The Feature Mustang as a Cars character

It’s been pretty quiet around here this summer. I have been driving the ‘Stang just a little lately; mostly as a means of ‘mental health’. It really helps to clear my mind. I haven’t been using the computer much this summer. There is just too much else to keep me busy.

When I am using the computer I am finding that I have become a big fan of Lifehacker. It covers a wide variety of topics that I find interesting as well as uncovering some gems that I likely never would have found otherwise. This post is about one of those gems.

I have always been fascinated by photo editing and, if you have seen my signs and t-shirts, you know that I have some basic experience with it. A recent post on lifehacker on photo editing with movie poster effects caught my attention especially since our little guy loves the movie Cars and anything that has to do with it. The effect is essentially how to transform your car into a Cars character. Come to find out that this idea is not new by any means and originated on the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club forum in December 2006. Though, this was the first time I had seen mention of it so forgive me for being late to the party. It is so popular that the photos linked to in that original post have been accessed so many times that it has exceeded the limits on the original poster’s photobucket account!

Some of the purists out there might frown upon this. I know this because I am a purist myself. But, this web site is all about combining two of my hobbies (computers and cars) so it seems appropriate. I thought I would have to give it a try (for the sake of the little guy, of course 😉 )

For the squeemish I have broken this post into two parts. If you can’t bare to see our beloved 100% stock feature Mustang as a cartoon character then stop reading now.

Good, I knew you couldn’t resist. So, without further adieu, here she is:

Not too bad if I don’t say so myself. For your reference, I used the eyes from Flo (who has a big squarish windshield) and the mouth from Ramone (nice and thin). Although the instructions cover the use of Photoshop, it is not software I use myself. I generally prefer cheaper alternatives as this is only a hobby. For this picture I mostly used ArcSoft Photostudio which came with my digital camera. It has some pretty solid features and I have grown to use it for most editing. I also use GIMPShop which is a free alternative. Both work with Photoshop plugins.

My wife says her name should be Shirley. As in Shirley A. Fox.