Collages from photographs are used everywhere and often look quite attractive, if, of course, they are made professionally and creatively.

Making collages is an interesting and exciting activity. Selection of photos, arrangement of them on canvas, design...

This can be done in almost any editor and Photoshop is no exception.

Today's lesson will consist of two parts. In the first, we will create a classic collage from a set of photographs, and in the second, we will master the technique of creating a collage from one photo.

Before you make a photo collage in Photoshop, you need to select pictures that will meet the criteria. In our case, it will be the theme of landscapes of St. Petersburg. Photos should be similar in lighting (day-night), season and theme (buildings-monuments-people-landscape).

For the background, choose a picture that also matches the theme.

To create a collage, let’s take several photographs of landscapes of St. Petersburg. For reasons of personal convenience, it is better to place them in a separate folder.

Let's start creating a collage.

Opening background image in Photoshop.

Then open the folder with the pictures, select everything and drag them into the work area.

Go to the bottom layer with the photo and double-click on it. The style settings window will open.

Here we need to adjust the stroke and shadow. The outline will become a frame for our photos, and the shadow will allow us to separate the pictures from one another.

Stroke settings: color white, size – “by eye”, position – inside.

Shadow settings are not constant. We just need to set this style, and later the parameters can be adjusted. The main point is opacity. We set this value to 100%. Offset – 0.

Click OK.

Moving the photo. To do this, press the keyboard shortcut CTRL+T and drag the photo and, if necessary, rotate it.

The first photo is framed. Now you need to transfer the styles to the next one.

Clamp ALT, move the cursor to the word "Effects", click LMB and drag it to the next (top) layer.

Turn on visibility for the next photo and place it in the desired place using free transformation (CTRL+T).

At this point, compiling a collage could be considered complete, but if you decide to place fewer pictures on the canvas, and the background image is open on large area, then it (the background) needs to be blurred.

Go to the background layer and go to the menu “Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur”. We blur it out.

The collage is ready.

The second part of the lesson will be a little more interesting. Now let's create a collage from one (!) photo.

First, let's select a suitable photo. It is desirable that there be as few uninformative areas as possible (a large area of ​​grass or sand, for example, that is, without people, cars, tasks, etc.). The more fragments you plan to place, the more small objects there should be.

This will do just fine.

First you need to create a copy of the background layer by pressing the keyboard shortcut CTRL+J.

Then create another empty layer,

select instrument "Fill"

and fill it with white.

Place the resulting layer between the layers with the image. Remove visibility from the background.

Now let's create the first fragment.

Go to the top layer and select the tool "Rectangle".

Let's draw a fragment.

Press and hold the key ALT and click on the border between the top layer and the layer with the rectangle (the cursor should change shape when hovered over). A clipping mask will be created.

Then, being on the rectangle (tool "Rectangle" must be activated) go to top panel settings and customize the stroke.

Color white, solid line. Select the size using the slider. This will be the photo frame.

Opacity we set it to 100%, Bias– 0. Other parameters ( Size and Spread) - "approximately". The shadow should be slightly exaggerated.

After the style is configured, click OK. Then we press CTRL and click on the top layer, thereby selecting it too (two layers are now selected), and click CTRL+G, uniting them into a group.

The first basic fragment is ready.

Let's practice moving it.

To move a fragment, just move the rectangle.

Open the created group, go to the layer with the rectangle and click CTRL+T.

Using this frame, you can not only move the fragment around the canvas, but also rotate it. It is not recommended to change sizes. If you do this, you will have to re-adjust the shadow and frame.

The following snippets are very easy to create. Close the group (so as not to get in the way) and create a copy of it using a keyboard shortcut CTRL+J.

All resulting groups in the layers palette can be “shuffled”.

These collages look better on a dark background. Such a background can be created, the fill (see above) is white background layer dark color, or place a picture with a different background above it.

To achieve a more acceptable result, you can slightly reduce the size or spread of the shadow in the styles of each rectangle individually.

A small addition. Let's give our collage a little realism.

Create a new layer on top of all, click SHIFT+F5 and fill it up 50% gray.

