By Chad Neuman

This is an often-requested technique from some of my university students, so here’s a tutorial on it. Sometimes you may need to cut out the background from part of a photo and keep the background transparent. Reasons for this include needing a transparent background in a web page design or in an InDesign file. Here’s how to do this.

Step 1
Open an image in Adobe Photoshop.

Step 2
Here’s an important step, because Background layers do not keep deleted pixels as transparent. Double-click on the Background layer in the Layers palette and name the layer (Layer 0 is fine) and click OK. This allows the layer to have a transparent background once we delete some pixels.

Step 3
Use a Selection tool to create a selection of the element to keep. I will go over advanced selection techniques in another tutorial; for this example, we can use the Quick Selection tool or the Polygonal Lasso tool to click around the area and go to Select>Inverse to select everything but the element we want to keep. In this example, it’s the snowboarder. We can refine the edge of the selection by going to Select>Refine Edge if needed.

Step 4
Once the area needed to be transparent is selected, press Delete (PC: Backspace) to delete those pixels. The checkerboard pattern means those pixels are transparent.

Step 5
Here’s another important step. If you save this file as a JPEG, the background will be filled with pixels. Instead, save the file as a GIF (and keep transparency in the save options) or PNG if you need a transparent file for a web site design. If you need to incorporate an element from a photo with a transparent background in an InDesign file, you can save it as a normal Photoshop file (PSD) since they are both owned by Adobe and seamless. When placing the PSD file in InDesign, the file will retain its transparency.

by Chad Neuman

This technique can be useful when creating brochure, web site, or poster designs. Creating duplicated layers from selections and then applying layer styles to them is a simple yet effective technique. Let’s get started.

Step 1
Open an image in Adobe Photoshop.

Step 2
Press Cmd-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the Background layer so we’re working on a copy.

Step 3
Select the Marquee Selection tool and click-and-drag a square (Hold Shift to create a square rather than a rectangle).

Step 4
We need to save the exact square shape for all three layers we will make, so go to Select>Save Selection and name and save it.

Step 5
Next, press Cmd-J (Ctrl-J) to duplicate just what was selected. I click the Eye icon on Layer 1 and the Background layer to show the new layer, Layer 2.

Step 6
Click Layer 1 in the Layers palette to make sure it is selected, and go to Select>Load Selection.

Step 7
Now we need to move the selection to the right. With the Marquee Selection tool selected, hover the mouse inside the edge of the selection and it should turn into an arrow. Holding Shift to maintain a straight line, click-and-drag the selection to the right until it is a few picas over. You may want to use the Rulers (View>Rulers) to make sure you’ve dragged the selection over enough so it does not overlap where the original selection was. Then click Cmd-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate another area to a new layer. I clicked the Eye icon on Layer 1 and the Background layer again to show these two new layers.

Step 8
Next, repeat steps 6 and 7 but move the selection over even more an even amount so we can duplicate a third layer. Try toggling Layer 1 on and off with the Eye icon to make sure we duplicate the area at about an even interval. It doesn’t have to be exact unless your design calls for it; I am mostly worried about avoiding overlapping.

Step 9
Now let’s add some layer styles. With Layer 2 selected, apply a layer style by going to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Try the settings shown here.

Step 10
Now instead of having to add a layer style to each again with those steps, we can press Option (PC: Alt) and click-and-drag the Drop Shadow from Layer 2 to Layer 3 and Layer 4 in the Layers palette.

Step 11
There we go!

Try different layer styles by clicking-and-dragging the styles to the trash icon on the Layers palette and then applying new ones.

This one has a Stroke and Inner Shadow applied.

This one has an Outer Glow, Inner Glow, and Drop Shadow

by Chad Neuman

Combining two photos to create a new look is a fun way to learn various techniques. We’ll learn how to use the Circular Marquee tool from the center, adjusting the opacity of a layer, creating a path from a selection and adding text along it in the process. Let’s get started.

Step 1
Open the support file in Adobe Photoshop, an image from NASA in the public domain.

 Step 2
Open an image of a person holding a circular object, such as a ball. This one is by Ronald Bloom and available through iStockPhoto.

Step 3
Now in the earth photo, click-and-drag a ruler guide from the top and bottom, halfway across so it’s in the middle. In the earth photo, subtract the entire length by 2 to get where the cursor needs to be exactly. Note: if rulers aren’t showing, press Command-R (PC: Control-R).

 After drawing the ruler guides, hover the cursor over the center of the photo, where the two guides cross. Hold Option (PC: Alt) and click-and-drag the mouse. Hold Shift to maintain proportion. Once the Elliptical Marquee tool is around the earth, release the mouse button then the keys.

 
Step 4
It should look like this.

