8. Combining Multiple Images

Sometimes you may want to merge various images—whether to add an effect, or move a person or object from one photo into another.

In this lesson you will do the following:

• Copy and paste selected areas of one image into another.

• Resize the canvas area of an image.

• Define and use a specific width-height ratio for cropping.

• Scale a layer.

• Create a gradient from opaque to transparent.

• Apply a clipping path to an image layer.

• Paint on a layer.

This lesson includes four independent projects. You’ll need approximately 90 minutes to complete them all.

In this lesson, you will use the CIB Catalog you created earlier in the book. If necessary, open this catalog by choosing File > Catalog in Organizer mode, then click Open.

Getting started

1 Start Photoshop Elements 4.0 Editor in Standard Edit mode. If you are in the Organizer, choose Edit > Go to Standard Edit to open the Editor.

2 Open the Palette and Photo Bins, if they are not already open, by clicking the arrows () and () at the bottom of the work area or by choosing Window > Palette Bin, and Window > Photo Bin.

3 Review the contents of the Palette Bin, making sure that the Layers, Navigator, Styles and Effects, and Undo History palettes are displayed.

---

Note: For help with Palette Bin contents, see “Using the Palette Bin” in Lesson 3.

---

Copying from one image into another

A simple way to combine part of one image with another is to use the familiar Copy and Paste commands. Your goal in this project is to enhance a street corner in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

1 Click on the Photo Browser button to enter Organizer mode. Then select the 08_01a, 08_01b, and 08_01c files—three photos of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Choose Edit > Go to Standard Edit to open these files in the Editor.

2 Select the 08_01b thumbnail in the Photo Bin to make it active, and then select the Lasso tool () in the toolbox.

3 Drag the Lasso tool around the dragon statue image. Keep the selection reasonably close to the outer edge of the dragon, but you don’t have to be precise.

If necessary, you can select Add to Selection () or Subtract from Selection () in the tool options bar, and then drag around the small areas you want to add or subtract from the first selection.

4 Choose Edit > Copy, or press Ctrl+C.

5 Select the 08_01a thumbnail in the Photo Bin to make that image active. Choose Edit > Paste, or press Ctrl+V. This places the copied image into the 08_01a picture.

6 Use the Move tool () to resize and move the pasted-in layer so that it fits in the scene. When it looks right to you, click the Commit button () in the tool options bar.

7 Select the 08_01c thumbnail in the Photo Bin, and repeat Steps 3-6 to add the street sign to the 08_01a picture.

---

---

8 Save your work by choosing File > Save. For format choose Photoshop (PSD) and for a file name type 08_01_Work. For location, choose the My CIB Work folder you created in the beginning of the book. If the Photoshop Elements Format Options dialog box appears, keep Maximize Compatibility selected, and click OK.

You’re finished with this project, so you can close all the files without saving other changes. You can use the skills you’ve learned in previous lessons to remove any background behind the statue using the Magic Selection Brush or Selection Brush. Because the statue is on its own layer, you will erase the background behind the statue, not the scene into which it has been pasted.

Placing multiple photographs in one file

Sometimes you want to show several photographs side-by-side in a single image file. In this project, the photographs you’ll use show different scenes of a tea house in San Francisco.

Cropping to synchronize the dimensions

Here you’ll work with two images that have the same resolution and widths, but their heights are different because the images came from different sources.

When combining images of different sizes, you have three choices:

• Leave the images sized as they are;

• Crop the larger photograph to match the height of the first image; or

• Resize the larger photograph to match the height of the first image, but not its width.

In this procedure, you’ll use the second method.

1 In the Organizer, select 08_02a and 08_02b and open them both in Standard Edit.

2 Select the Crop tool () in the toolbox.

3 In the tool options bar, type 428 px (include the units) in Width and 640 px in Height.

---

Note: The default units for Width and Height are inches, so it’s important to include the px with the values.

---

4 In the image window for 08_02b, drag the Crop tool diagonally across the image, centering the bridge in the crop area.

5 Drag the handles at the corners as needed to include as much of the picture as possible. Be careful to keep the crop boundary within the image area.

Regardless of how you drag the corners, the proportions of the crop area remain constant because you set the relationship between width and height in Step 3.

6 Apply the crop in either of the following ways:

• Double-click in the image window.

