kmrg2020 Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 Hi all, I'm learning PSE and have mastered (?!) the art of making selections with my trusty polygonal lasso. So I've selected a cute cutout of my grandson and I want to photoshop him into another background. I'm not great at designing paper or backgrounds so I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions of where/how to find sort of generic backgrounds. For example, I did this tutorial where he photoshopped the dog from a grassy green background into one with mountain and sky. I googled "backgrounds to photoshop yourself into" but I don't want to put him in front of the Taj Mahal! I know it's a rambling question but any insight would be appreciated. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcgal00 Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 Make sure you add drop shadows to make it look more realistic. Don't use too hard an edge on your extraction, so it doesn't look like a cutout. I'm not an expert on extraction, preferring to use masking and blend modes to combine two images together. Looking foward to seeing what you come up with and what others advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariJ Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 You could also just put your extraction on a paper background from any collection and add embellishments, etc. I don’t know where you would get realistic backgrounds, but you could always take your own photo (say like of a playground for example) and use that full sized (or not) as your background. Sometimes there are background papers that are part of a collection that look like the generic backgrounds you might be looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsoarty Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 Pixabay has free images. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatlady Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 Take your own photos then put your extraction on that. Have a blast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmrg2020 Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 Thanks for the advice ladies! I'm finding great ideas here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmrg2020 Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 On 8/6/2020 at 12:09 PM, bcgal00 said: Make sure you add drop shadows to make it look more realistic. Don't use too hard an edge on your extraction, so it doesn't look like a cutout. I'm not an expert on extraction, preferring to use masking and blend modes to combine two images together. Looking foward to seeing what you come up with and what others advise. I don't think I know much masking and blending. Can you suggest any good tutorials? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcgal00 Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 6 hours ago, kmrg2020 said: I don't think I know much masking and blending. Can you suggest any good tutorials? I’ll see what I can find tomorrow when I get back on my computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariJ Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 13 hours ago, kmrg2020 said: I don't think I know much masking and blending. Can you suggest any good tutorials? Masking is easy because there are ones already made for you! What you do is place your photo above the mask and then “clip” it to the photo. In PhotoShop Elements that is “Command G” and the photo will conform right down into the shape. Here are a few from Syndee -Artful Photo MasksBlendabilityArtful Masks 2Transfer Masks Blended Masks with FramesGessoFramed Masks If you are working in another program or this doesn’t make sense just let us know and we can explain more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariJ Posted August 12, 2020 Share Posted August 12, 2020 Here’s a VIDEO tutorial on blending by Brandy Murry.Blending with Brushes tutorial by Diane Try those and see if those help but ask away, there’s always someone to help. It’s confusing at first but blending and masks brings a whole new dimension to your scrapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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