Digital Photography.

Using Layers and the Lasso Tools

I. Retouch Picture Elements

A. Take a look at the following photographs.  The one on the left is the original, taken on a very cloudy, rainy day.  The one on the right is the enhanced version, with an attractive sky added.

B. Let’s see how this is done.  We will be using a function called layering with its ability to build each layer separately, save a document as a layered set and return to work with individual layers again and again. You will use two different files to add the attractive sky to the original picture.

C. Open the image named Clouds.jpg in the Student Files folder on the CD drive

D. There is no need to save a copy of this file as we will be using it for a new purpose

E. Click the Maximize button (center button at the top right of the image) to maximize the view.

F. To place the Layers palette in the workspace, click the Window menu and the click Layers.  The Layers palette opens onto the workspace.

G. It is good practice when working with layers to begin by creating a duplicate background layer.  That way you can work with the background layer and avoid any danger of changing the original image.

1. Click the Layer menu and then click Duplicate Layer. The Duplicate Layer dialog box opens.

2. Click OK to accept the defaults.  You now have a second layer named Background copy.

3. Click the Eye icon on the Background layer to hide the lays.  The Background Copy layer is now the only visible layer.

H. Create a new layer for another file

1. Click the Create a New Layer icon on the Layers palette (this is the middle icon at the bottom of the palette).  A new layer appears in the Layers palette

2. Right-click the new layer, Layer 1, and click Rename Layer. The Layer Properties dialog box opens.

3. Rename the new layer “Castle” (no quotes) and click OK.

4. You now have three layers, two of which are visible.

I. Select the Castle

1. Open the image named Wawel Castle.jpg in the Student Files folder on the CD drive

2. There is no need to save a copy of this file as we will be using it for a new purpose.

3. When you work with two files, if the one you need to work on is in the back, click any part of its window to bring it to the front. In this way you can keep both files at a workable size and still have access to each of them. Try to keep the Layers palette visible at all times.

4. Click on the Magic Wand tool (second one down in the right-hand column) to activate it, then click once in the sky area of the picture of Wawel Castle.

5. The Magic Wand tool is used to select an area of a picture when there is a significant difference in color between one area and the other.  In this case the sky is white and the rest of the picture has color.  Thus, clicking with the Magic Wand tool in the sky area will select it.  The Tolerance control on the Options Bar determines how “picky” the Magic Wand is when distinguishing between colors.

6. But it is not the sky that we want to copy, we want to copy the castle itself.  To change the selection, open the Select menu and click on Inverse.  This will “invert” the selection, de-selecting the sky and selecting the castle instead.

J. Copy the Castle

1. With the castle selected, open the Edit menu and click on Copy.

2. Now bring the Clouds image to the foreground (click on it).

K. Add the Castle to the Clouds image

1. Open the Marquee tool (the top tool in the left-hand column) and, anywhere on the Clouds image, depress and hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse down and to the right, then release the button. This selection serves only to mark where you want to paste the object. It has no effect on size or shape.

2. Open the Edit menu and click on Paste.  The castle is now on the layer you created for it and you are viewing two layers, the background copy layer and the castle layer.

L. When you are working with layers, there are two ways in which to save the image.  If you don’t plan to work with the layers any longer, you can “flatten” the layers to combine them into one

1. Open the Layer menu and chose Flatten Image

2. Answer “yes” to the question of discarding hidden layers

3. Save the results as a .jpg file

M. However, if you plan to do further modifications to the image, you can save it as an Adobe .psd file.  That is what we will do with this image

1. On the File Menu, choose Save As

2. In the Save In drop-down text box at the top of the dialog box, choose the proper location (in this case C:\My Results)

3. In the File Name text box, give the file an appropriate name (in this case My WawelCastleandClouds.psd)

4. In the Save Options, be sure that Save Layers is checked

5. Then click the Save button

6. The image is save and the layers you have created are preserved

II. Create Trick Scale Pictures

A. Do you remember this picture from the slide show?

B. Here’s how it is done

C. Open the image named Dog.jpg in the Student Files folder on the CD drive

D. There is no need to save a copy of this file as we will be using it for a new purpose

E. Click the Maximize button (center button at the top right of the image) to maximize the view.

F. To place the Layers palette in the workspace, click the Window menu and the click Layers.  The Layers palette opens onto the workspace.

G. It is good practice when working with layers to begin by creating a duplicate background layer.  That way you can work with the background layer and avoid any danger of changing the original image.

