lomographers have posted beneath this photo here.

OK, guys, I hope you found this tutorial useful. Thanks for reading it! :-)

Love & bullets,
buckshot

scritto da buckshot il 2015-01-31