Photoshop Compositing Secrets - Matt Kloskowski [74]
STEP FIVE:
Now, go back to the skateboarder image. The inverted selection you created in Step Three should still be in place. Go to Edit>Paste Special>Paste Into. This pastes the texture you just copied into the selection, on its own layer with a layer mask. You’ll need to make this new background bigger, so press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to enter Free Transform, then press-and-hold the Shift key, grab a corner transform handle, and drag the image out to fit the background. Press Return (PC: Enter) to lock in your transformation.
STEP SIX:
The only problem now is that the new textured background covers part of the sidewalk and rocks, too. So, click on the little Eye icon to the left of the textured background layer to hide it for a minute, then click on the Background layer to target it. Once again, use the Quick Selection tool to make a selection of the sidewalk, the rocks in the foreground, and the rocks that lead up to the wall. Click the Refine Edge button in the Options Bar, and then turn on the Smart Radius checkbox and crank the Radius setting up to 40 pixels this time (also, my View pop-up menu is set to On White here). We want a wider radius, so the edge isn’t perfect. Make sure the Output To pop-up menu is set to Selection and click OK.
STEP SEVEN:
Now, we’ve got a selection of the sidewalk and rocks, but we need to modify the layer mask on the textured background layer, so it doesn’t hide them anymore. Click where the Eye icon used to be next to the textured layer to turn it on again, then click on the layer mask on that layer to target it. Go to Edit>Fill, choose Black from the Use pop-up menu, and click OK to fill the selection (on the layer mask) with black. This will hide the textured layer covering the rocks and sidewalk and show the layer below. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to Deselect.
STEP EIGHT:
It’s time to add some graphics to the background. So, first open the splatter image (it’s a layered PSD file). Get the Move tool (V), click-and-drag the top layer (the splatter) onto the skateboard photo, and move it directly over the skateboarder. At the top of the Layers panel, change the layer’s blend mode to Overlay, so that the splatter blends into the background. Press Command-T to use Free Transform if you need to resize the splatter.
STEP NINE:
Of course, the splatter is covering the skateboarder, since it’s on the layer above him, right? So, press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key and click-and-drag the layer mask from the textured layer to the splatter layer. Holding the Option key copies the mask from the layer you’re dragging it from and makes an exact duplicate on whatever layer you put it on.
STEP 10:
Let’s draw some illustrative lines next. Select the Pen tool from the Toolbox (or just press P), and press D, then X to set your Foreground color to white. On the left side of the Options Bar, click on the Shape Layers icon (the first one on the left, circled here) to set the Pen tool to draw a Shape layer.
STEP 11:
Click once on the left side of the image with the Pen tool to start the shape. Then, click-and-hold slightly above and to the right of where you clicked before to add another point. Continuing to hold your mouse button down, drag to the right to extend the path to make it curve upward. Next, click on the skateboarder’s leg and, again, with your mouse button held down, drag to the right to extend another anchor point, so it looks like you’ve created a wavy line.
If you’re like most people using the Pen tool for the first time, you’ll probably throw your arms up in despair at this point. It’s one of the harder tools to get used to, and it’s definitely easier to watch someone use it than to read about how to