[Photoshop screen shots but can also be done with PSE] This was written for a request by @flowersgal Patsy who asked how I did some of my blend work. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Simple blending of a photo into a background (Photoshop ) 1. Start with a blank canvas. (My canvas here is 600X600 at 72 dpi) 2. Choose a neutral paper. One that is not busy that will allow the photo to mix well with the background. I am using a beige paper from Little Butterfly Wings Basic Kraft paper (PP04). 3. Now select your photo. I will be using a photo from www.pixabay.com of the NY Skyline. It is a free stock photo. 4. Place the photo into your workspace. 5. With your photo layer selected, hold down the alt key (on PC) or opt key on a Mac and choose the mask button at the bottom of the layer pallet. (3rd button in). That will put a reverse mask on the layer hiding the photo. (Black = conceal/hide; White = Reveal/show) 6. Using a soft round brush and working on the mask layer and the color white, paint on the mask the portion of the photo you want to reveal. Use a soft round brush or one with texture. ( I like to use a canvas brush that I got with a course I took a few years ago). Remember if you get too close to the edge switch your color to black and go back over to hide the squared edge. 7. That really is it… you can then decorate as you wish...change blend modes and opacity to suit your needs. Here is my finished quick page using elements from the Sept. Create Crate Monthly. The font for the title that I used was a free font on Behance called Moon. A quick and simple page blending a photo into the background. Experiment with multiple photos blending together, or adding a framed photo of the original in smaller version. [You can also clip a photo to a purchased mask or a painted area (screen shot shown below), but if you are using an older version of photo shop or PSE that does not allow clipping masks, the above instructions are the best way to achieve the effect.] The finished page, with embellishments and a small framed photo of the original.
Thanks, Christa. You make it sound so simple. I think I only have the brushes that are standard. And just reading your tutorial without being at my computer I didn't pick up how you switch from black to white as you use the mask. Other than that it sounds simple enough... we will see.
That is the default color of the background and foreground .. That is the bottom of your tool pallette When you add the mask, it automatically makes the foreground/background black and white Re the standard brushes, just use a round soft brush then.
I always clip my photo to purchased masks, but this does seem so simple, I really should try doing it myself. That will solve the frequent problem of the purchased mask not showing quite all the photo I want to show, no matter how I transform it. I'm going to remember this next time I want to blend in a photo. Thanks for the inspiration Christa!
Michele, yes you can do with the clipping mask too.. I do that alot... I put the paint layer underneath and clip the photo to the blank layer and then with a canvas brush or soft brush paint where I want. Older versions of PhotoShop (cs2 at least, don't remember cs3) and some of the older PSE software doesn't have clipping masks so if someone can't do clipping masks then the inverse mask will do the trick! Have fun.. also with a purchase mask, you can always paint a little around the edges or where there is a hole that you want visable. I look forward to seeing what you come up with in the future Michele!!
Michele, with using a mask you can paint over the bits of the mask with black if the mask is black in the areas that your photo is not showing on. That is if the missing areas are the problem. I rotate, resize the mask in all sorts of directions to get the photo look right clipped to the mask.
The fun part of using a mask is that you can use anything as a mask. If you have a painted element in a kit, you can clip your photo to it. (my LO using Lynn's Sailboat paint) Or as in NBK's recent challenge where we clipped a photo to her magic lights. (my LO) It's fun to see what you can create.
nice tuto, thanks for sharing. I do that too but I apply a blending mode (multiply, overlay, or other) so you can have the texture of the paper on your picture
Thanks to you, Christa @cfile I have learned to love blending and I do it all of the time now. I could NOT figure out how to do it until you explained it so well in your tutorials. Thank you so much!!! Here's a new page I just created, not only blending a photograph of my GD Alyssa into the background, but blending two different pp's together first.
I love this method, but seldom remember to use it. Thanks for the reminder. I had such fun with it tonight. https://the-lilypad.com/forum/galleries/07-19_blendingtutorial-by-christa_misty.400231/