• Click the Commit button ().

7 Click the Aspect Ratio drop-down menu in the options bar and choose No Restriction to clear the 428 by 640 width-to-height ratio you defined in Step 3.

---

Note: Until you click No Restriction, the aspect ratio will remain, regardless of which image file is active.

---

Combining pictures and resizing the canvas

Now that the pictures are equally sized, you can proceed to place both images in one file.

1 Arrange the two image windows so that you can see some portion of both images.

2 Select the Move tool ().

3 Hold down the Shift key and drag the bridge photograph (08_02b) into the image window of the tea house photograph (08_02a). Carefully release the mouse button first and then release the Shift key. You can close the 08_02b (bridge) file now without saving any changes to the file.

As you can see in the Layers palette, the photographs are now stacked in separate layers. Only Layer 1 is visible: the picture of the bridge.

4 Choose Image > Resize > Canvas Size.

5 In the Canvas Size dialog box, do the following:

• For Anchor, select the middle square in the left column.

• Select the Relative check box.

• In Width, type 100 and select percent.

• Click OK.

6 Hold down the Shift key and drag Layer 1, the bridge, to the right until its edges align with the far edges of the canvas. Holding down the Shift key as you drag constrains the movement so that the vertical position of the layer can’t change. You may need to zoom out first before moving the image.

7 Choose File > Save As. Name the image 08_02_Work, and save it using the Photoshop (PSD) format in the My CIB Work folder. If the Photoshop Elements Format Options dialog box appears, keep Maximize Compatibility selected, and click OK. Close the file.

Erasing areas of image layers

In this project, you’ll start with a Photoshop PSD file that we’ve prepared for you. In it, four photographs have been stacked in layers, each one blocking your view of the ones below it. This is similar to the two images you combined in the previous exercise. You will erase a portion of each layer, allowing parts of the other layers to show through. You’ll end up with a collage, piecing together four city scenes into an equally divided image.

There are several ways to erase. One way is to use the Eraser tool, which replaces erased areas with the Background Color, just like a regular eraser removes pencil marks so that you can see the paper underneath. Another way is to use the Background Eraser tool, which replaces the erased area with transparent pixels, just like wiping wet paint off a piece of glass. In either case, the process involves dragging the eraser over the area you want to remove.

In this project, you’ll erase by selecting and then deleting entire areas of the various layers. This makes it easy to create sharp, precise boundaries between the four quarters of the final image.

Setting up a grid for precise selections

Knowing how to use rulers and grids is essential when you do precision work.

1 Using the Organizer, open the 08_03.psd file (Coit Tower) in Standard Edit mode.

2 Choose View > Rulers, and then choose View > Grid.

3 On the View menu, make sure that there is a check mark by the Snap to Grid command, or choose that command now.

4 Choose Edit > Preferences > Grid, and then select the following:

• In Gridline Every, type 100 and select Pixels in the drop-down menu.

• In Subdivisions, type 4, if it is not already entered.

• Click OK to close the Preferences dialog box.

5 In the image window, drag the zero-point marker (the corner box where the two rulers intersect) to the center of the image, so that it snaps into place at the center point of both rulers.

Now the 0, 0 position on the rulers is set at the center of the image.

6 Choose File > Save As. Name the file 08_03_Work.psd, and save it in the My CIB Work folder. If the Photoshop Elements Format Options dialog box appears, keep Maximize Compatibility selected, and click OK.

Erasing part of the top layer

This PSD file has four layers, which we created for you by dragging layers from several images into one file. Because the top layer covers the entire image area, all you can see is that layer—unless, of course, you peek at the Layers palette, where you can see thumbnails of all four layers.

1 In the Layers palette, select the top layer, Coit Tower, showing the tower.

Make sure the eye icon is visible for all the layers underneath the first layer. As each section is deleted, the layer underneath is exposed.

2 In the toolbox, select the Rectangular Marquee tool ().

3 Drag from the center of the image (0,0 point) to the upper left until the selection marquee snaps into place at the corner of the image.

4 Choose Select > Inverse to invert the selection.

Now everything except the first quadrant of the image is selected, and the upper left quadrant is protected from changing.

