Dropping in a sky
If your scene doesn’t have a
great sky, maybe you should
add in a better one!Photoshop has always been known for
its ability to composite images together –
like adding flying pigs over a lake! New
programs like Luminar will add in skies
automatically, and to be frank these are an
easier solution. However, learning how to
use composites in Photoshop means you
will be able to do much more than just skies,
because the principle is the same for all
types of compositing.Left
Would you ever know?
Without reading this tutorial, hopefully you’d
neverknowthatthisblackandwhiteisa
compositecreatedfromtwocolourimages.
Successfulcompositingrequiresgoodtechnique
andwhatwecouldcall‘invisiblePhotoshop’1
OpenyourskyItdoesn’treallymatter
whetheryoustartwiththeskyorthe
landscapeatthebottomoftheLayers
panel,butforthisexamplelet’susethe
sky.Naturally,yourskyshouldsuitthe
landscapethatwillbebelowit.2
SizethecanvasTofitthelandscape
belowtheskyweneedmoreroom,so
theCanvasSizedialogueshouldbeused,
anchoringitatthetoptocreatemorespace
below.Don’tworryaboutaddingintoomuch
space–youcancropitoutlater.3
DropinthelandscapeOpenthe
landscapeimageinPhotoshop.
Selecttheimage(Select>All)andcopyit
(Edit>Copy).Switchtotheskyphoto.Paste
itontop(Edit>Paste).You’llseeanewimage
layerontopoftheskyintheLayerspanel.4
MasktheskyWhether dropping in a
sky, a person or a building, the trick is to
create a selection that ‘cuts out’ the element
so that it looks natural when it is dropped in.
This is done using selections and masks.5
FinessethejoinsIt is rare for
everything to work out just right,sobe
prepared to use the Move tool toshiftyour
sky or landscape into a better position,and
to manually adjust the mask so thatthetwo
images fit together seamlessly.6
ToflattenornotAtthisstage,you
canchoosetoflattenthelayersintoa
singleimage.Andyoucanalsoaddfurther
adjustmentlayerstorefinetheimage’s
colourandtonality,justasyouwoulda
singlecapturefile.AFTER
Petrt Eaasw eySwhPy