Preserved Topic: Merging Pictures? (Page 1 of 1)

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows of any plugins for Photoshop5.5 that allows you to merge various portions of pictures together. Sort of like bluring various areas of a picture. Im hoping there is a plugin that does something like this. Maybe like blend 2+ pictures together, or something...I think you probably understand what I mean..

I've tried selecting portions of a picture and bluring it, but the picture just doesn't ever look the way I would like it to..and the edges next to the blurred parts looks solid, and just looks wrong. Like I would like it to slowly blur out maybe, instead of all just one selection to be blurred the same.

Ok, now im confusing myself... hehe

Ryan

There are plenty of tools included in Photoshop for that very thing. Look up Layer Masks and Quick Masks in your manual.

Sounds like a job for Layer Mask.

Head over to Gurus' Network and read Backdoors by Steve. Definitely one of the best explainations out there. So, Layer Mask and Gradiants.

Unless I'm way off mark.

don't forget your blending modes in your layers palette too, there's a whole list of them in that drop down thingy that says "normal" in it? Yep that's the one.

ok, now you're confusing me... heheh

Jason

threep can think of only two words:
"layer masks."
feeling that he should elaborate, he does so:
"ok, let's step you through this one:
1) file > new and make a new image.
2) paste onto two separate layers two different photos. or even just fill two different layers with two different colors.
3) click on one of the layers, and choose layer > add layer mask > reveal all. you are now in layer editing mode. see on your layers box there is the little square with your image, then a WHITE square next to it? that is your LAYER MASK. white bits are the visible parts of the layer, black are the invisible. its all white, cause its all visible (unless a layer is on top of it.)
4) presss 'd'. this chooses default colors - b & w.
5) press 'g' - linear gradient tool.
6) click and drag on the image from left to right. if you are working on the top layer, the results should be instant.
7) do the same on the other layer if you want (steps 3 > 6), but dragging from right to left.
8) in the words of one of the better teachers i know, 'play.fiddle.learn'
enjoy."
threep posts quickly, hoping no-one beats him to the easy tip.

"shit" says threep.
"22 minutes is obviously a sluggish response time."

...hmmmm kinda diffucult to get what it is you are asking for.... here is a real easy method I think will help you to play before you dive into more complicated things (the M words!) Feathering is a quick way to get rid of hard selection edges -- your feathered edges "fade" or feather your image edges/effects applied.

Start by stacking up your different images on layers on top of each other, start up at the top level layer then:

make a selection (lasso, marquee, or paint a quick mask)

SELECT > FEATHER & enter a value (higher # = higher value = you will see what i mean)

then SELECT > INVERSE (or don't) and blur, or delete, or both in either order -- play around a bit


..then go and learn the joys of quick masks to "paint in" a selection and layer masks to "block out" painted selections .... and then there are channels which you can use too ...

have fun!

Thanks for all the replies..I'll give them a shot.
Maybe this will help describe what im trying to do, a little better. heck, im not sure what I want anymore..haha

Is there a plugin like a "fade in" or "fade out", that lets you select a "layer" to slowly fade out towards the sides, or in various different patterns?.

Now that seems to be a good question for what I want...

Thanks again;

Ryan

threep says very slowly:
"you should not rely on plugins. its really not that hard. did you follow my steps in my above post?
if so, good, we're almost there.
now, if you think about what i was saying about layer masks, black areas hide layer information, white areas show layer information. and the bits in between, well, they are in between.
now, look at step 6. this involves putting black and white on the layer mask so some bits are visible, some arent.
play with this.
instead of the gradient, try select all, contract, feather, invert, fill with black, gaussian blur..."
he pauses, wondering if he is wasting his time.
believing this to be the case, he stops the post there.

"Is there a plugin like a "fade in" or "fade out", that lets you select a "layer" to slowly fade out towards the sides, or in various different patterns?"...well, NO.


Don`t fall victim the the powers of the Dark (read plug-in) side. To get the variety of effects you describe, you may actually have to ( dare I say it ?) use the tools the Adobe Gods have provided for you.

Seriously, this is the fun part. just try one or two of the techniques listed above. ( They`re good ones) and if you can`t get the result you`re looking for, show us what you do have and we`ll help you get there.



If they had just killed Gilligan, they`d have been off the island in a week.

Hey 3p,
never forget that others are lurking along behind, so even if the topic starter isn't along for the ride, others will be for sure.

rmf, what you're describing is exactly what a layer mask will do. You can fade out images as much as you and in whatever pattern you desire as long as you know what you're doing.

Here is a short example:

layermask.psd

threep smiles and says to linear: "thanks linear - ive only been posting for a week or two, and i forget the life of the lurker! "

On behalf of us half billion or so 'lurkers'.... keep up the good work!

NJ

Yeah threep - I've enjoyed your voice here. It's only been a week? Keep it coming. There is a god, and he gave you the alt and tab keys for a reason