Layers and Masks

Look at:
Wendy McMurdo
Paul M Smith
Adam Green

To bring your pictures together in Photoshop:

As usual - save originals and make duplicate files. {Before you upload them to screen change the dpi to 72 in images side but DON'T do this until you have finished working on them - and then save the one you worked on and make a duplicate for screen.}

1. Decide which is going to be your background and which the overlay (to go into the 'background' picture)
2. Use the move tool (top right 'tool palette' icon). Click on to the overlay picture and drag it on top of your background picture. This now appears in the background layer palette as 'Layer 1'.
3. In the 'Layer Palette', change the 'Opacity' scale to a lower percentage (making sure that 'Layer 1' is selected). Now you will be able to see the background layer behind as well as the overlay.
4. Creating a Layer Mask and using 'reveal all' (or 'hide all' - see 7.). This helps to improve your accuracy but remember whichever way you do this the job is fiddly! Select the top layer 'Layer 1' go to -
   layer - layer mask - reveal all.
   
5. Reveal all shows all the overlay. You can alter the opacity in the Layers palette if this helps but it is easier to see what you are doing at 100%. To get rid of what you don't want use the paintbrushes. First, check that the colours (at the bottom of the 'tool palette') are black and white - you can switch between these using 'x' on the keyboard (to add or subtract from the picture) or click the arrow next to the box.
6. Click on paint brush and choose an appropriate size from the tool bar. Make sure the layer box in the Layer palette is highlighted (click on it). Then paint away with the brush - getting rid of the overlay that you don't want. If you take away something you want press 'x' on the keyboard and then paint it back in.
   
7. and using 'hide all'. At number 4 above you can click on 'hide all' instead in which case the overlay is hidden and you paint it back in using a paintbrush and the black and white colours at the bottom of the tool palette.

Don't forget that to use this image (rather than work on it) make a duplicate, go to the Layers window and flatten Layers then save as a jpeg. Again, if you are going to present this on screen go to image size and reduce it to 72 dpi.