1. Click the Layer menu and then click Duplicate Layer. The Duplicate Layer dialog box opens.

2. Click OK to accept the defaults.  You now have a second layer named Background copy.

3. Click the Eye icon on the Background layer to hide the lays.  The Background Copy layer is now the only visible layer.

H. Create a new layer for another file

1. Click the Create a New Layer icon on the Layers palette (this is the middle icon at the bottom of the palette).  A new layer appears in the Layers palette

2. Right-click the new layer, Layer 1, and click Rename Layer. The Layer Properties dialog box opens.

3. Rename the new layer “Balloon” (no quotes) and click OK.

4. You now have three layers, two of which are visible.

I. Select the Balloon

1. Open the image named Balloons.jpg in the Student Files folder on the CD drive

2. There is no need to save a copy of this file as we will be using it for a new purpose.

3. When you work with two files, if the one you need to work on is in the back, click any part of its window to bring it to the front. In this way you can keep both files at a workable size and still have access to each of them. Try to keep the Layers palette visible at all times. 

4. The last time we used the Magic Wand tool to select the contents of our upper layer.  The colors in the Balloons image are not different enough to allow the Magic Wand tool to work

5. So we will use the Lasso tool (the second one down in the left-hand column).

6. There are actually three different Lasso tools on the Options Bar: The Lasso tool, the Polygonal Lasso tool and the Magnetic Lasso tool.  Each has its advantages and disadvantages.  For our purposes, we will use the Magnetic Lasso. With the Magnetic Lasso tool you do not need to hold down the mouse button as you move around the object you want to select. The magnetic lasso tool is especially useful for quickly selecting objects with complex edges set against high-contrast backgrounds

7. Right-click on the Lasso tool (second one down in the left-hand column) and choose Magnetic Lasso tool

8. Click somewhere on the edge of the center balloon to chose the starting point.

9. Move the pointer along the edge of the balloon.  The Magnetic Lasso tool snaps to the edge of the balloon leaving small squared called “fastening points” with thin lines connecting them.

10. If the tool does not snap where you want it to, click to set a fastening point manually. In this way you can exercise some control over the selection process. Sometimes the Magnetic lasso is inclined to cut corners. If so, you may want to manually click the corners to prevent this from happening.

11. If the Magnetic Lasso tool strays off target and creates unwanted fastening points, move the pointer back to where it went astray and press the Delete key repeatedly until the unwanted lines and points are removed.  You can also press the Escape key at any time to quit the Lasso operation and start again.

12. When you have successfully surrounded the balloon, double-click inside the selection to set the selection frame, if it does not do so automatically when you reach the origination point. The selection frame is complete.

J. Copy the Balloon

1. With the balloon selected, open the Edit menu and click on Copy.

2. Now bring the Dog image to the foreground (click on it).

K. Add the Balloon image to the Dog image

1. Open the Marquee tool (the top tool in the left-hand column) and, anywhere on the Dog image, depress and hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse down and to the right, then release the button. This selection serves only to mark where you want to paste the object. It has no effect on size or shape.

2. Open the Edit menu and click on Paste.  The balloon is now on the layer you created for it and you are viewing two layers, the background copy layer and the Balloon layer.

L. We must now adjust the size and location of the balloon

1. Click on the Move tool (the top icon on the right-hand side)

2. A box forms around the balloon.  At each corner of the box and in the middle of each side of the box is a small white square.  These are called “handles” and are used to move and re-size the image in the box.

3. Placing the mouse pointer on the corner handles and dragging changes the size of the image without changing its relative dimensions

4. Placing the mouse pointer on the side handles and dragging changes the size of the image and the relative dimensions (making it fatter or thinner, taller or shorter)

5. Adjust the balloon image until you are satisfied.

M. Since, in this case, we don’t want to preserve the layers but rather save the final image as it is …

1. The final step is to “flatten” the layers to combine them into one

2. Open the Layer menu and chose Flatten Image

3. Answer “yes” to the question of discarding hidden layers

4. The image is now complete

N. Save the results as My DogandBalloon.jpg on the My Results folder on the C:\ drive.

III. Another Trick Scale Picture

We are going to take these two pictures:		And combine them to look like this:

B. Here’s how it is done

C. Open the image named MiltK2.jpg in the Student Files folder on the CD drive

D. There is no need to save a copy of this file as we will be using it for a new purpose

E. Click the Maximize button (center button at the top right of the image) to maximize the view.

F. To place the Layers palette in the workspace, click the Window menu and the click Layers.  The Layers palette opens onto the workspace.

