2.6 Combine images

1 Croatian Coast

Working with layers to combine images
 
Let’s combine a photo of a Croatian Sunset  with a photo of a  CroatianWall Both were taken at a national park near Pula, Croatia.

  1. To begin the exercise, just select  the images on this page and them to your desktop. So Open CroatianCoast  in Gimp or Photoshop  
  2. Next, import Coatian Wall 

2 Croatian Wal

2.a =  Photoshop:  File > Place embedded (select)  CroatianWall.jpg

2.b = Gimp: File > Open Layers 

In both PS and Gimp, the new layer arrives  with  Free Transform already  on,  so you can resize he wall in a way that is the best fit.

Now we want to remove the white space around the wall and make it transparent, so we can see the Adriatic Sea behind.

Special step PS:  Usually  need to switch to a “rasterized” view for editing.  Layers > Smart Object > Rasterize (bottom).  

Special step Gimp: Add an “alpha channel” to the layer with  Layer. >. Transparency > Add Alpha Channel.  This Alpha channel  allows parts of the photo to be transparent.   

Wall layer rasterized and ready to edit

Now its possible to edit the wall. We need to cut out the white space. Make sure you have highlighted the correct layer on the layers pallet.

Photoshop: Select tool PS Magic wand tool, click on white spaces and then hit your keyboard delete command.  This should reveal the underlying layer.

Gimp is similar — use the Fuzzy Select Tool,  click on white spaces and then hit your keyboard delete command.   Problems?  Some versions of Gimp are not working on some versions of the Mac OS.  In that case, use the eraser tool rather than the fuzzy select tool.  

Zoom in and out and touch up parts of the wall layer with an eraser.

You can also resize (PS Edit / Transform,  Gimp = Image / Scale ) or  do other things to the layer.

Since its a sunset, you might darken the wall layer ( Image / Adjustments / Brightness and Color ) or  just turn down the brightness )

Save your psd file as a backup.

Save or export your final combined  file as a png or jpg. and post it on your portfolio site as Ex 2.6

 

 

 

 

More info

Photoshop tutorials

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-to/combining-images-basics.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-to/ps-layers-basics.html

Gimp tutorial on combining photos