Step 5
With the Move tool, click-and-drag the earth photo selection onto the other photo.

 
Step 6
Click-and-drag a corner of the earth layer. If there’s no transform controls on the corners, make sure Show Transform Controls is checked in the Control palette. Lower the opacity of the earth layer in the Layers palette to be able to make it the correct size.

Step 7
The earth needs to be a little bit bigger than the red ball here, since the ball isn’t completely round.

Step 8
Raise the opacity of the layer back to 100% in the Layers palette.

Step 9
Click and Eye icon next to Layer 1, the earth layer to turn its visibility off for now. Use the Quick Selection tool and select the area that overlaps the earth and where we’ll need to bring in front of the earth.

 
Step 10
Click the Eye icon next to Layer 1 again to make it visible. Go to Select>Inverse.

 
Step 11
Now we need to mask out the area of the earth photo where the arm is. We mask out the area instead of erasing so that if we mess up, the pixels can be brought back instead of removing them. With Layer 1 selected, click the Add Layer Mask icon on the Layers palette.

Step 12
The mask automatically masked out where we had a selection.

Step 13
Now for a few touch-ups. The levels seem off on the photo of the girl, so go to Image>Adjustments>Levels. Drag the black arrow to 34 as shown here.

 
Step 14
Now the color levels are a bit richer and better adjusted.

Step 15
Now let’s add a text on a path to the photo. Command-click (PC: Control-click) the thumbnail preview of the Layer 1 on the Layers palette. This will create a circular selection around the pixels in the earth layer.

Step 16
Click the Paths palette tab and click the Make Work Path from Selection icon on the bottom of the Paths palette.

 
Step 17
With the Text tool, click on the left top side of the path we just made.

 
Step 18
Type in some text that matches the photo.

Step 19
With the Move tool, click-and-drag a corner of the text area and expand it so there’s some room between the earth and the text. Now we have a combined photo with some text.

Let’s say you need add an image to another one, but it needs to look seamless. The image we’ll be adding to the other needs to have the same angle and texture of the other one. We can use the lens distortion tool and a layer blending mode for this example, and it’s also a fun way to learn the lens distortion tool and layer blending modes.

Step 1
Here’s the image we want to overlay onto another one.

© ISTOCKPHOTO/LYNN CHEALANDER

Step 2
Here’s the image we’ll need to add the other image to. To use these examples, right-click each and save the images to your computer and open them both in Photoshop.

Step 3
Select the Move tool

Step 4
Click-and-drag the beach photo onto the television photo. Drag the beach photo so it covers the television. We now have two layers.

Step 5
With the Move tool selected, make sure the Show Transform Control is selected. Click the Layer 1, the beach layer, in the layers palette.

Step 6
Click the Eye icon of Layer 1 in the layers palette in order to see the television layer, seeing where the beach will show once we remove the area outside of the television screen. Click-and-drag the corner of the beach photo to resize it so more of it will show on the screen; hold Shift to maintain proportion. Make sure all of the television screen is covered. After resizing, press Enter to make the changes.

Step 7
Click the Eye icon next to Layer 1, the beach layer, to hide it for now. Click the Background layer, the television layer.

Step 8
Now we’ll need to draw a selection around the television screen. To select those corners, we’ll need to use the Pen tool. Select the Pen tool.

Step 9
Click (not click-and-drag) along the border of the screen near the corner. Then click-and-drag to draw a curving line on the side. The Pen tool may take a little bit to get used to, but generally click somewhere near the beginning of a curve, and click-and-drag near the ending of the curve.

Step 10
Draw the shape around the edge of the television screen, until we complete the shape.

Step 11
In the Paths palette, right-click the Shape 1 Vector Mask and click Make Selection.

Step 12
Press OK.

Step 13
In the Layer palette, click the Eye icon of the shape layer since we don’t need it, and click the Eye icon of Layer 1 and click Layer 1 to select it.

Step 14
Go to Select>Inverse and press Backspace to delete the pixels outside of the television screen on the beach layer.

Step 15
Change the layer blending mode of Layer 1 to Overlay.

Step 16
This overlays the beach image onto the television screen, but the beach photo’s angle needs to protrude a little bit in the middle to fit the television screen.

Step 17
With Layer 1 still selected in the layers palette, go to Filter>Distort>Lens Correction. Set the Remove Distortion to about -14, or until it adds some barrel distortion to fit the screen.

Step 18
The problem here is that the beach is now moved outside of the screen area. Click the Eye icon of the shape from earlier and repeat steps 11-14 to remove the area around it again. Now we have an image that is seamlessly blended with another, using both the overlay blending mode and adding some lens distortion to match the background. Be sure to remove any pixels that on top of the area outside of the screen by selecting it with the polygonal lasso tool and press Backspace to remove them.