Then let's go to the menu “Filter – Noise – Add Noise”. Let's set the filter to approximately the same grain:

Then change the blending mode for this layer to « Soft light» and play with the opacity.

The result of our lesson:

An interesting technique, isn't it? With its help, you can create collages in Photoshop that will look very interesting and unusual.
The lesson is over. Be creative, create collages, good luck in your creativity!

Spend 5 minutes on this page, and in a week you will be making the following collages with your own hands:

Photo collage- a combination of several photographic images in one picture, in which all objects look like a single whole.

Hello!

Evgeniy Popov and Zinaida Lukyanova welcome you.

In 2006 we created a website for all fans Adobe programs Photoshop - photoshop-master.ru

Today, more than 40,000 people visit it every day to improve their skills.

We regularly hold competitions among site visitors, the essence of which most often comes down to creating a collage on a given topic. Winners and runners-up receive substantial cash prizes (up to 5,000 rubles), books and sometimes graphic tablets.

These competitions, on the one hand, have already become a good tradition, and on the other hand, they opened our eyes to the general level of training of the majority of participants, which turned out to be very low.

Of the 500 works that are submitted to the competition on average, only half comply with the rules and proceed to the next stage - publication of works on the website.

Examples of such wonderful works:

Only 5% of participants produce high quality collages!

For the remaining 95%, the resulting work does not create an impression of integrity and harmony. The combined elements do not combine or interact with each other, the shadows are either completely absent or have the wrong direction and length. Perspective, reflexes, finishing touches, play with light and shadow - all this is not used by beginners and, of course, affects the low quality.

But the problem is that creating a harmonious collage is a science, and without certain knowledge it is simply impossible to obtain a high-quality result.

It’s not enough to just stick several objects together. It is necessary to make sure that they seem to “live in the same world”, are united by the same atmosphere, and are subject to a single composition and meaning.

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As for the technical side, we must not forget that objects must have a certain perspective, different size depending on whether the object is distant or, on the contrary, is close to the viewer, each object must have a shadow that can be refracted and distorted, falling on other objects of the collage, in addition, all objects have a certain color, which leaves reflections on the elements that are nearby and so on...

Only if all these artistic and technical rules By building a collage, you can achieve a holistic and harmonious picture that will please the eye, lift your spirits and make it stand out from the gray mass.

But if you've never thought about it, then all these rules might just baffle you!

But in addition to basic questions about perspective, shadows, reflexes, there are also technical issues directly related to the implementation of these tasks in Photoshop, namely:

• What is the best way to apply the mask?
• What layer blending mode should I use?
• What layer transparency should I set?
• Which brush should I use and with what settings?
• and many other questions...

It is known that these questions are difficult for beginners, and if there is no person nearby who could help with these issues, then sometimes unsolvable problems put an end to further development in the field of graphics and photomontage.

Do you want one of the winners of our competitions to become your personal teacher?

To help these 95% of Photoshoppers, we decided to find a master who not only knows and understands all the techniques for creating professional collages, but can also explain the entire process in simple and understandable language.

And fortunately for us, we didn’t have to look for such a person for long! And, most likely, you are familiar with this name too.

Meet! Elena Vinogradova! A professional in the field of creating collages, winner and prize-winner of competitions on the “Photoshop Master” website.

Elena studied great amount Western educational materials on the latest technologies for creating first-class collages.

Tens of hours of training, experiments and hundreds of created collages - the golden reserve that Elena has accumulated over the past 5 years.

You may have already seen numerous training lessons from Elena on our website.

But these were all flowers, because at our request, Elena worked for several months for you on a full-fledged training course, which is entirely devoted to one single topic - creating harmonious and “expensive” collages in Adobe Photoshop.

We are proud to present you the result of our joint work:

"The art of creating a collage
in Adobe Photoshop"

Practice- the best teacher. Therefore, the learning process will be structured in such a way that you will make 15 collages with your own hands from scratch. While working, you will absorb all the principles and rules for creating realistic collages, which will give you the best effect.

