Tài iệu Photoshop cs5 by Dayley part 97 ppsx

Using Multiple Images to Create a Photo Collage You create a photo collage by combining two or more photos in a single image to tell a bigger story than any of the original photos by the

Using Multiple Images to Create a Photo Collage

You create a photo collage by combining two or more photos in a single image to tell a bigger story than any of the original photos by themselves Photo collages can be used for a number of pur-poses For example, collages can showcase a photographer’s work or tell a specific story for a mag-azine article

Photo collages can be created in Photoshop in several ways Figure 21.13 shows some examples of photo collages

FIGURE 21.13

You can create collages to tell a bigger story in many ways, including these three

Although all photo collages are different, all seem to have at least a few basic elements that should concern you:

l Background: Because we are using multiple photos in the collage, you must have a

com-mon background to place the photos on The background can be either blank or one of the photos If you want a photo to be the background, you need to crop or size that photo

to the correct size of the finished collage Which method you use is determined by the requirements of how the collage will be used

l Size: Because we are dealing with multiple photos, typically the photos need to be resized

For example, one of the collages in Figure 21.13 shows a full-size background photo with three smaller photos on top

l Layout: Another important part of a collage is the layout—the position and angle of each

photo The angle can make all the difference to the look of the collage Photoshop makes

it easy to rotate and move images in a collage

l Layering: Layering is different from layout and is specific to collages A collage is really a

3D photo Layout provides the first two dimensions, and layering provides the third

Photoshop allows you to stack multiple photos on top of each other and quickly adjust which image is closest to the top by dragging and dropping layers in order in the Layers panel

l Shape: Typically, the shape of a photo is rectangular Many collages keep the original

shapes of the photographs Usually, a layout with square, crisp edges gives a collage a pro-fessional look and feel But sometimes, changing the shape of images in a collage is a bet-ter option You can achieve a homey, scrapbook look by using selections and vector shapes to change the shape of the images in a collage

l Layer Styles: Adding layer styles such as borders, bevels, or drop shadows to the

individ-ual photos makes them pop, giving them a three-dimensional look and distinguishing them from one another

Before you create a collage, make any color corrections or other image adjustments to the individ-ual images you are planning to use in the collage Making these changes is much easier in the origi-nal document with fewer layers

Use the following steps to create a collage of multiple photos:

1 Create the background

If you want a specific photo to be the background, open the photo and crop or size it to the correct size of the finished collage If you are creating a background, start with a new document and add any color, patterns, or other elements you want

Tip

When creating a collage on a created background, it is best to create the background as big as possible This

allows you to bring the images in full-size to keep as much detail in them as possible You can always resize the

image down after the collage is created This won’t work when you use a photo for the background, however,

because you are limited to the size of the photo n

2 Add photos to the background

The easiest way to do this, especially if you have several files, is to create a collection of the files you are planning to use in Bridge and then use Mini Bridge to drag them into the background document, as shown in Figure 21.14 The photos are added to the original document as layers, and you can move and resize them as they are placed

FIGURE 21.14

You can drag multiple files from Mini Bridge into one document, and they are placed as separate layers

3 Select the layer containing the photo you want to work with

With multiple images on multiple layers, it is more important than ever that the Layers panel become an integral part of your workflow Figure 21.15 shows a Layers panel with

19 layers representing different images placed in a collage

Cross-Ref

Learn how to optimize your use of the Layers panel in Chapter 10 n

4 Tweak the size and placement of your images

Although you were given the opportunity to resize images as they were placed in the doc-ument, seeing them all together and making other changes, such as the shape of the image, usually means you can continuously tweak size and placement You can move the selected image using the Move tool, or resize or rotate it using the Edit ➪ Free Transform function

FIGURE 21.15

Using several different images can mean a layer-heavy document

5 Adjust the order of the layers in using the Layers panel

If your photos overlap each other, you may need to adjust which photo is on top To change which photo appears on top in the image, drag the photo layer higher or lower in the Layers panel

6 Change the shape of each photo

If you want your photo to be a different shape than the (probably) rectangular image you brought in, change the shape by creating a selection inside the image and deleting the unselected pixels or creating a mask to hide them as shown in Figure 21.16

FIGURE 21.16

Changing the shape of an image is as easy as creating a selection and deleting extra pix-els or creating a mask to hide them

You can use a vector shape (either a preset or one you’ve drawn yourself) to create a path and use the Paths

panel to create a selection You also can use a vector shape to create a clipping mask If your Layers panel is

full of image layers, you can create a Smart Object from each image and change its shape in the original file n

7 Use Layer Styles to add borders, bevels, drop shadows, or other elements to your

photo

These elements change as you change your photo If you were to transform your photo, for instance, the effect would change with it The changes add depth to individual pho-tos, as you can see in Figure 21.17

FIGURE 21.17

Adding both bevel and stroke layer styles to this photo gives it depth

Tip

You can add the same Layer Styles to each layer by clicking the layer style, copying it, and then

right-clicking on each layer and using the menu option to paste the layer style You can’t use the hotkeys for this

operation, because the hotkeys copy and paste the layers themselves You can assign hotkeys to this function,

however n

Using Photomerge to Create a Panorama

Whether or not you have a wide angle lens, you can use Photoshop to create a photo panorama that is much larger and higher quality than you could capture in one shot from multiple photos

