ADVANCED IMAGE EDITING SKILLS
E
lement’s Photomerge Compose command
provides a guided walkthrough that explains each
stage of the photo-merging process. To begin
with, we use Quick Selection to isolate the object
we want to extract from its original background. Once the
selection is done, the command places the object on another
layer, allowing you to position it exactly where you’d like. It
also offers a feature to Auto Match the tones, but don’t
bother using it. Apart from the fact that it doesn’t do a very
good job of matching tones, it also pixellates your cut-out
image and severely lowers the quality. Luckily, colour
matching is easily done once Photomerge Compose is
complete, and other tools such as Levels offer greater
control anyhow. Once the images are combined, it can help
to add an effect over everything, so that the different
elements look like they belong together. Here we’ve done
this by saving a copy of the image, then taking it into the
Camera Raw plugin to create an HDR-like effect.
The success of composites like this relies heavily on the
lighting in the two images. If in one image the light is from
the side, and in the other, the light is from the front, then
it will be hard to combine the two convincingly. In our two
starting images here, the lightest part of the scene is in the
background, so the angle of light is coming from behind.
This makes it much easier to blend the two images into one
convincing whole. So when shooting or choosing images for
your own composites, look to match the lighting.
Combine images with Photomerge Compose
Make a convincing composite
photo using Elements’ clever
Photomerge Compose feature