Line In Sand

[matethreat]

Hello,

I have a picture of a sandy beach. What I am trying to do is draw lines in the sand, as if it had been actually drawn in the sand.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[blueark]

To do it properly would probably involve several channels to use as layer masks on various adjustment layers.

An easier way would be to create a new layer, change it's blending mode to multiply, then add an emboss layer effect. Experiment with different values: don't paint with black on this layer, but with a color close to the sand color. Try different types of embossing. Change the colors used for the highlight and shadow modes. Try different blending modes (sometimes Hue or Color work better).

When it's more or less ok, duplicate the layer, change the blending mode to Screen, click the "Lock Transparent Pixels" button on the layers palette, then fill the layer with black. This will give you a way of working the highlights back into the image.

I personally don't think this method is very convincing, but it might suit your image with a little experimentation. If you want to experiment with more convincing methods, I think it will probably involve making a "master" selection channel with the lines you're trying to draw. After that, you may need to make duplicates of this channel, offsetting them, blurring them, mixing them with the original channel, and using them in various adjustment layers.