Okay, Tom...here's what I'd recommend for getting your own pic into the background...
CREATE A LAYER FOR YOUR MOC: Follow the instructions on my first tutorial until you have gotten to Stage Two, Step 1), to where the outline has disappeared.
Quoting Mark Kelso
1) Open Photoshop to full screen size.
2) Click File, then Open.
3) Select the picture you want to play around with and open it.
4) Enlarge the window with your MOC picture to it's fullest size.
5) Move the cursor to the Tool box (long vertical window over the on the left side), and select the Zoom tool.
6) Place the Zoom cursor over your image and zoom in to your picture so you can clearly see the edges of your MOC. (By the way, any time you want to zoom out, hold the Alt key while clicking on your image)
7) Go to the Tool box and select the Polygonal Lasso tool.
8) Place the Polygonal Lasso tool right on the edge of your MOC and click once (you'll see that it attaches itself and there will be a long, stretchy, line that extends from that point).
9) Continue clicking along the very edge of your MOC with the Lasso tool. (Any time you make a mistake, you can press your keyboard's delete button, and it will back up one step).
10) Once you've outlined your entire MOC, the line will flash (to let you know the outlined item has been selected). You can zoom back out now if you'd like.
Stage Two: Working in Layers - Here you'll create a Layer for your MOC and a separate layer for your background. Once this is done, you can adjust one (in all sorts of ways) without affecting the other.
1) Move the cursor to Edit, click on Copy, click Edit again, and click on paste. (The outline will have disappeared.)
OBTAIN YOUR PICTURE FOR YOUR BACKGROUND, AND INCLUDE IT AS A LAYER IN YOUR WORKING IMAGE:
1) Go to FILE, then OPEN, and select the image you want as a background.
2) A new window with the image should have opened. Go to SELECT, then click ALL.
3) Go to EDIT, then CUT. The image should have disappeared, and now you can close out that window. (It will probably ask if you want to save changes...select NO.)
4) Now go to EDIT again, then click PASTE.
At this point your new background (or at least a portion of it, depending on size) should appear in the window with your MOC. It will be an additional layer. If you go to the LAYERS tab and click on it, you should see a new layer has been added to the list.
5) Hit CTRL + T and an outline will appear around this new layer. You can now move it around (by dragging with the mouse), or re-size it.
If you want to re-size it, place the cursor RIGHT on the corner, hold down the SHIFT key (which will keep the proportions while resizing), and adjust the image.
PUTTING YOUR NEW BACKGROUND IN THE BACK:
1) Once you've got the background approximately the size and location you want it (you can always adjust it further by following the same steps above), go to the LAYERS tab and click on it.
2) Click on the Layer that has your background image (which will probably be called Layer 2)so that it's highlighted, and move it underneath the Layer 1 box by dragging it.
Side note: In the LAYERS drop down box, one of the Layers will be called "Background." The Background layer is the image you started with, and as long as it's called "Background," it will always be the very bottom layer. You can delete it if you want. Also, if you want to make it so the layer is movable, do the following: right-click it, select "Duplicate Layer," and click OK. This will make a copy version that is movable.
NEW WAY TO CLEAN UP YOUR IMAGE A BIT:
1) Last time I showed you how to soften the edges of your MOC with the BLUR tool. This time I'll show you another option. Start by zooming in to a close-up of the MOC's edge somewhere.
By the way, if you haven't discovered it already, you can always move your image around (if not all of it's showing in the window) by placing any cursor on the image somewhere, holding the SHIFT key, and dragging it.
2) Go to the TOOLS box, and select the ERASER tool.
3) Up above, you can adjust the ERASER to your needs (just as you'd adjust the BRUSH tool). Click on the box with the squiggly line, and a drop down should appear with different lines. Select one that looks soft (like it's been airbrushed). Next box over will allow you to adjust it to whatever size you need. And for erasing, I'd suggest an opacity of around 50% (which is another box right there with the others).
4) Go to the LAYERS box, and when it drops down, highlight the layer with your MOC (probably Layer 1).
5) Now you should be able to use the ERASER tool to remove the hard edge around your MOC by erasing it slightly.
This ERASER is another great tool for adjusting your image. Just select which layer you want to work with, and you can go in and remove anything. Mess with it some when you have a chance. Try different opacities, different brush styles, and different sizes to get a feel for it. (go ahead, Vonthako...we know you want to!)
Then once you're finished, you can save it as before. If you run into any problems, don't hesitate to let me know. Once again, good luck with it, and let me know how it went!
Permalink | November 6, 2009, 9:46 am