The Photomerge utility in Photoshop makes creating panoramas a relatively simple process

The most critical part of using software to create a panoramic photo from multiple shots is taking the appropriate photos in the first place Being aware of how Photomerge works to create a pan-orama will give you the knowledge you need to take appropriate photos These aspects of taking multiple shots for a panorama will help you create the best results:

l Rotational positioning: Rotational positioning involves standing in the exact same place

and rotating the camera around that single point to take the photos The pictures should

be taken with the most stability possible, so using a tripod or monopod is the most ideal method

Caution

A common mistake made when capturing panoramic photos is to use parallel positioning Parallel positioning

involves taking a photo perpendicular to the scene and then moving the camera to a point that is parallel to the

first point, still perpendicular to the scene and the same distance away from the scene This type of positioning

makes it very difficult for software to adjust the scene for the appropriate perspective n

l Overlap: To create the ideal conditions for blending the images into a seamless panorama,

each image should overlap the next by 40–70 percent Less than this, Photomerge may not be able to line up identical areas in the image More than this, it has a hard time appropriately blending the images

l Focal length: Be sure to maintain the same focal length in all the images you want to use

for a panorama; don’t zoom into some of the shots and not others

l Lighting: Maintain the same exposure for each photo This can be trickier than it sounds If

the sun or other bright elements are present in some but not all of your images and your camera is set for automatic exposure, some of your images may be much darker than others

If you have a camera where the exposure can be set manually, you may want to do that

Use the following steps to create a single panoramic photo in Photoshop:

On the Web Site

You can find the three photos that are used in the following exercise on the Web site saved as Figure 21.18a,

Figure 21.18b, and Figure 21.18c n

1 Open the photos you want to include in the panorama, and close any other photos

that may be open in the editor

The three photos used in this example are shown in Figure 21.18

FIGURE 21.18

These three photos taken of this hotel in India are perfect for creating a panorama

Caution

Do not make any adjustments to the photos, such as lighting and color, at this point Photoshop has a harder

time trying to merge the photos if there are even slight differences in these settings between photos n

2 Select File ➪ Automate ➪ Photomerge to bring up the Photomerge utility shown in

Figure 21.19.

FIGURE 21.19

The Photomerge utility is easy to use and mostly self-explanatory

3 Click the Add Open Files button to load the files that are currently open in

Photoshop to the Use files list

You can also use the browse button to browse to the files you want to merge if you don’t

have them open in Photoshop

4 Choose a Layout option from the Layout menu

You can choose from these layout options:

l Auto: This option allows Photoshop to evaluate and determine which of the following

settings works best for your photos Just like any of the automated processes in Photoshop, this is a hit-and-miss setting

l Perspective: Using the center photo as a guide, the other photos are matched using

the overlap areas and stretched or distorted to create continuance in the other photos

l Cylindrical: This option flattens out the bowtie effect that’s created when taking

sev-eral images in a circle

l Spherical: This option makes a panorama that is meant to be seen in a circle around

the viewer

l Collage: This resizes or rotates the images so that overlapping areas match but doesn’t

skew or otherwise warp the images

l Reposition: This option doesn’t transform the images in any way; it just overlaps them

as best as possible

For this example, choose Reposition because the images don’t need to be transformed in any way to look good together

Note

In Photoshop CS3, Photomerge had an interactive layout option that allowed you to make changes to the

semi-finished panorama In CS4, this option was removed because of significant improvements in Photomerge If

you would like to have more control over the Photomerge process, you can still add this option as a plug-in

PhotomergeUI is available in the optional downloads provided by Adobe on its Web site n

5 Choose any of the following operations:

l Blend images together: This option finds the borders of the images and blends them

together optimally for the best results

l Vignette removal: If some or all of the images have lens vignettes, select this option to

have them removed while the merge is taking place

l Geometric distortion correction: Use this option if any of the photos being used

have distortions caused at the time of capture, such as barrel, pincushion, or fisheye distortions

There are not any vignettes or geometric distortions in the image of the hotel, so you only need to select Blend images together for this example

6 Click OK

Photoshop needs several seconds to analyze and blend the photos together When the merge is complete, it is displayed as a new document in Photoshop, as you can see in Figure 21.20

FIGURE 21.20

With very little effort on my part, the merged photo is created

Although the panorama is displayed as a single document in Photoshop, it actually is composed of

as many layers as there were photographs to begin with, each with a mask that displays the areas that were cut from each photo to blend them together, as you can see in Figure 21.21 This makes

it possible for you to make changes to the way the merge was created by adjusting each layer and each layer mask

FIGURE 21.21

With each photo placed on its own layer in the panorama, changes to it are easily effected

Summary

This chapter demonstrated how the tools you have learned up to this point can be used to create the best composites The examples in this chapter were limited, but the possibilities are unlimited

You learned techniques that will help you create great composites, including these:

l The best way to combine files

l Several ways to make a composite seamless

l Using masks to make an added element look like it belongs in an image

l Using Photomerge to create seamless panoramas