How to Use Photoshop Part 2
YOU’LL NEED THIS
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CC 2018 ONWARDS
Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1809 or later.
To view compatibility visit: https://helpx.adobe. com/photoshop/systemrequirements.html
IN THIS TUTORIAL, we will be looking at combining images, rather than removing something from a picture. In more technical terms we call it blending an image. It’s a nice feature to learn and play around with to get a better understanding of Mask layers and other tools within Photoshop. We will also go into how composition affects an image, and how to get the perspective correct. These are big factors to consider when blending images, as you don’t necessarily want to create something that looks too out of place or in your face.
Using the techniques we’ll cover here, you will be able to create some very abstract artwork that can be used for a variety of reasons. Image blending is handy for creating striking imagery for publishing design, marketing advertizements, or maybe just for your art. If you haven’t done so already, have a look back at our previous issue to get more familiar with Photoshop by working your way through the first tutorial. What we will do in this issue is create some surreal artwork to get a feel for blending. Messing around and having a bit of fun will give you more confidence with the software. If you want to create something silly, be our guest. –SAM LEWIS
A
1 COMBINE YOUR IMAGES
The first things you are going to need are two images that you want to combine. A lot of people use this method to create illusion artwork. Finding images with a similar existing color style will be easier to work with. For no reason other than it looks aesthetically pleasing, for our example we are going to make this swimmer appear like she is wading through the road for an illusion effect. Both images chosen have dark, moody tones, which is handy for color matching.
>> So, we have both images at hand, and as you can see, the swimmer image is placed on top for now. When importing your images, if the background image is in front, rearrange the layers by simply dragging them in the Layer panel to the right. Here we have also duplicated the original images, locked them, and hidden them, just like we showed you how to do in the first tutorial. This is in case we make mistakes that are beyond the undo tool and need to start from scratch. Don’t worry if that happens, we have all been at that blood-boiling stage.