Photoshop: Create an X-ray effect

With Photoshop, you create realistic-looking X-ray effects without any harmful radiation. We explain how this works in this practical tip.

Create an X-ray effect with Photoshop

1. Open the image in Photoshop for which you want to create an X-ray effect.
2. Free the object, in our example we did one of the kiwi.
3. Create a new layer below the layer and fill it with black. This level is the background of the x-ray image.
4. Switch back to the object level. Now invert the image with "Image"> "Adjust>" Invert ".
5. Next, switch to the "Channels" tab in the layer window. Here you can see four channels. Click on the "Green" channel with the mouse, hold the button down and drag the channel onto the symbol for a new channel. This will give you a copy of the "Green" channel.
6. Now press the [CTRL] + [ALT GR] + [L] keys to open the dialog box for tonal value correction. Set the sliders here to 80, 0.64 and 213.
7. Now activate the layer with the X-ray image again in the layer window. Make a copy of this layer and switch back to the original level. Enter 16% in the "Area" setting at the top right of the layer window.
8. To make the layer a little softer, call up the "Gaussian blur" via "Filter"> "Blur filter" and select a radius of 3 pixels.

Adjust the bone structure of an X-ray image with Photoshop

The X-ray effect is now almost complete. What is missing are the bones that can be seen on every x-ray.

1. Create a new layer with a transparent background.
2. Create individual bones with the pen tool and fill them in white. Make sure that you create a new layer for each bone. Later, you can arrange them as you wish or lay them on top of each other.
3. The "bone" planes should all be above the reddene plane. If you set the mode from "Normal" to "Overlay" for the bone levels, the bones appear as in an X-ray image.

Many steps in Photoshop are already summarized in actions that save time and work. We will explain how to install actions in Photoshop in the next practical tip.