For the purpose of this tutorial I am going to do a digital scrapbook layout where the photo blends into the background paper, and a second smaller, crisper copy of the same photo for a repeated effect.
For some using blend modes in Photoshop is second nature, and it is a relatively simple method but for those who have not yet discovered it, here is a quick tutorial.
To start my layout, I have selected a background paper and feature photo.
Next I am going to place a larger version of the image on the background paper, underneath the smaller version of the image.
Next while the larger flower layer is selected, we need to change the blend mode. In your layers palette you will find a little white rectangular box which currently has normal selected, if you click on the drop down arrow, you will see the blend mode options available.
There are several different modes to choose from, and each will have a different effect and are great to experiment with but for the purposes of this tutorial we are going to use Overlay mode.
Once your layer blend mode has been changed to Overlay, your photo will look something like this.
As you can see the look is quite effective and quite vibrant, you can make it look less vibrant by adjusting the layers opacity. This will in turn bring more of the colours of the background through, and soften the colours in the overlaid photo. This option is worth experimenting with to suit your taste.
At this point while I like the effect on the photo, I feel the edges need blending into the background a little more. I like to use layer masks for this purpose to make corrections easier.
While your larger photo layer is selected. Click on the Add Layer Mask button.
This will bring up a second thumbnail next to your image in the layers palette. To ensure the mask is selected, click on the mask to show the four corners surrounding it showing it has been selected.
Once you have done this, you can use your black soft brush to remove portions of the image, and the white soft brush to add them.
If you make a mistake, you can simple change the brush colour to white to add back the portion of the picture you wish to. On my layout, I softened the edges two sides of the photo to blend them into the background a bit more.
To finish off the layout, I changed the stroke blend mode around the smaller photo to overlay in the layer styles and reduced the drop shadow to bring it more in keeping with a graphic style layout.
I then added the titles in dark brown and changed their layer blend modes to Linear Light at 59% Opacity.
I also reduced the saturation of the colour in the background of the smaller photo, to help bring out the pink a little more.
What is Cross Processing you ask? Cross processing is a technique traditionally used in film processing to produce interesting and unpredictable colour effects.
Different chemicals are used to process Negative film from Slide film, and when using the chemicals for Slide Film on Negative film, wild and unusual colour variations occur. You can also achieve similar results by processing Slide Film in Negative chemicals.
With Photoshop you can achieve similar results with much less mess and much less fuss.. as well as with more predictable results. It is much easier to experiment with your results in Photoshop than it is with chemicals and film!
Lets start with our original photo.
From the bottom of your layers palette choose, New Fill or Adjustment layer
Select Curves from the menu that appears.
This will bring up your Curves Adjustment Layer window.
Within CS3 and possibly earlier versions of Photoshop, there is a Cross Processing Preset. This may work perfectly for your photo depending on the effect you desire, subject and the colors in your photo, but in this case I find it a bit too green for my photo.
For the purpose of this tutorial I am going to adjust RGB colours individually.
Select the Red Channel and adjust the line to form a curve above the diagonal. This will require some experimentation, as each photo will provide different results, but in the photo below the output setting is 192 and input 203 for the top curve (below the diagonal) and Output 64 and Input 98 for the bottom curve showing above the diagonal line.
Next I will adjust the green settings. You will again need to experiment and see what looks good on your photo. My green curves are going in the opposite direction to the red.
The final curve is the blue one.
I have made this one a more exaggerated version of the red curve.
At this point I feel the image needs a little warmth so I am going to add a colour fill. I experimented a little with the colour to see what looked good.
Click on the symbol at the bottom of your layers palette that looks like a half black and white circle to create a new adjustment layer and click on Solid Color.
I used the colour picker to pick a light orange colour and clicked on OK, creating a new colour fill layer.
Again you will need to experiment, but for this photo, I adjusted the blend mode to multiply and Opacity to 53%.
At this point the photo needs a bit more POP as it is a bit dull. Cross Processed images tend to have high contrast often with blown out highlights and dark shadows.
So to achieve this effect I have added a new Levels Adjustment Layer.
At this point, I moved the right hand white adjustment icon, to the left, which gives a bit more punch and contrast to the image. If you wanted to experiment a little more you could adjust each colour channel separately, but doing the RGB channel suited me for this photo.
Much closer now.. but not quite there…I still want the highlights to look a little more blown out.
So another adjustment layer, this time Brightness/Contrast.
I think we might have it now!
This to me, looks like a classic Cross Processed Image.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, and every photo will look different. The key is not to get too hung up on technique, and do what you think looks good. Experimenting with colour curves is a great way to become more familiar with editing your images and can provide some very striking effects!
Smart Guides are a very handy tool for lining up objects on a page layout in Photoshop. They enable you to quickly and easily see if your objects are lined up without having to use rulers, grids or create ruler guides.
First we need to make sure the Smart Guides are turned on.
Go to your View menu, hover over Show and ensure that Smart Guides are checked, if they are not checked, click on Smart Guides to turn them on.
Once your smart guides are turned on, they will automatically show when you are lining up layers on your Photoshop document.
As you can see below, the smart guides show in pink when the top, middle and bottom of objects align.
The smart guides will automatically appear whenever different layers are lined up horizontally or vertically and are a great way to ensure your layout photos and elements are perfectly in line with each other. If your objects are different sizes, you can still line them up with the middle guide.
Whichever way you move your layer objects, the guides will follow and show while you are dragging across your canvas.
Whether it is a row of flowers, a collection of thumbnail photos, or word art, smart guides are a quick and efficient way of laying out your photos and elements with precise accuracy and minimal fuss.
Turn your smart guides on, and have a play, you will be amazed at how handy they are.
The My Heritage Alpha is ideal for all your heritage, family history, and everyday layouts and coordinates with the My Heritage Digital Scrapbook Kit. The My Heritage Alpha is available in my Etsy store.
The My Heritage Digital Stamps and Photoshop Brushes are beautiful aged stamps with elegant filigree shapes, brackets and frames with decorative accents to perfectly title and accent your family history layouts. Each word art stamp and decorative stamp are large in size for large titles and maximum usage options. These stamps are great for blending and journaling accents.
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