Photoshop Tutorial: Merging two images - Photoshop Tutorials | Photoshop Contests

Thrice · 05-10-2006, 01:25 AM

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this tut was done by littleOz on bb.com Thats why it will look familar, but some people might not have seen it, so here it is.

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Alright this is a basic Photoshop tutorial to help demistify photo editing for those who are lost. I'm assuming a certain level of photoshop knowledge (and that you're using Photoshop in the first place).

I'll be combining this photo of Brad Pitt (he's dreeeaamy):

...and this pic of a random val kilmer lookalike:

(this one was originally the full size - not sure what happened somewhere in the transferring of files...)

Observant people may notice that I've chosen 2 pictures where the faces are at a fairly similiar angle - this is always a good thing to keep in mind when picking photos (I generally get my photos from google images - just type in the name of the person and filter for Large images).

Ok here we go...

Step 1:

Here I've flipped and cropped the val photo so I only have the area around the head - I don't need the rest of it. I've also used the Free Transform tool to resize the image so it's closer to the size of Brad's head. It doesn't have to be the exact size yet, I've just made it a bit closer so it's easier to work with.

Step 2:

Now I've used the Polygonal Lasso Tool to select create a marquee around Val's head, it doesn't have to be perfect as I'll be merging his head with Brad's and small imperfections won't be visible. After the initial selection I've smoothed the marquee a bit by selecting Select > Modify > Smooth. I usually like to smooth by a value of about 2 pixels.

Thrice · 05-10-2006, 01:26 AM

Step 3:

Here I've simply cut (control + x) the selected portion of the Val picture, clicked on my Brad picture and pasted the Val head (control + v). It will automatically be placed on it's own layer. The original Val picture can now be closed as we'll just be working on the one file.

Step 4:

This is an important step for getting the image to actually look realistic (as realistic as a nerd's head on Brad Pitt's body can look). I reduced the opacity of the Val head layer to 50%. This can be done by modifying it on the layer's pallete, or just clicking on the layer and typing "50" on your keyboard. Then I've carefully resized the head and used the Free Transform tool to change the angle of the head so that it's sitting correctly on Brad's. By "correctly" I mean I've lined up the eyes/nose/mouth/chin as closely as possible so create a relatively seamless blend in the finished product.

Step 5:

Ok now we change the opacity back to 100% and start blending the 2 images together. Zoom in to the area around the head by using the Zoom Tool. Select the Eraser Tool and choose a brush that is decently sized (see screenshot), and not too hard - I like to use a hardness of about 60%. Make sure the top layer (val kilmer's head) is selected and carefully/slowly click away at the area where the 2 heads join. This will remove the hard edge and the 2 images will begin to blend together if you do it carefully. This can take some practice to get right. As you can see in the screenshot I've only done the hair so far, and started on the neck.

Step 6:

This is what I have now that I've finished my erasing, as you can see it's ok to have a bit of a difference in the skin because we'll be fixing this up next. Again, this is something that takes practice to get just right.

Thrice · 05-10-2006, 01:26 AM

Step 7:

In this step I've modified the Hue/Saturation (control + H) so that the colour of Val's face pretty much matches the colour of Brad's head at the top (it would be impossible to get it correct all the way around at this point as Brad's face has a shadow on it - just choose one area and match it to that.

Also, before you open the hue/saturation, you can grab the color picker, pick BRAD's face color, then continue as usual. When you open the hue/saturation palette click the 'colorize' box so that it try's to match the skin color to the color you have picked (in this case, brad's face color). You will still have to play around with H/S from there on to get the two skin tones to match more closely.

Step 8:

Finally I've used the Burn tool (hidden under the Dodge tool) with settings of hardness: 0% and exposure 30%, to carefully darken the obvious join around the ear/jaw area to blend it together. Bare in mind all this work is being done on the Val Kilmer head layer, nothing has been done to the Brad Pitt layer.

Final Image:

So there you have it, a basic blending of 2 images together to create one hilarious image. More work could be done to give Val a bit more of a tan etc but like I said, this is just a basic tutorial. Hope it's helpful - let me know if you have any problems/questions. Good luck!

TheGreatKhali · 05-10-2006, 09:42 AM

this must of took at least 30 minutes.

Emmanuel · 07-16-2006, 12:22 PM

I have to rep you. This thread got me started.

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bc_2005 · 07-16-2006, 12:23 PM

what happened to little oz anyways? hes a great chopper. anyone talk to him at bb.com?

Thrice · 03-26-2007, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bc_2005

what happened to little oz anyways? hes a great chopper. anyone talk to him at bb.com?

he's still on bb.com. he had sex with a crazy navy girl

LeeHotti · 05-20-2007, 08:42 PM

kinda choppy but def a good tutorial for beginners.

hunty · 12-27-2007, 04:06 AM

Im crap at blending it in?

wrecking my head

original image is, can some1 help me fix it, or explain lol

joshbond · 12-27-2007, 04:11 AM

Hey hunty, did you use the eraser tool on that one?

the eraser should have settings so you can set it to "hard" or "soft"
you want to set it to a soft setting and then slowly erase away the top face to "blend" it with the bottom face.

I dont know if that made sense, lol but I tried.
Hold on, let me find you a tutorial that explains it better.