Tag Archive for Blending Images

admin | January 26, 2009
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Combine A Colour And Black And White Image

The effect of a black and white image with a splash of colour is a popular effect used in photographs and images especially for adverts in magazines and on the internet. This tutorial will teach you the basic instructions for different ways to achieve this effect. 

1.) To create an image to grayscale you need to begin by creating a duplicate of the original image, and then convert the duplicate image to grayscale by using the option Image > Mode > Grayscale, and then convert the grayscale image to RGB. 

2.) Use the appropriate selection tool to select only the portion of the image that you want to have in black and white in your final composition. What we are doing is creating a “hole” in the grayscale image so that the colour image shows through the hole when the two images are combined in the next step.

3.) Combine the selected portion of your grayscale image with a duplicate of your original colour image. One simple way to do this is to copy the grayscale selection and paste it on top of the colour image then combine/merge the two.

4.) Make a duplicate of your colour image and work with it. Mask (protect) the portion of your image that you wish to remain in colour. 

5.) With the mask in place protecting the part you want in colour, desaturate your image. The masked portion will remain in color. Image > Adjust > Desaturate. Do any other manipulations you care to make then, if the image is destined for print, convert to CMYK before placing the image in your page layout program. As a RGB image will not create the same given effect.

Category: Auto Tools, Layer Mask, Saturation, Tutorials | Tags: , , , ,
admin | January 22, 2009
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Blending Two Images With A Layer Mask

Collaging means merging images together, a popular technique to do this is to merge images together with a layer mask. Merging images together is great to create collages and montages. In this tutorial you will be working with Layer Masks, Blending Modes, Gradients and Separate Layers and you will learn how to seamlessly blend two images together, using the layer masks.

1.) The first step is to get two images to work with. Make sure they are both in the same resolution, 72 dpi if you are using them for the web, and RGB colour mode, then open both documents in Photoshop.

2.) We will want to combine both images into one document. Now select the move tool “V” key. Drag one image into the other window and a new layer will be created automatically with the new layer on top. To center the new image in the window hold down the Shift key while dragging.

3.) Click on the add layer mask button, this will create a new layer mask. A layer mask is transparent. When you paint black into the mask it allows the image underneath to show through. Where it is white, the underlying layer will be hidden.

4.) Press the “G” key to select the gradient tool. Make sure the fore and backgrounds are set to black and white. Select linear gradient and foreground to background. Now drag the gradient diagonally across the image.

5.) You can see the gradient in the layer thumbnail and the result on the image. Where it is white, the top image shows and where it is darker the back shows through. Experiment with differant angles. You may also use any of the brush tools on the mask. Black will “paint away” the image and white will “paint it back”. Use a soft brush for best results.

6.) For an interesting variation change the layer blending mode to multiply. This makes the top image appear as if it is a reflection.

Category: Layer Mask, Photoshop, Tutorials | Tags: , , , , , ,