Welcome to Day 41 of your Photoshop course! Today, we’ll learn compositing in photoshop—the art of blending multiple images to create a seamless, cohesive scene. You’ll learn the fundamental techniques for matching perspectives and colour tones, making sure your composite looks natural.
By the end of this lesson, you’ll have the skills to combine two different images in Photoshop and create a realistic result. As always, there’s an assignment at the end to help you practice.
1. What is compositing?
Compositing is the process of combining elements from different sources into a single, cohesive image. This technique is used extensively in graphic design, film production, and advertising.
When done correctly, composing makes it impossible for viewers to tell that the scene is made up of different images. Key aspects of successful composition include:
- Matching perspectives: Aligning the angles and focal points of both images.
- Matching lighting and shadows: Ensuring that light sources and shadows match.
- Matching colour tones: Balancing the colours between images to create a seamless blend.
2. Basic Principles of Compositing Images Together
Let’s break down the basic principles of composition:
A. Matching Perspectives
To make a composite look natural, the perspective of the images must align. If you’re blending a person onto a new background, both images should have similar angles, vanishing points, and camera positions.
Tip:
Check the horizon lines of both images and ensure they align. You can also use Photoshop’s Rulers and Guides (found under View > Rulers and View > Guides) to help match angles and perspectives.
B. Matching Lighting and Shadows
Lighting is a critical part of creating a realistic composite. If one image has strong sunlight coming from the right, but the other image has light coming from the left, the composite will look unnatural.
How to Adjust Lighting:
Use Adjustment Layers such as Brightness/Contrast and Levels to modify the lighting of the images to match each other. If needed, use the Dodge and Burn tools to lighten or darken specific areas.
C. Matching Color Tones
Images from different sources often have different color tones. You’ll need to adjust the colors so that all parts of the composite share a similar look.
How to Adjust Color Tones:
- Use the Color Balance or Hue/Saturation adjustment layers to tweak the colors of individual layers.
- You can also apply a photo filter to both images to give them a uniform tone.
3. Step-by-Step Process: Blending Two Images
Now, let’s walk through a simple process of composing two images.
Objective:
Blend a person onto a different background seamlessly.
Instructions:
Step 1: Choose Your Images
- Select an image of a person or object that you want to add to a different background.
- Choose a background image that has a matching perspective and lighting.
Step 2: Extract the Subject
- Open the image of the person and use the Quick Selection Tool or Pen Tool to create a selection around the subject.
- Refine the selection using the Select & Mask workspace to ensure clean edges.
- Once selected, copy the subject onto a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + J).
Step 3: Place the Subject on the New Background
- Open the background image and place the subject image into the same document (File > Place Embedded or drag the layer in).
- Resize and position the subject using Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmd + T) to match the background.
Step 4: Match the Lighting
- Analyze the light direction in both images. Adjust the Brightness/Contrast or Exposure of the subject layer to match the background.
- If necessary, use the Dodge and Burn tools to fine-tune specific areas of light and shadow.
Step 5: Match the Color Tones
- Add a Color Balance or Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above the subject layer.
- Adjust the colours to harmonize with the background. You can also use curves or a photo filter adjustment layer to give both images the same colour cast.
Step 6: Add Shadows
- To make the subject appear grounded in the new environment, add a shadow. Create a new layer under the subject and use the Brush Tool to paint a soft, dark shadow where the light would fall.
- Use Gaussian Blur (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) to soften the shadow and make it look natural.
4. Assignment: Blend Two Images
Now it’s your turn to practice composing! For this assignment, follow the steps above to blend two different images.
Objective:
Create a realistic composite by blending a person or object into a new background.
Steps:
- Select two images that you want to blend.
- Extract the subject from the first image using a selection tool.
- Place the subject on the new background, and adjust the lighting, shadows, and color tones to make it look seamless.
- Save your project as a PSD file to preserve the layers for future edits.
- Export the final image as JPEG or PNG.
5. Quiz: Understanding Compositing
Take this quick quiz to test your knowledge of compositing techniques:
- What is the most important factor when blending images?
a) Matching the size of the images
b) Matching the perspectives, lighting, and colour tones
c) Using the Magic Wand tool - How do you adjust the colour tones of different images?
a) By using the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer
b) By resizing the image
c) By using the Crop tool - What tool would you use to create realistic shadows in a composite?
a) Lasso tool
b) Brush tool
c) Quick Selection tool
Answers:
- b) Matching the perspectives, lighting, and colour tones
- a) By using the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer
- b) Brush tool
You’ve just learned the basics of compositing in Photoshop, blending two images seamlessly by matching perspectives, lighting, and colour tones. This is a fundamental skill that can help you create stunning visual effects, from surreal compositions to realistic photo edits.
Up Next: In Day 42, we’ll dive into Advanced Compositing Techniques, where you’ll learn how to blend even more complex elements.
Previous Chapter:
Next Chapter:
- Stay tuned for Day 42: Advanced Compositing Techniques!
