Moustache Your Friends (Digitally!)

Ever wondered what your friends would look like with an awesome moustache?

Need to decide what type of moustache to grow yourself?

Do you have a face incapable of growing a proper moustache?

Now, using the power of TECHNOLOGY, you can digitally add a moustache to any photo! Amaze your friends! Impress your lover! Annoy your family!

Let's get started!

You will need:

Photos to Moustachio
You want photos where your subject's face is looking straight into the camera for the best results. A head cocked to the side is okay, but you want their face head-on so the moustache looks right.

Moustache Buttons PSD
This is way easier than growing a moustache yourself and using your scanner. Download the Moustache Buttons PSD from Andrea Austoni's cutelittlefactory.com .

A Photo Editor
I'll be demonstrating using photoshop, but any photo editor that can read PSD files will work. The GIMP is a great (free!) alternative that can do everything you need.

First, you need to grab some photos to add moustaches to. As I said before, you want images in which your subject is looking right at the camera for the best moustachification. You also want a picture that's as high-resolution as possible. If your original photo is too small, the end result will be pixel-y and just make you sad inside.

Facebook stalking is a great place to grab photos, as is Flickr. Or, ambush people with a camera. Or, do an image search for a celebrity you'd like to see with a moustache.

Once you've chosen a photo, save it to your computer and CARRY ON!

Unzip and open the "moustache button download.psd" file. You'll see a nice background with some text and a button shape, along with a moustache. In the layers panel, you'll see the names of each available moustache. Hold down alt and click the eyeball next to each layer group to view each individually.

Once you've selected a moustache, click the triangle next to the group to expand the layers. Click on the eyeball for the texture, skin color and shadow layers so that only the moustache is visible. You should see the checkered "transparency background" behind the moustache. If not, make sure the text and background layers at the bottom of the layers window are set to invisible.

Now choose Select->All (Ctrl-A) and Edit->Copy Merged (Ctrl-Shift-C) to put your moustache on the clipboard.

Open up the image you've chosen to moustachio and do any color correcting, cropping, etc.

Next, choose Edit->Paste (Ctrl-V) to insert your copied moustache from the clipboard. Now you'll have a moustache hovering somewhere over your subject's face. Choose the Move tool to arrange it in position.

Next, choose Edit->Free Transform (Ctrl-T) and use the handles to size the moustache correctly. Take a look at some photographs of moustachioed people if you have trouble getting the scale right. You can also rotate the moustache if your subject's head isn't quite level. Once you're satisfied with the size and positioning of your moustache, press enter (or the checkmark icon in the toolbar) to apply the transformation.

Now, your moustache may look perfect. If that's the case, save it and share it!

However, your moustache may look a little out of place on the face. (That rhymes. Totally on purpose.)

The first thing a moustache needs to settle on a face is a little bit of shadow. In the Layers panel, make sure your moustache layer is selected (it's probably called "Layer 1") and click on the FX icon at the bottom of the panel. Select Drop Shadow. Fiddle around with the settings in this panel until the shadow under the moustache looks natural (Make sure the "Preview" box on the right is checked so you can see your changes). Generally speaking, you can turn the opacity of the shadow down to 50% or so, change the angle to something near 90 (since that's the direction a moustache will generally cast a shadow) and fiddle with the Distance, Spread and Size sliders until the shadow looks the right size for the 'stache. I also like to add a little but of Noise (usually under 10%) to make the shadow less perfect. Click OK when you're done.

If the shape of your shadow isn't quite perfect, right-click the "Drop Shadow" effect in the Layers panel and choose Create Layer. Then use the eraser or brush tool to perfect the shape of the shadow.

Next, we want to adjust the moustache's color to match your photo. You can also change the moustache hair color to match your subject. With the moustache layer selected, click on the FX button and select Color Overlay. Change the Blend Mode to "Hue" and click the color box to select a color (Again, make sure "Preview" is checked so you can see your changes). This won't work as well with the darker colored moustaches, but you can experiment with the blending modes of the color overlay to get something that works.

Finally, we need to adjust the blending mode of the moustache layer itself so it fits into the original photo nicely. With your moustache layer selected, click on the blending modes dropdown at the top of the layers panel (it will be set to "Normal" by default). Experiment with the different Blending Modes and the Opacity to find a setting that helps ground the moustache a bit better.

This is the best part.

Share your moustaches with the world!

Post them on Facebook and tag your friends--everyone will ask when they grew a moustache!

Moustachio your wedding photos--sleep on the couch for a week!

Send one in for your yearbook photo--be the envy of your high school!

The possibilities are endless!

But you can start by posting your moustachioed photos here, in the comments, on this Instructable! Then be sure to vote for this instructable in the Weekly Challenge: Mustaches!

Thanks, and I hope you've enjoyed this instructable!