Photo Blending II (with paper) in Photoshop

Since using blending options varies so much, I thought I would do a series on different methods. This is very much a trial-and-error technique, but I have noticed a bit of a pattern on some things, so hopefully this series will at least give you enough information to get you started in the right direction. In the Photo Blending I session, we were dealing with a photo that had a relatively light background and we placed it on a white canvas. In this session, we will work with a photo that has a darker background and we will add some paper into the blending mix to give it some texture. Here is the layout we will be making today:

1.) Let's start with our photo. I have chosen a photo with a dark (but still distracting and ugly) background.

2.) Drag your photo onto a new document. (For instructions on how to do this, click HERE)

3.) Now lets choose our paper. In this case, I want my layout to be very simple, so I've chosen a very subtly textured solid paper. But you can choose any paper you like. Drag your paper onto your new document with your photo. Go to your layers palette and click on your paper layer and drag it so that it is underneath your photo layer. (For instructions on how to do this, click HERE). Here's what your document should look like now:

4.) The first thing we want to do is make our photo lighter and brighter. Right click on your photo layer and choose Duplicate Layer. Now, you should see a drop down menu somewhere on your layers palette that is defaulted to Normal. These are your blending options. Click on the drop down menu and choose Screen. Your photo should brighten up quite a bit.

5.) Now, duplicate the Screen layer once again so that the photo becomes even brighter. Here's what this photo looks like at this point:

5.) Now, since I am terrible at extractions, but i hate this background, this is how we will get rid of it in this photo. (Keep in mind that these steps may vary for each photo, but now that you are learning the basic idea of blending, you can play around with the blending modes to aquire the look you are after.) Choose all 3 of your photo layers by clicking on the top one and holding down your shift key and clicking on the bottom one. Right click anywhere on one of the layers and choose Merge Layers.

6.) Now here's where it gets really cool. Now that we have one photo layer, we are going to blend this photo into the paper behind it. You will see that with each blending mode, you will get a different effect. But since I want to take out the background here, I found that the Lighten blending mode accomplishes this for me. As you can see below, it virtually eliminates the background for me.

7.) Now, there is a bit of editing left to do. Choose your Eraser Tool from your tool palette(hitting "E" on your keyboard will also activate this tool.) and erase any remnants of the background. (You can also resize your eraser by clicking the bracket buttons on your key board. The Open Brackett ( [ ) will make your eraser smaller and the Close Brackett ( ] ) will make it larger. )

I also made my photo larger and placed it over to the right to give it a dramatic effect. (***NOTE: Be sure to hold down your SHIFT key when resizing your photo. This will ensure that it keeps its proper proportions.)

8.) Now... the photo still looks a little off to me since you can't see any of her hair... plus the image seems kinda dull to me. So lets do a bit of editing. Since her hair is darker than her face, i need to lighten it to get it to show up a little bit. (The blending mode of Lighten will usually bring out the lightest parts of your photo and make the darker parts disappear.) This was easily done by using the Dodge Tool. (You can choose your Dodge Tool from your Tools palette as shown below (or you can simply hit the letter "O" on your keyboard.) (You can also resize your eraser by clicking the bracket buttons on your key board. The Open Brackett ( [ ) will make your dodge tool smaller and the Close Brackett ( ] ) will make it larger. ) Now... click and hold and sort of drag it all around over her hair to begin lightening it. You will notice it start to appear. Continue this until you reach a look that you are happy with.

9.) Now, in order to define the photo just a bit more, I'm going to play with the Levels just a bit. Making sure your photo layer is active, go to your top menu bar and choose Image and then choose Adjustments and then Levels.

10.) Once your Levels window pops up, begin sliding the levers back and forth slightly until you are pleased with your result.

11.) Now, simply add your favorite elements and text and that's it. You're done. Again... here is our finished layout:

For my layout, I used:

TAYLORMADE DESIGNS: Solid and Understated Soft Neutral; and Fading Emotions Vol. 2

Jefferson Font (available at dafont.com)

I would LOVE to know what you think of this tutorial! Feel FREE to leave comments!! If you have any questions regarding this tutorial, you can certainly email me at taylormade8330@yahoo.com. Also, if you like this tutorial and want more, refer to the TUTORIAL section in the left panel of this blog!!

This tutorial can also be found in the Tutorial Section at Oscraps.com! Also, we would LOVE to see any layouts that this tutorial helped you with!! PLEASE come on over to the Oscraps Gallery and post them there!!!