G. It is good practice when working with layers to begin by creating a duplicate background layer.  That way you can work with the background layer and avoid any danger of changing the original image.

1. Click the Layer menu and then click Duplicate Layer. The Duplicate Layer dialog box opens.

2. Click OK to accept the defaults.  You now have a second layer named Background copy.

3. Click the Eye icon on the Background layer to hide the lays.  The Background Copy layer is now the only visible layer.

H. Create a new layer for another file

1. Click the Create a New Layer icon on the Layers palette (this is the middle icon at the bottom of the palette).  A new layer appears in the Layers palette

2. Right-click the new layer, Layer 1, and click Rename Layer. The Layer Properties dialog box opens.

3. Rename the new layer “Hat” (no quotes) and click OK.

4. You now have three layers, two of which are visible.

I. Select the Hat

1. Open the image named Hat.jpg in the Student Files folder on the CD drive

2. There is no need to save a copy of this file as we will be using it for a new purpose.

3. When you work with two files, if the one you need to work on is in the back, click any part of its window to bring it to the front. In this way you can keep both files at a workable size and still have access to each of them. Try to keep the Layers palette visible at all times. 

4. Right-click on the Lasso tool (second one down in the left-hand column) and choose Magnetic Lasso tool

5. Click somewhere on the edge of the hat to chose the starting point.

6. Move the pointer along the edge of the hat.  The Magnetic Lasso tool snaps to the edge of the balloon leaving small squared called “fastening points” with thin lines connecting them.

7. If the tool does not snap where you want it to, click to set a fastening point manually. In this way you can exercise some control over the selection process. Sometimes the Magnetic lasso is inclined to cut corners. If so, you may want to manually click the corners to prevent this from happening.

8. If the Magnetic Lasso tool strays off target and creates unwanted fastening points, move the pointer back to where it went astray and press the Delete key repeatedly until the unwanted lines and points are removed.  You can also press the Escape key at any time to quit the Lasso operation and start again.

9. When you have successfully surrounded the hat, double-click inside the selection to set the selection frame, if it does not do so automatically when you reach the origination point. The selection frame is complete.

J. Copy the Hat

1. With the hat selected, open the Edit menu and click on Copy.

2. Now bring the MiltK2 image to the foreground (click on it).

K. Add the Hat image to the MiltK2 image

1. Open the Marquee tool (the top tool in the left-hand column) and, anywhere on the MiltK2 image, depress and hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse down and to the right, then release the button. This selection serves only to mark where you want to paste the object. It has no effect on size or shape.

2. Open the Edit menu and click on Paste.  The hat is now on the layer you created for it and you are viewing two layers, the background copy layer and the hat layer.

L. We must now adjust the size and location of the balloon

1. Click on the Move tool (the top icon on the right-hand side)

2. A box forms around the hat.  At each corner of the box and in the middle of each side of the box is a small white square.  These are called “handles” and are used to move and re-size the image in the box.

3. Using the handles, re-size and re-position the hat to your satisfaction.  Note that when the mouse pointer is placed outside the box and the left mouse button is depressed, you can rotate the image, adding a jaunty tilt to the hat

4. Adjust the image until you are satisfied.

M. The final step is to “flatten” the layers to combine them into one

1. Open the Layer menu and chose Flatten Image

2. Answer “yes” to the question of discarding hidden layers

3. The image is now complete

N. Save the results as My MiltK2andHat.jpg on the My Results folder on the C:\ drive.

III. Add Elements to a Picture

A. Now that you are familiar with the Magnetic Lasso, the Clone Tool and the Cropping Tool, can you figure out how to take these two pictures:.

B. And combine them to make this:.

C. You would

1. open the group picture and made it the background layer
2. create a new layer
3. open the picture of Joel taken when he attended a friend's daughter's weddinig and use the Magnetic Lasso tool to select an area that included his head and a portion of his suit, shirt and tie
4. overlay the layer with the selection on it over the background layer. Position it so that Joel's apparent height relative to the men on either side of him is correct (you'd have to have been there to know)
5. use the Clone Tool to recreate the suit colors of the men on either side of Joel where his suit overlaps theirs
6. use the Cropping Tool to get rid of the excess ceiling and space on the left side of the picture