Making a triptych

[Fireball]

I just picked up a copy of Practical Photography published in the UK and read an interesting article on a step-by-step explanation on how to make a triptych. It was so easy and fun but I have a few questions.

If I'm wanting to actually upload it to a website to have printed so I can frame it, how do I go about changing the resolution of the overall finished product? Did I need to change the resolution of the three pics I used first or can I do it after I have them all uploaded into the canvas?

[efarnstrom]

Hi,
I saw that article and tried it out myself. It was a little disappointing because the photo I chose wasn't nearly as impressive as the one in the article. It did take a lot of fiddling around to get the selections positioned just right. I can't answer your question, but wanted to say hi. I was so excited to see someone else did the project.

Have you posted yours to the gallery? I'd like to see it.

[Fireball]

Hey cool, I loved that magazine, didn't you? First time to look at one.

I didn't keep my triptych since I was just practicing. Hopefully someone can help answer my questions first.

[kImages]

Hi Charrie. When working on any project that involves combining multiple photos it is usually best to work at a high resolution. So if your photos come out of the camera at a 240 or 300 p/i then it is best to make the collage or triptych background match that resolution. When you do a New document don't let it default to the 72 pixels/inch. You'll have a much easier time working when you bring in your photos and add text or any other element if the resolutions are similar.

Your best prints should come from the higher resolution, so don't decrease it unless the print lab explicitly instructs you to do so before uploading.

If you are going to upload the finished project for web viewing only, then you will want to decrease the document size and resolution just for quick loading.

[Fireball]

So you're saying I need to make my three pics and canvas all the same resolution, right? Then what about resizing my images before putting them in the triptych or does that just figure automatically when I make my canvas size? I always keep my pics at 300dpi when I print them myself or upload them anywhere.

[kImages]

When I make projects like the triptich I'll use a clipping group so that i don't have to resize the original photos.

So for the triptych the steps would go like this:
1. New background layer in size and color of choice at 300 dpi.
2. Select the custom shape tool and drag out to desired size. Add stroke or other layer style of choice.
3. Duplicate the Custom shape layer 2 times (you now have 3 custom shape layers stacked.
4. Change to the move tool and position the 2 duplicate layers. (align tools are very helpful at this step) You now have 3 "holes" in your background "canvas".
5. Make a new layer above the Shape layer you want your first photo to drop into. Open your pictures and move the first one into the triptych project. Make sure that it is on the layer right above the desired custom shape layer. With the picture layer selected hold down your Alt key and move the cursor to right between the two layers (picture and custom shape) until it changes into a little lock; now left click. You've just linked the picture to the shape (clipping group).
6. Don't worry, the picture is probably much larger than the opening; we're going to fix that now. While still on the picture layer, select the move tool and left click on one of the corner bounding boxes. Slide the bounding box in towards the center of the picture until it is the desired size. If it got out of shape just click the link between height and width in the toolbar (top of work space).

Repeat steps 5 & 6 for the other two pictures. The nice thing is that because you used the clipping groups you've now created a triptych template that you can reuse. You can reopen the .psd file and replace the original 3 pictures with any new ones.

[Fireball]

Okay, so now I'm totally lost....:(

[rubeelou]

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h178/adelaidepam/Test.jpg
Something like this I did from a tutorial from a magazine last year but I am sure they gave the template

[Fireball]

Oh wow, that's beautiful!

[kImages]

Charrie - after seeing what Rubeelou posted I can see that the instructions I posted are confusing. My post is more apprpriate to a collage. Sorry.

Rubeelou's project is beautiful.

[Diana]

Here are a few links to triptych instructions:

http://www.davrodigital.co.uk/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=9&idproduct=108

http://www.atncentral.com/tutorials.htm
(.PDF - Picture in Thirds, about half way down the page)

http://forum.imagekind.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=878

Diana

[LiO]

Where can I find the magazin?
In cyber?

Do they have a homepage?

[Bayla]

Here are a few links to triptych instructions:

http://www.photogalaxy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6655&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=&sid=ab9527caaed052bd4401e4ab4d2bad30&PHPSESSID=701eac2da8b8365c15de7238c805b362
(.PDF - Picture in Thirds, about half way down the page)



Diana,

I can't find the Picture in Thirds pdf you mention for this one, only the argumentative thread that you posted on another thread!

Bayla

[Diana]

Hi LiO,

You might check out this site to see if you can subscribe to it:

http://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/store/displaystore.asp?sid=322

Diana

[Diana]

Diana,

I can't find the Picture in Thirds pdf you mention for this one, only the argumentative thread that you posted on another thread!

Bayla

Sorry about that, I inserted the wrong link. I have corrected it above.

Here it is also:

http://www.atncentral.com/tutorials.htm

Diana

[rubeelou]

Thanks for the comments on my tryptic I shall search through my magazines and try and find the tutorials and the templates
Pam

[mljrbg]

Rubeelou, your picture is beautiful and very well done.

Mary Lou

[rubeelou]

Thankyou once again I have had it on my computer for so long and never thought to show anyone it
You have all made my day
:)