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In Part
1, we talked about the main concept
behind layers and why they’re
so important. Now we’ll take it
a step further and show how to make a
simple collage of images.
First, we need
to open the image we’re
going to use as a background and whatever
images we’re going to use in our
collage. To add one image onto the main
image, we need to drag-and-drop it. That
means clicking the Move tool (V) on the
smaller image and dragging it onto the
larger, main image. We can do this in
two ways:
- Go to the Window menu, under Images,
and choose Cascade. This allows you
to see and work with more than one
image at a time. Make the smaller image
your active window and make sure you
can also see at least a portion of
the main image. Using the Move tool,
click-and-hold on the smaller image
and drag it onto the main image. When
you let go, a new layer is created
that contains the image you just dragged.
- In Maximize Mode (Window>Images>Maximize
Mode), make sure the Photo Bin is visible.
Using the Move tool, click-and-hold
on the smaller image and drag it onto
the thumbnail in the Photo Bin of the
main image. Again, a new layer is created.
 Note:
This drag-and-drop technique makes
a copy so you don’t have
to worry about anything happening to
the original you’ve dragged over—it’s
still there, untouched.
It’s a good habit to name each
new layer that’s created by dragging-and-dropping;
otherwise, you’ll end up with a
bunch of layers called Layer 1, Layer
2, Layer,… .
To do this, double-click
on the layer name in the Layers palette
and type in a new name.
If the image
you dragged over is too big, (with the
Move tool active) look in the Options
Bar and make sure that Show Bounding
Box is checked. Use the handles to resize
the image to make it smaller, making
sure to hold down the Shift key to keep
it proportional. (Don’t
try to make an image bigger, as the quality
will be very poor.)
It’s also possible
to drag-and-drop a portion of the image
rather than the entire photo. Just use
any of the selection tools to make a
selection of the area that you want to
copy. Then, use the Move tool in either
of the two ways described above to copy
over the selected area.
Note: Your
copied image will have a very hard edge
unless you soften the edge of your selection
first using feathering. So, before dragging
the selected area, go to the Select menu
and choose Feather. In the resulting
dialog, choose an amount: The higher
the number, the softer the edge will
be. You can always delete the layer and
start over again if you’re not
happy with the results.
If
you want a layer to blend in more with
the Background image, you have a couple
of options. First, you could drag the
Opacity slider in the Layers palette
to the left to lower the opacity of
the layer so the Background layer shows
through. Or you can experiment with the
layer blend modes (found under the menu
that currently displays as Normal in
the Layers palette). Each one of these
options will change the way the active
layer blends with the Background layer
below. In our example we used Multiply.
(Just try some until you find a look
that you like.)
You can also make use
of the main image in your collage by
duplicating it and making the copy smaller.
To do this, either press Control-J (Mac:
Command-J) or go to the Layer menu and
choose New>Layer
via Copy. Then use the Move tool’s
bounding box to scale down the copy.
Here’s what our
Layers palette looks like at this point:
the original image (Background), the
smaller copy (Background copy), the bear,
and the blocks. A simple collage made
up of four layers.
Now let’s add a few finished touches.
To help the layers stand out a bit, we’ll
add a drop shadow. First, in the Layers
palette, click on the name of the layer
you want to work on. Then from the Styles
and Effects palette, choose Layer Styles
from the left pull-down menu. Select
Drop Shadow from the right pull-down
menu and then click on the drop shadow
you want to use. Repeat for each layer
where want a drop shadow.
We’ll make the Background layer
lighter and a slightly different color
by adding an adjustment layer. First,
click on the Background layer in the
Layers palette to make it active. Then
use the Create New Adjustment Layer pop-up
menu (the second icon from the top left)
and add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
In the resulting dialog, click on the
Colorize button and then drag the Hue
slider to choose the color tone that
you want to use. We’ll also drag
the Lightness slider to the right to
make the background lighter. Click OK
when you’re satisfied with the
colors.
Notice
in the Layers palette that the adjustment
layer sits above the Background layer.
This means that you can delete the
adjustment layer completely, hide the
effect by clicking on the Eye icon to
the left of the layer, or double-click
on the adjustment layer icon to change
the color or lightness settings.
We’d like the bear and the background
copy to be the same size, so we’ll
use the Rectangular Marquee tool (with
the Shift key held down) to drag a square
selection over the bear layer. Then from
the Select menu, choose Inverse (or press
Shift-Control-I [Mac: Shift-Command-I]),
then press Backspace (Mac: Delete) to
erase the other pixels. Press Shift-Control-I
(Mac: Shift-Command-I) once again to
get back to the original selection and
use the Move tool to position the selection
over the Background copy layer. Again
we’ll press Shift-Control-I (Mac:
Shift-Command-I) and then press Backspace
(Mac: Delete) to erase the other pixels.
(Notice how the drop shadow layer style
automatically adjusts to the new shape.)
Finally,
we use the Type tool (T) to add some
appropriate type (the Type tool automatically
creates a new, editable Type layer in
the Layers palette). Here’s
the finished collage and Layers palette.
This is just
one simple example of what’s
possible, of course. Just remember: Create
separate layers by dragging-and-dropping
(or duplicating); name your layers; and
experiment with Layer Styles, adjustment
layers, and Opacity to create your collage. |