5 Choose Edit > Delete or press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Keep the selection active.

Erasing parts of lower layers in the image

By erasing three-quarters of the Coit Tower layer, you exposed three-quarters of the cable car layer, which is the the next layer down. You’ll uncover parts of the bridge and arboretum layers by deleting portions of the other layers.

Before you begin, make sure that the selection from the previous procedure is still active and that the Rectangular Marquee tool () is selected.

1 In the Layers palette, click the eye icon () for the Coit Tower layer to hide it, and select the cable car layer.

---

Note: It’s not absolutely necessary to hide the layer, but it simplifies your view as you perform the next steps.

---

2 Choose Select > Inverse, so that only the upper left quadrant is selected. Then move the cursor inside the selection and drag it down till it snaps to the lower left corner of the image window.

---

Note: The shortcut for inverting a selection is Ctrl+Shift+I. You’re going to invert numerous times in these steps, so this is a good chance to practice using it.

---

3 Invert the selection by choosing Select > Inverse or press Ctrl+Shift+I to select three-quarters of the cable car image. Press Delete or choose Edit > Delete, revealing three-quarters of the underlying bridge.

4 In the Layers palette, click the eye icon to hide the cable car layer.

5 Repeat the process to erase all but the top right quadrant of the bridge layer:

• Select the bridge layer.

• Invert the selection and drag it to the upper right quadrant. Then invert the selection again.

• Press Delete.

• Click the eye icon to hide the bridge layer.

6 Repeat the process to erase all but the lower right quadrant and reveal the arboretum image:

• Select the arboretum layer.

• Invert the selection and drag it to the lower right quadrant. Then invert the selection again.

• Press Delete.

7 Choose Select > Deselect.

8 Choose View > Snap to Grid, to deselect that option.

---

Note: The Snap to Grid feature can interfere with other kinds of work, especially when you try to select areas that don’t align to the grid.

---

Finishing and saving the project

You’ve done your erasing. It’s time to see the overall results. You’re also going to save your work twice: one work file and one JPEG file.

1 Choose View > Rulers and then View > Grid, to turn off these displays.

2 In the Layers palette, click to restore the eye icons () for each of the four layers so that all are visible.

Because you’ve used the Snap to Grid feature and rulers to align your selections precisely, your final image has no gaps between the quadrants or uneven margins.

3 Choose File > Save. (This saves the latest changes to the 08_03_Work.psd file in the My CIB Work folder.)

4 Choose File > Save As.

5 In the Save As dialog box, select JPEG as the format, and click Save. It is not necessary to change the file name or location.

6 In the JPEG Options dialog box, drag the Quality slider to 12. Notice the file-size information, then click OK.

7 Choose File > Close or click Close to close the file.

The JPEG format does not support layers, so creating a JPEG version of the image merges the layers into a single, flat image. JPEG is a good option for sharing files, as many programs and computer platforms support the format.

Congratulations! You’ve finished this project.

Now that you’re done, can you think of another way to do this project? If you thought of the Cookie Cutter tool, you’re right. It has a square shape option that you could use with the grid and rulers to cut out the quadrants directly rather than by inverting selections and deleting. For another example of using the Cookie Cutter, see Lesson 9, “Advanced Editing Techniques.”

Using a gradient clipping path

Digital graphics work consistently challenges you to strike a balance between flexibility and file size. Flexibility means the ability to go back and revise your work. In the previous project, the procedure gives priority to limiting the file size. If you wanted to go back and switch the positions of the Coit Tower and the bridge quadrants, you’d have to start from the beginning, because those pixels are no longer in the final work file—they were removed when you deleted them.

In this project, you’ll give priority to flexibility. You’ll apply a clipping path to combine one image with another. Your final work file will contain all the original pixel information, so that you can go back later and make adjustments whenever needed.

Arranging the image layers

A clipping path serves as a kind of cutting template for a layer. For example, text can be a clipping path, as if you glued an image onto the text and then dissolved all the areas of the image that weren’t attached to the text characters. Transparent areas on the clipping path produce transparency on the image layer.

In this project, you’re going to combine two views. You’ll make the photograph of airplanes gradually fade into the picture of the bridge. You’ll create the transition by using a clipping path that gradually flows from fully opaque to fully transparent pixels.

1 In the Organizer, press and hold the Ctrl key, and select the 08_04a and 08_04b files. Choose Edit > Go to Standard Edit to open the files in the Editor.

