DIY: Digital Silhouettes in Photoshop Elements

I've been wanting to make these for quite a while now, and I was so glad when I figured my way around how to do it! Ever since Luis and I moved, I've been dreaming up some ways to style/decorate the full wall in our bedroom and I knew I wanted a silhouette of us somewhere on that wall. 

Let's go!

What You'll Need:

PSE (or PS)

A profile shot of your subject; not a straight-on photo but one from the side

Creativity!

Step 1:

Open the photo in Photoshop.

Step 2:

Duplicate the layer by going to Layer > Duplicate Layer > OK

Step 3:

With the Background Copy selected, go to the drop-down menu where it says "Normal" and select vivid light. This will concentrate your photo's color so that you can easily crop the photo in the next step. 

Step 4:

Flatten your image. Go to Layer > Flatten Image or right click and select "Flatten Image".

Step 5:

Using the Magnetic Lasso tool, carefully outline your photo.

Step 6:

Once your subject is selected (there will be "marching ants" as seen in the above photo) delete the selection. 

Step 7: 

Use the paint bucket tool to fill in the deleted portion with black, or your desired color. 

Step 8:

Go to "Select" at the top of the program and select "Inverse" and delete the selected portion on the photo.

Step 9:

This is what your photo will look similar to once you delete part of the image. If you are not satisfied here, simply use the eraser and/or paint brush tool to erase or fill in the space to create a more cohesive silhouette. 

Step 10:

This is what my photo looked like when I finished adding and erasing. I also made a silhouette for my husband Luis. Save as a jpeg to use for future projects and such!