Mutilayered Image Tutorial

For the last couple of years, I have been working a lot with mutilayerd images in PhotoShop. Using photos of sculptures from cemeteries of France and Italy, I combine them with several other photos. This is a brief tutorial as to how it is done. Starting with these three separate images.

Tomb Door

Blossoms

Angel

One can do wonderful things in PhotoShop with layers and blending modes. This piece has four layers, the bottom one being plain white. The next layer up is the blossoms photo. The original photo had a blue sky backround and white blossoms. The color in this photo has been altered using the channel mixer and the opacity has been adjusted. The next layer up, #3 is the tomb door. The background has been erased from around the door, leaving the door layer with a transparent background, the blending mode "pin light" has been selected and the opacity has been reduced to 52%. This allows the blossoms to show through the door. The top layer is a straight foward photograph that has not been altered. For the angel, the blending mode "overlay" has been selected, this allows the lower levels to show through. I especially like the way the stars on the door show through.