Merging 2 photos

[roytownfan]

Hi Guys
Please be gentle, I am a complete novice with elements. Can someone please explain in step by step stages how to merge 2 photos so the part of one photo is blended into the other (hope this makes sense). Many thanks in advance for any advice.
Roy

[Wendy]

Hi Roy ..

... and welcome to the forum :)

One of the easiest ways to do this (when you are new to Elements) is to first put the images together in the same file and then take a soft eraser, lower the opacity of it slightly and erase away the edges of one of the images.

There are more complicate and more flexible ways of doing this ... but I would think that for a beginner then this is probably the easiest tmethod :)

Wendy

[Lesa]

Greetings Roy!

Ms. Wendy is right, using the Eraser with a big soft brush will get you there as well.

However, if you're feeling a bit fiesty, I wrote a tutorial on how to do that using a layer mask this past December. Take a peek at Merging Two Images (http://graphicreporter.com/tutorials/elements_greetingcard.html) and see if it helps. Though it's written in version 4, the steps should be the same. Good luck!

[roytownfan]

Hi Lisa
When trying your tutorial I end up with a "Layer 1" & a "Background Layer" that is locked, and not Layer 1 and Layer 2 like is shown in your tutorial (step 2 & 3). Where am I going wrong.
Thanks Roy

[Wendy]

Hi Roy ...

You didn't do anything wrong ...

You need to double click on the on the background layer (in the layers palette) and then you will be prompted to change the name of layer. This just means that you can do more with the layer ..

I don't know if you have subscribed to the PET site yet but there are lots of Video and written tutorials in there and it really is well worth the subsctiption. There are several tutorial in the subscriber area showing you how to do this sort of thing :)

Wendy

[roytownfan]

Hi Roy ...

You didn't do anything wrong ...

You need to double click on the on the background layer (in the layers palette) and then you will be prompted to change the name of layer. This just means that you can do more with the layer ..

I don't know if you have subscribed to the PET site yet but there are lots of Video and written tutorials in there and it really is well worth the subsctiption. There are several tutorial in the subscriber area showing you how to do this sort of thing :)

Wendy

Ok Wendy thanks for that, unfortunately I have become stuck again. In the tutorial it says click on top layer it will turn light blue. It doesn't it has stayed dark blue. Also which is the option button (using pc not mac) which I am supposed to hold whilst hovering the cursor. Once aqgain thanks for taking the time to help a newbie (I will consider subscribing).
Regards
Roy

[Wendy]

Hi Roy ...

The colour isn't important (some computers it looks light and others dark) all the colour does is indicate which layer you are currently working on.

The blue one is just the current active layer :)

When you move your cursor between the lines you need to hold down the Alt key on a PC. If you have trouble doing it then just do Layer>Group with previous (that sometimes easier for people who have just got Elements).

Wendy :)