Absolute Beginner's Guide to Digital Photography

Copy the Selection and Paste It into the Background Image

Use the Move tool (in the main Tool palette) to position the new image over the

background. Determine how well the new image blends in. If too much of the old

background remains around its fringes, you might try erasing the unwanted fringe

with a tiny brush. If this doesn’t work, you’ll need to redo the selection process.

Evaluate the layer’s overall quality. Is the image on the new layer the right size? If it

is too large, you can scale it with Edit, Transform, Scale, but if it’s too small, you’ll

need a larger original. Are the contrast, color balance, and saturation settings cor-

rect? You can use a grouped adjustment layer to correct the contrast and color

imperfections of any one of your component images.

Flatten the Image When Finished

Before you flatten the final image by choosing Layer, Flatten Image, save a copy of

the original with all of its layers in case you need to edit it again. You can always

burn the large file to CD if it’s taking up too much room on your hard drive.

Advanced Selection Techniques: The Pen Tool

Occasionally you will need to select large areas precisely. Outlining tools, such as the

Lasso, are effective and extremely precise, but they are cumbersome for drawing

large selections. The Pen tool combines the advantages of the outlining tools with

greater speed and flexibility (see Figure 16.10).

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FIGURE 16.10
The Pen tool at
work.