It's All About Layer Adjustments

Backgrounds, Patterns & Photographic Textures on CD

By Rick Wetzel

Whenever I add a background texture to a photograph, I always play with the layer adjustment drop down menu and the opacity levels. In this tutorial, I take one of my Digital Pastel backgrounds, merge it with a studio image and use layer adjustments for an artistic effect.

STEP 1

Open both images and place them side by side. I scaled the Pastel to the approximate sixe of the peppers photo. Select the entire Pastel (Select>All) and copy (Edit>Copy).

STEP 2

Select the background of the peppers with the Magic Wand, Pen Tool, or Lasso - your choice.

STEP 3

Click on the Layers Tab again. Choose Edit>Paste Inside from the main menu.

Now you can have some fun. Try experimenting with the Layer Adjustment drop down menu. Typically, I try all of the options - disolve, multiply, darken, etc. until I find one I like. I also tinker with the Opacity. Sometimes a layer adjustment effect is too strong, and can be dialed back.

STEP 4

I choose Soft Light but kept the opacity at 100%.

STEP 5

I wasn't quite happy with final product and felt rest of the photograph needed a subtle touch of the pastel background. To quickly make a new mask; reselect the old mask and invert. Just command click the black & white mask in the Layers Widow using the Move Tool. With the the original area selected, go to the main menu and choose Select>Inverse.

Once again, choose Edit>Paste Inside and experiment with the Layers adjustment drop down menu. I choose Overlay with an opacity of 60%.

The final product after only a couple minutes of work. Don't forget, it's the Layer Adjustments.