Photoshop Friday! 2007 #16 - Photo Montage!

I’ve gotten many questions about how to seamlessly blend two photos together into a montage. And I’ll admit, I have ducked and run for cover, because while this is a cinch, a snap, AND a piece of cake in Photoshop CS/CS2/CS3, it’s darn near impossible to do well in Photoshop Elements. And my general policy of life these days is, if it’s not do-able in PSE, I really can’t do a tutorial about it.

But.

Every now and then I stumble on a digital product that is totally unique and changes the way we can scrap in PSE. I found one of those the other day, as I was wandering down the vitural aisles of DesignerDigitals. So excited about this:

Layer Mask Gradient Brushes from Anna Aspnes 

Here’s the layout I made with them today, that we’ll be focusing on:

 

This is actually THREE photos, blended together using Anna’s gradient masks and the eraser tool. Now normally I won’t be doing product-specific tutorials for Photoshop Fridays. Kinda defeats the purpose of the free-for-all operation I like to run around here. However, this is SO cool, and SO useful, and SO much better than anything I could show you how to hack in PSE, that I think it’s worth the 3 bucks and change that they cost.

So. First of all, our email list is STILL sending… so if you haven’t received that yet, never fear.

Here is the code you can use over at DesignerDigitals.com:

10% off thru next Thursday, May 3rd!
9cc789

Now when you go pick them up, those masks will be practically free. And if you have any desire in your heart to do a photo montage, they will be worth it. You can use them in ANY version of Photoshop, and any program that enables you to create a brush from a .png file. :)

So this PSF, I’ll show you how to use Anna’s masks to create a photo montage.

Creating a Photo Montage 

Here are the supplies you’ll need:

1. Two horizontal photos (the mask pack comes with LOTS of different masks, but the one I’ll focus on is better for horizontals).
2. The Masking Gradient Brush set. (With the coupon, they’re just over 3 bucks.)
3. A cold drink. Gotta have this. :D
   

 Ready to get started? Let’s go!

1. Open a new blank document (File > New > Blank File).

2.  Open your two photos. I cropped mine to 4x6, but as long as they are the same height, it doesn’t matter how big they are.

3. Drag your photos onto your new blank canvas, and arrange them so that the photo on the left is in the layer ABOVE the photo on the right. In my case, the photo of my books is above my (super cute, right? :P) headshot.

It’ll look like this:

 
Click for Larger

Creating a Brush 

Now we’ll need to get out one of the mask files and make a brush from it. Alternatively, you can install the .abr file that comes with the pack. But since we’re just using one, we’ll get it out and make a brush.  

1.  Open the file in the mask pack called AASPN_MaskingGradient_RL7.png. It is located in the “Right to Left” folder when you unzip this file. It’ll look long and narrow, and be light on the left and dark on the right.

2.  Go to Select > All. You will see the marching ants selection around the gradient file.

3. Go to Edit > Create Brush from Selection (PSCS2: Edit > Define Brush Preset).

 
Click for Larger

4. In the Brush Name dialog box that pops up, click OK.

5. Switch over to your layout file.

6. Target the top photo in the layer stack. This is the photo on the left, and in my example it’s the books.

7. Select the Eraser tool.

8. In the Options Bar at the top of your screen, drop the brush selector down and scroll all the way to the bottom to select the brush we’ve just created. Double-click the brush to select it.

 
Click for Larger

9.  With your eraser brush selected (you might want to hit your [ key a few times to shrink your brush down and make the gradient a little less wide), hover your mouse with the solid (right) edge of your eraser brush just over the right edge of your top photo. You can see the “ghost” of the eraser and its position in this screen shot:

Click for Larger 10. Click once to erase. Now your left photo fades out to reveal your right photo underneath it.

Click for Larger 

You might need to tweak the position of your lower photo so there is no seam between them. 

 That’s it! Now you can complete your layout. Here’s my layout again, larger:

Click for Larger Supplies:

• Patterned papers and flowers (I created the flowers from the brush in the kit): You & Me Mini Kit by Mindy Terasawa
• Flourish brush: On the Edge Flourishes No. 2, by Katie Pertiet
• Basic Masking Gradient Brush Set, by Anna Aspnes 
• Fonts: Typewriter Rough and URW Typewriter 

Can’t wait to see your photo montages! This is a super-cool technique! :D

Have an awesome day!

-J 

Comments

[Joanie Kiaschko]

Hi Jessica!
Great fun and tutorial last night! Thanks so much! Here is the link to my first attempt at blending!
Joanie
http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showphoto.php?photo=28381

[Kaylea]

Here's my attempt....I finally got it posted (I fell asleep for a bit at the all-night scrap-a-thon...

http://www.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/9272/cat/500/ppuser/501

Thanks again for this lesson, and for the help.
It's getting easier to follow the chat room...
Thanks
K

[Kaylea]

Almost forgot...here's a layout I made using your blending techniques in the new book....
http://kaytebug2002.blogspot.com/2007/04/catch-me-if-you-can-brown-paper.html
(The post "above" this is my visual DNA)
K.

[Dagmar]

Thank you so much for the great Tutorial last night,Jessica.
Check out my page:
[url]http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showphoto.php?photo=28436&nocache=1[/url]

[Cler]

Thanks Jessica for fridays tutorial, it was great, very helpful. Congratulations for your new tutorials at Designer Digitals!

[Vicki]

Oooo that was fun! Thanks for all the info and inspiration (of which I borrowed heavily). Here's my attempt:
http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?gallery=1&cmd=display&layout_id=1145310

Vicki

[Penny]

I had bought these brushes when they first came out, but I had never taken the time to learn to use them. Your tutorial gave me the jump start I needed to use them. They are wonderful! And your tutorials are always so informative and easy to understand. I thank you for always including PSE in your instructions. I look forward to PSF every week!

[Penny]

I forgot to leave a link to my layout. http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/gallery/details.ihtml?idx=51805

[Teri]

Thanks for the tutorial on this. Here is my first attempt http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showphoto.php?photo=29339&size=big&cat=all&limit=last1

[Ebonee]

Here's my first attempt. I really appreciate your tutorials, I finally have the time to play around and be creative. This LO is not perfect but I will get there ;)

Thanks!
http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/data/500/medium/grandparents_DD.jpg

[Tonya Boles]

Thanks for this... It took me a few tries to get it to work on my photo, but when it did, I loved it..