Celebrity and Model Collages and Edits

Demi Lovato (2), Jessica Alba, Victoria Justice

 

Charlotte McKinney, Jennifer Garner/Sofia Vergara

 

Danica McKeller, Rosie Jones

 

Kari Byron

 

Christine Theiss, Lena Meyer-Landrut, Stefanie Heinzmann, Toni Garrn

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Alessandra Ambrosio (2), Melissa Benoist

 

Julianne Hough, Kate Upton

 

last nights creation while watching Abraham Lincoln...Vampire Hunter



@1920x1080

I'm liking this new masking as a background technique for cutting out people, especially the hair.

 

lol, fun idea

 

meh, 5 minutes

 

Demi Lovato, Melissa Benoist

 

I like it, too! very well done substituting the background while keeping all the details of her hair. I spend so much time on hair! Can I ask what your technique was?

-dr

 

Melissa Benoist, Melissa Reeves

 

actually, its rather stupidly simple and i cant believe i didnt think of it 10 years ago when i learned about making layers.

grab your source layer
dupe it
grab a sample of your background color for your palette
note its color value (I use hex)
using the sampled color do a "color to alpha" using that color on your dupe layer.
create a new empty layer OVER your dupe layer
fill it with sample color
now change fill layer mode to screen for light or multiply for dark
wipe out the portions of the picture in the dupe layer that you DO NOT want (see how much easier this is in cardboard mode instead of colors and tones?)
(remember this is all being done on a dupe layer of the source so if you pooch it, you can easily drop back.)
now, when you are basically happy with what you see it's time for a trick.
>create new layer from visible<
HA!

so you say, wtf? think about it. you now have a cardboard backing EXACTLY the way you want your foreground to look.
Boom,grab your new layer, put it UNDER the dupe layer in layer stack and then turn off the first cardboard layer.

You now have your foreground cut out with all your details and only a very little flash.

now, I hate edge flash on stuff so we're going to pull another fast one. We want that nice hair to blend with the new background, yes? LEAVE THE PICTURE LAYER ALONE.
grab a soft brush, set it to color erase, then go around the EDGE of your cardboard layer and it will leave just a blend of the picture layer fading into the background.

do this a few times making >new from visible< at each step until youre happy then move on to your next foreground selection. group your layers so it doesnt get stupid on the right side of the screen.

dont forget what a wonderful thing >new from visible< is, i use it as a final step for each group of processes i do. its an excellent way to get a final view snapshot so far.

also, on cutout work i find it invaluable to do a >new from visible< then dupe it, then run thru the layer modes looking for crap you really wanted gone that are almost but not quite totally gone.

I know this all seems a long drawn out bunch of nfo, but with a bit of practice you can do a foreground cut out that looks gorgeous (imo) in about 10 minutes. Remember you can do >new from visible< when you have any number of your foregrounds in place, just remember to link the cardboards with the picture layers so when you move one you move all.

The funnest thing about this is, if you get the cut out really good and all the foregrounds color balanced and the cardbords blended well it makes no difference what background you use, they all look (depending on the background of course. stupid background will still look stupid).

Dont forget, when you get your foreground on your background, >new from visible 1< >new from visible 2< set layer mode on >new from visible 2< to multiply @ 5% opacity or there about to tie the entire thing together making the whole picture look balanced and cohesive.

last, border layer, tag, txt etc. (although txt can be an entire picture of its own, even if it isnt in style today)

 

Gemma Atkinson, Kendall Jenner, Selena Gomez

 

Blake Lively, Candice Swanepoel

 

Kimberley Garner, Summer Glau
Ashley Benson (4)

 

Julianne Hough

 

Anna S., Emilia Clarke

 

Jennifer Lawrence, Lara Logan