Diana
October 31st, 2007, 07:51 PM
This is a tutorial I posted in 2006 with instructions for PSE 3.0. I just made a few changes to update it for 5.0.
This is the link to the example images in my gallery:
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/view_img.php?id=6907
Blending Two Photos Into One Using Layer Masks
1. Open the two photos you wish to combine.
2. Perform whatever restoring, retouching or enhancing that each photo may need.
3. If the photos you are combining are very large, resize them to a more reasonable size to work with. You can always reduce them more later, if needed.
4. If you are planning on printing the combined image, make sure the resolution of the images is at least 200 to 300. If it is less, you may need to use Image > Resize >Image Size and increase the resolution.
Note: If you have large, low resolution images, you can take care of steps 3 and 4 in one step by leaving “Resample Image” unchecked in the Image Size window. When you increase the resolution, the dimensions in inches will become smaller without affecting the pixel dimensions.
5. Create a new blank file in which to combine the photos – File > New > Blank File – with the height at least the height of the tallest photo and the width about as wide as the sum of the two photos. Make the resolution the same as the two photos and the Color Mode RGB and Background White.
6. So now you have three documents open, the new blank document and the two photos.
7. With the blank background document active in the workspace, from the photo bin, drag each photo up to the background image. [**See bottom of second page for versions prior to 5.0]
8. You may now close the original photos, saving them if you wish to keep a saved version with the changes you made.
9. You now should have only your project image open in the photo bin and workspace, made up of three layers: the background layer and two photo layers.
10. At this point, save your new document as a .PSD file – and make sure you save frequently as your work progresses with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-S.
11. Using Grant’s Tools “Mask Layer”, or other add-on layer mask action, add a layer mask to each of the photo layers in your project.
12. In the layers palette, arrange the layers of your document so the image you want in the foreground is above the layer containing the image you want behind it.
13. Use the Move Tool to move the images to the approximate position where you want them in relation to each other and do any resizing needed to make them proportionate to each other. They most likely will overlap and the top image will cover up part of the bottom image.
14. Make sure in the color chips that the foreground color is set to black and the background color white
15. Choose a soft-edged brush to start with
16. Click on the mask of the top image in the layer palette to make it active
17. Using black, with the brush paint around the edge of the image to remove the unwanted area which is covering up the image beneath it
18. You may need to resize your brush to get closer to the areas you need to work on.
19. When you need to get very close to the edge of a subject (like where the top subject overlaps the bottom subject), change to a hard brush so you can work close to the features without feathering into the area you want to keep.
20. If you paint away too much, change the foreground color to white and paint the area back in, always painting on the mask, not the photo
21. If you accidentally have the photo selected when you start painting, Undo it using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Z and start again, after selecting the mask
22. If you need to remove any portion of the lower image, use the same process—black to remove, white to restore the edges
23. If your images are like mine, for it to look natural (since the lady was shorter than the man) I had to position the lady’s image lower on the page than the man’s image. Then I had to use the Clone tool to add more background at the top of the lady’s image to cover the white background
24. When you are all done with the adjustments and masking, crop the image to eliminate the excess white background and save the final version. You may find you started out with two portrait-oriented images and ended up with one landscape-oriented image.
** In Step 7, if you have an Elements version prior to 5.0, you will not be able to drag the photos up from the photo bin. So use this method:
With the first photo active in the workspace, press Ctrl-A to select all, then Ctrl-C to copy.
Make the background image active, then press Ctrl-V to paste the photo on to the background image.
Repeat to copy and paste the second photo.
You can use the same method for creating a blended photo montage of many photos, such as this example:
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/view_img.php?id=6344
Diana
This is the link to the example images in my gallery:
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/view_img.php?id=6907
Blending Two Photos Into One Using Layer Masks
1. Open the two photos you wish to combine.
2. Perform whatever restoring, retouching or enhancing that each photo may need.
3. If the photos you are combining are very large, resize them to a more reasonable size to work with. You can always reduce them more later, if needed.
4. If you are planning on printing the combined image, make sure the resolution of the images is at least 200 to 300. If it is less, you may need to use Image > Resize >Image Size and increase the resolution.
Note: If you have large, low resolution images, you can take care of steps 3 and 4 in one step by leaving “Resample Image” unchecked in the Image Size window. When you increase the resolution, the dimensions in inches will become smaller without affecting the pixel dimensions.
5. Create a new blank file in which to combine the photos – File > New > Blank File – with the height at least the height of the tallest photo and the width about as wide as the sum of the two photos. Make the resolution the same as the two photos and the Color Mode RGB and Background White.
6. So now you have three documents open, the new blank document and the two photos.
7. With the blank background document active in the workspace, from the photo bin, drag each photo up to the background image. [**See bottom of second page for versions prior to 5.0]
8. You may now close the original photos, saving them if you wish to keep a saved version with the changes you made.
9. You now should have only your project image open in the photo bin and workspace, made up of three layers: the background layer and two photo layers.
10. At this point, save your new document as a .PSD file – and make sure you save frequently as your work progresses with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-S.
11. Using Grant’s Tools “Mask Layer”, or other add-on layer mask action, add a layer mask to each of the photo layers in your project.
12. In the layers palette, arrange the layers of your document so the image you want in the foreground is above the layer containing the image you want behind it.
13. Use the Move Tool to move the images to the approximate position where you want them in relation to each other and do any resizing needed to make them proportionate to each other. They most likely will overlap and the top image will cover up part of the bottom image.
14. Make sure in the color chips that the foreground color is set to black and the background color white
15. Choose a soft-edged brush to start with
16. Click on the mask of the top image in the layer palette to make it active
17. Using black, with the brush paint around the edge of the image to remove the unwanted area which is covering up the image beneath it
18. You may need to resize your brush to get closer to the areas you need to work on.
19. When you need to get very close to the edge of a subject (like where the top subject overlaps the bottom subject), change to a hard brush so you can work close to the features without feathering into the area you want to keep.
20. If you paint away too much, change the foreground color to white and paint the area back in, always painting on the mask, not the photo
21. If you accidentally have the photo selected when you start painting, Undo it using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Z and start again, after selecting the mask
22. If you need to remove any portion of the lower image, use the same process—black to remove, white to restore the edges
23. If your images are like mine, for it to look natural (since the lady was shorter than the man) I had to position the lady’s image lower on the page than the man’s image. Then I had to use the Clone tool to add more background at the top of the lady’s image to cover the white background
24. When you are all done with the adjustments and masking, crop the image to eliminate the excess white background and save the final version. You may find you started out with two portrait-oriented images and ended up with one landscape-oriented image.
** In Step 7, if you have an Elements version prior to 5.0, you will not be able to drag the photos up from the photo bin. So use this method:
With the first photo active in the workspace, press Ctrl-A to select all, then Ctrl-C to copy.
Make the background image active, then press Ctrl-V to paste the photo on to the background image.
Repeat to copy and paste the second photo.
You can use the same method for creating a blended photo montage of many photos, such as this example:
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/view_img.php?id=6344
Diana