Photoshop Elements: Make Your Own Photo Composite Background
 I was asked to do a software tip lesson for Photoshop Elements, so here it is. It’s an intermediate level lesson, assuming that you already know how to do a little basic editing.
 First, you take open up Photoshop Elements and open the file of a photo that has distracting background elements in it.Then duplicate your photo. A quick way of doing this in some Photoshop Element versions is to use a Ctrl – J key combination. Or you can drag the thumbnail of your layer on top of the first icon underneath the Layer Palette. (Duplicating the original layer is a step you should always take. It lets you have an original to compare against your finished results, it serves as a backup in case you really mess up the editing of your photo, and the original photo layer is locked, preventing you from applying many editing changes to your photo.) Get a good view of your subject by selecting View, Fit on screen.
 Now you can select your subject by completely painting it with your Selection Brush tool (you can select it by typing the letter a) or by encircling your subject with the Lasso tool (you can select the lasso tool by typing the letter l). After you have finished selecting your subject, put them on another layer by selecting Layer, New, Layer via Copy or use the Ctrl – J key combination.Find a photo with a nice background and open it with the File, Open command. (The resolution of the photo should be similar, or part of your combined photo might look grainy.) If that happens, choose a different photo that has a closer resolution.
 If your photo is maximized, you will need to cascade it because you will be dragging the subject from one photo to the other. (You can tell that it is maximized if you can’t see the edges of your photo). In the picture to the left, the Cascade Windows button is highlighted in yellow. You will find it in the top right corner of your window.
 Now hold down your Ctrl key and tap the thumbnail of your subject (on its own layer). That will select your subject. Click on the move button or type m to select the Move button arrow. Put your cursor on the thumbnail of your subject and drag it on top of the photo that has a nice background. (This wouldn’t work if your photo was maximized). Drag it to where you want it. If it is too large, drag it downwards until you can see the top left corner of your subject’s bounding box. Put your cursor on it and when the double-headed arrow appears, drag down and right until your subject is the right size. Repeat if necessary.
 Press Enter or click on the check mark on the Options Toolbar to finalize your changes. If you need to adjust the lighting on your subject so that it matches the background better, select your subject by holding down your Ctrl key and tapping the thumbnail of your subject (on its layer). Then select Enhance, Adjust Lighting, and using Brightness and Contrast or Shadows / Highlights or Levels until the lighting looks correct.Your photo should now be ready to print. You can also save it as a JPG (File, Save As, select JPG as the file type). |
These steps can also be used any time you want to combine element(s) from one photo with another photo.
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