2 Choose Window > Images > Tile to view both images at the same time.

3 Select the Move tool (). While holding down the Shift key, click and drag from the jet fighters window (08_04b) into the bridge window (08_04a). Release the mouse button when you see the dark outline around the bridge image, and then release the Shift key.

4 Close the 08_04b image window without saving the file.

5 In the Layers palette, select Layer 1 (jet fighters). Then choose Image > Resize > Scale.

6 In the tool options bar, type 65% in the W (width) option, and then click Maintain Aspect Ratio (). This scales the height by the same percentage.

7 Click the Commit button () in the tool options bar to accept the changes.

8 Select the Move Tool then click and drag the planes on Layer 1 to the upper right corner so the planes are positioned half way between the horizon and the top of the image.

Adding a gradient layer

You’ll create a gradient that will eventually be used to blend the layers together.

1 In the Layers palette, click New Layer () to create and select a new, blank layer named Layer 2.

2 In the toolbox, select the Gradient tool (), and then select the Default Foreground and Background Colors icon or press the D key on your keyboard.

3 In the tool options bar, click the arrow to open the Gradient Editor. Double-click to select the Foreground to Transparent thumbnail. Its name appears in a tooltip when you roll the mouse over it.

4 Make sure that the other settings in the tool options bar are as follows:

• Radial Gradient ()

• Mode: Normal

• Opacity: 100%

• Transparency is selected

5 While holding down the Shift key, click and drag the Gradient tool horizontally to the right, beginning in the center of the middle jet and ending at the right edge of the image.

Applying the clipping path to a layer

With your gradient layer completed, it’s time to put it to work.

1 In the Layers palette, drag the new gradient layer, Layer 2, under Layer 1, the jet fighters.

2 Select Layer 1, the top layer in the stack, and choose Layer > Group with Previous.

This action defines Layer 2 as the clipping path for Layer 1. In the Layers palette, Layer 1 is indented and shows an arrow pointing down to Layer 2.

3 Choose File > Save As.

4 In the Save As dialog box, name the file 08_04_Work, and save it in the My CIB Work folder, selecting Photoshop (PSD) for the Format. If the Photoshop Elements Format Options dialog box appears, keep Maximize Compatibility selected, and click OK.

Creating a clean edge with defringing

Defringing is used to remove that annoying bit of color that comes along when copying and pasting a part of an image or deleting a selected background. When the copied area is pasted down onto another background color, or the selected background is deleted, you can see a fine halo around your selection. Defringe blends the halo away so you won’t see a hard line.

Now you’ll composite an image of a family standing in front of the bridge by selecting and deleting the background and using the defringe feature.

1 Click the Photo Browser button to return to the Organizer, and open 08_04c.psd, the picture of the family, in Standard Edit mode.

2 Select the Move tool (). While holding down the Shift key, click and drag from the family image (08_04c.psd) into the bridge window (08_04a.psd). Release the mouse button when you see the dark outline around the bridge image, and release the Shift key.

3 Close the image 08_04c.psd.

4 In the Layers palette, select Layer 3, the family, then choose Image > Resize > Scale.

5 In the tool options bar, type 70% in the W (width) option, and then click Maintain Aspect Ratio () to scale the height by the same percentage.

6 Click the Commit button () in the tool options bar to accept the changes.

7 Select the Move tool. Click and drag Layer 3, the family, to the lower left corner of the bridge image.

8 Select the Magic Wand tool and click on the pink-colored background in the upper left corner of the family picture. Then while holding down the Shift key, click on any remaining pink areas to select the background.

9 Press the Delete key to delete the background and press Ctrl+D to deselect. You can also choose Select > Deselect.

10 Select the Zoom tool and zoom in on the bag that the woman on the left is carrying. The fringe is clearly visible.

11 Choose Enhance > Adjust Color and select Defringe Layer.

12 Enter 2 pixels for the width and click OK. Notice how the fringe is eliminated.

13 Double-click on the Hand tool in the toolbox to fit the image in the window.

14 Choose File > Save to save the file in your My CIB Work folder.

Congratulations, you’ve completed another project. In this one, you’ve learned how to create a composite image by arranging layers using a gradient layer as a clipping path. You also used the Defringe option, which eliminates the edge pixels that remain from a deleted background.

---

---