How to make a lens with zoomed effect in Photoshop

Question

How do I go about creating this effect in Photoshop cs6?

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Answer 1

This is how I would go about it. You will need an image in good resolution (as big as the zoomed part). Pardon my very simple samples, I hope you can get the idea anyway!

• Open the image. Make a round selection of the part you will want zoomed in using the Elliptical Marquee Tool.

• Once you have your circle selected, copy and paste in a new layer (one way is to use right click on the selection, then Layer Via Copy).

• In a new document -or using the same one-, resize your original image so the background looks 'smaller'. Keep your circular selection layer in the original size (don't use Image > Image Size, instead use Free Transform).

• Add a 5px (more or less) white stroke to the circular shape using Blending Options > Stroke.

• Add a 90 degrees shadow (going up-down) using Blending Options > Drop Shadow.

You can add more effects to make the lense look a little more realistic. For example, you could use the Warp Tool (Edit > Transform > Warp) to make the circle more 'bloated', or you could also add a darker Inner Shadow (in the layer, Blending Options > Inner Shadow).