This tutorial shows you 5 steps to create the illusion of depth in a photo. It works great on interior shots where you have a plain background and lots of detail on the subject.

Step 1: Find your subject

Find a simple object that can be isolated from the background.

Step 2: Use an Instagram filter to apply a black and white color filter to your photo, then adjust the brightness and contrast until it looks good. This removes the distractions of color and leaves just the shape. I used Mayfair for this step.

Step 3: Make sure your photo is properly exposed, with lots of contrast between the light and dark areas. Create more contrast by using a plugin like Topaz Clarity or Shadow Recovery to restore some “pop” to your image.

Step 4: Add some blur to your image using a plugin like Topaz Blur or Gaussian Blur until it feels “soft” enough to look like something you might see in real life. Topaz Blur was used for this step.

Step 5: Apply some texture overlays, such as the ones available at Subtle Patterns or Texture King, or use Photoshop’s filters to add texture such as Emboss or Grainy Black & White. For this step I used Texture King’s wood

If you’ve ever wanted to create the illusion of depth in a photo, you may have come across a technique that involves putting your subject behind a glass, and then shooting it. Looks great right?

This is a pretty neat photography trick, but I find it’s usually too tricky to set up. If my subject is moving (which they usually are) I never seem to be able to set it up in time. Also, sometimes there just isn’t a suitable glass available.

Enter Instagram. It turns out they have an app called “Mayfair” which will do most of the work for you. It’s an iPhone only app at present, sorry android users! You simply take your picture with the app and then select the filter “mayfair”. Mayfair will then process your picture by blurring out the background, leaving just your subject looking sharp. The effect works best with pictures that are not moving but I’ve found you can get some pretty good results with even moving objects (like our son).

I’m really loving how this looks and it’s so easy to achieve! Give it a try next time you want to create a cool photographic effect.

There are other apps that do something similar, but I like Mayfair best because it doesn’t make

There is one more step to creating the 3D illusion: The Mayfair filter (available on Instagram). It’s just a tiny bit of vignette, but it makes a huge difference.

Here’s my final image with just the 3D effect and the Mayfair filter applied in Photoshop. I’m pretty sure I have never seen a photo that looks quite like this one!

(I will assume you know how to use your computer’s basic editing programs like Photoshop, Gimp, etc. I am also assuming you know how to use Microsoft Word or some other word-processing software.)

The process is exactly the same for any size print, but if your photo will be displayed in a very large size or at an unusual distance from the viewer, you may need to adjust the steps slightly (and you may want to consult a professional photographer or designer).

If you’ve ever seen a photo that gives the illusion of depth, you’ll know what we’re talking about. It’s like the scene you’re looking at is actually 3D!

We have seen this effect in some magazine and newspaper layouts where they seem to have used some kind of Photoshop technique that gives a shallow depth of field effect to images. Here are two examples:

There is no doubt that these images look fantastic, but in reality they’ve been created using just a camera, pretty good lighting and an Instagram filter!

So how does this work? Well it’s actually rather simple, but does need a little bit of planning before hand.

The first thing to remember is that the way these images are made is by using a very shallow depth of field which means only the object closest to your lens will be in focus. So when shooting try to keep your subject as close as possible to your camera. Also make sure there are no other objects in front or behind your subject that might distract from the illusion. It’s also important that you shoot with a wide angle lens (at least 28mm) as this will allow you more space in front of and behind your subject to play with. Finally, ensure your background is very far away from your subject and use

The technique is called forced perspective, and it is used in photography and film to create the illusion of depth. Here’s what you do:

Step 1: Take your photo. Attach an object in the foreground, like a toy or a rock.

The further away from the camera the object is, the smaller it will look. This step lets you create an image with two planes of focus instead of one.

Step 2: Increase the distance between the camera and the background.

The closer you are to your subject, the more depth you can show in your photo. This step allows you to create the feeling of being right next to the object that was placed in front of your shot.

Step 3: Use a wide-angle lens or tilt your camera up slightly.

Wide-angle lenses distort objects in order to make them fit into their frames, but they also make distant objects appear larger—a key component to creating this effect! Tilting your camera upwards slightly while using a wide-angle lens makes distant objects appear even larger than they would otherwise.

Step 4: Edit and enhance your photo with filters if desired.

When creating forced perspective photos, editing software can help make objects look larger than they actually are; again, this adds depth to

A step-by-step guide to creating a 3d effect in a photograph.

1. Find an image that has depth. This can be a landscape, or anything else that has foreground and background elements.

2. Create a new layer in your photo editor of choice and fill it with black. If you’re using Photoshop 7 or higher, use the paint bucket tool, not the colour fill option (which will make it too light).

3. Set the layer blending mode to Multiply, and reduce its opacity to around 40% (you’ll have to play around with this) to get rid of the black colour, while still letting some of it show through.

4. Use the selection tool to drag out lines on your image at different angles (hold down shift as you drag lines at right angles to each other). These are where the 3d effect is created: by telling your brain that those lines are closer or further away than they really are, you can trick your brain into thinking that the entire image is made up of 3d planes instead of 2d planes stacked on top of each other.

5. Finally, use the dodge/burn tool (or curves) to darken/lighten different areas of your image so that it

3-D wall art is big right now, and if you’re looking to bring a little depth to your home without spending a ton of money, you’ll want to know this simple DIY project.

The secret: hanging a row of frames facing the same direction (“like dominos,” as designer Lauren Conrad puts it) on the wall, with a bit of space in between each frame. Voila! Instant 3-D art.

See? It’s really quite simple — but that doesn’t mean it isn’t effective. It’s one of those home decor tricks that you may already be doing and not even know it.

Here’s another clever use for this technique: group a bunch of smaller prints together in a row for a fun, eclectic look.