how to make a manip (candid edition)
Final Result:
I’m using PhotoShop CS6 for this tutorial, but CS5 and CC should work the same! (i’m not sure about any version earlier than that)
The picture I used of Jade is here and the picture of Harry I used is here. I’m going to try to make this pretty simple, but I use a lot of keyboard shortcuts so I’ll mention those accordingly!
1) The first thing you need to do is load your picture that will remain in the background. In this case I used Harry’s picture because the background was larger and could easily be expanded. You could load your picture with File>Open or you could copy the image and create a new document (File>New or ctrl+N ) and select the clipboard option for the size.
2) Expand your background image to make room for the other person. Use the crop tool (highlighted) or press the C key. Make the background black by adding a black layer underneath your photo.
3) Paste on the photo of your other person. Then change the opacity(highlighted) to about half and and use free transform (ctrl+T) or Edit>Free Transform and resize your second person to make them the same size as the person in the background and move them into the place that you want.***make sure you hold down the SHIFT key as you change the size so your second person doesn’t become deformed!***
4) Next, return the second picture to full opacity, then use the quick selection tool (W key or highlighted button) to select the person body. Try to make this as exact as you can get it!. (if the magic wand tool is appearing instead of quick selection, right click the button and you should see the quick selection option. Once your person is completely selected click the refine edge button.
5) Select “smart radius” and drag the slider until the edges are no longer rough, but soft, and you can see fly away hairs. Then click okay.
6) Click the layer mask button, and your person should become isolated from their background. Feel free to re-size now with free transform to get the person to the right size and position.
7) Crop the image to get rid of any excess background. Also, if the legs don’t line up or the photos are taken at different angles, it could make your manip look off. I cropped out the legs in this photo to get rid of the different camera distortions.
8) Add a PSD! If you’re new to PS, a PSD is really the name of any photoshop file, but in this context is a group of adjustment layers that give a photo a desired effect. I’m using one that I made in this case, but any PSD that give the background added darkness would be good. I’ll post my PSD if someone asks, and you can find other recommendations on my resource page.
***I actually noticed this PSD was a little strong for this photo so I reduced the opacity to 49%***
9) The color in these photos didn’t match, so I added a color balance, selective color, and brightness/contrast on Harry’s photo , and a color balance layer on Jade’s photo to try to get them to match. Just play around with these until it looks right!
10) Remember to save your picture! File>Save As or ctrl+shift+S!
If you have any questions about this tutorial feel free to ask me! xx