Here it is very important to repeat everything after the master in order to adopt all the skills of creating collages. Just as you cannot learn to swim from a textbook, you cannot learn to create collages by simply reading books or instructions. You need to watch and do, watch and do, and at some point you will feel your strength and will be able to continue making high-quality collages on your own.

Now let's talk about what awaits you inside.

Theoretical block

As in the army, we decided not to let the soldiers go straight into battle, but to at least give them basic knowledge on the most important techniques used in collaging. As you may have guessed, at the beginning of the course you will find a small theoretical block in which Elena will tell you about the following things:

- How to use masks and adjustment layers correctly;
- How to separate qualitatively complex objects from the background (including hair);
- Basic principles for working with layer blending modes.

Practical block

Well, then comes the most interesting part. Practice, practice and more practice! 15 collages. An hour or two of work for each - and you will be able to charge money for creating professional collages and, at a minimum, create collages that will reach the finals of any Photoshop competitions!

Here we will create a sorceress who fills the world of a fairytale forest with her care.

Time of completion: 1 hour 11 minutes

Step 1 - Retouching original photo(12 minutes)

In this tutorial you will learn how to remove noise from a photo if it is not quite good quality, and also learn how to do simple portrait retouching, even out facial skin color and tone, and, in addition, learn how to remove small defects.

Step 2 - Facial plastic surgery (5 minutes)

After carefully watching this lesson, you will learn how to correct the oval of the face, change the shape of the lips, nose, and enlarge the eyes in a portrait so that in terms of external beauty you will come closer to the ideal.

Step 3 - Makeup and hair color (11 minutes)

We continue to strive for the ideal in the image of the heroine of our collage, and in this lesson you will learn how to change the color of the eyes, lips, hair so that the portrait matches the fantasy style as much as possible and is suitable for our further work.

Step 4 - Separate the girl from the background (12 minutes)

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to combine techniques to effectively separate the main subject of a photo from the background. Learn how to work with hair efficiently, which almost always causes difficulties for beginners.

Step 5 - Fit in new background(10 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn what features need to be taken into account when choosing a background, what the lighting should be on it, and also how to achieve a camera blurred background effect to focus attention on a portrait.

Step 6 - Add Details (10 minutes)

After watching this tutorial, you will learn how you can add some “zest” to a collage by adding just a couple of details.

Step 7 - Final Correction (11 minutes)

In this tutorial you will learn ways to create a magical effect and a fantastic atmosphere. The brush tool and some other features of the Photoshop program will help us with this.

Final result:

In this section, you will turn an ordinary girl into a miniature Thumbelina, sitting in a flower and dreaming of meeting a kind wizard.

Lead time: 1 hour 3 minutes

Here you will find a series of seven lessons in which Elena will guide you through all the stages of creating this beautiful collage.

Step 1 - Prepare the base (5 minutes)

In this tutorial you will adjust the water texture in color and contrast so that the water surface matches your idea. As a result, we will get a blank for the background.

Step 2 - Create the sky (5 minutes)

Here you will learn how to create a fabulous starry sky from several separate textures. Various blending modes and adjustment layers will come to your aid in solving this problem.

Step 3 - Add the girl and flower (10 minutes)

How to sharpen an image to improve its quality, how to “plant” a girl inside a flower using a layer mask - you will learn about this in this lesson.

Step 4 - Adjusting Colors (5 minutes)

In this tutorial you will learn how to use adjustment layers and clipping masks to create the correct color balance of an image and achieve the desired shades on objects.

Step 5 - Add Shadows (9 minutes)

In this lesson you will learn how to correctly draw shadows on objects to give more realism in terms of light design.

Step 6 - Create reflections in the water (14 minutes)

In this tutorial you will learn about a rather rarely used feature of Photoshop, which is working with the so-called “displacement map”. How to use it to create a realistic reflection on water - see this lesson.

Step 7 - Horizon Line and Reflexes (7 minutes)

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a mystical horizon line, which features a slight haze and low contrast.

Step 8 - Create a glow and make the final correction (8 minutes)

Let's give the work a magical mood. Here you will learn how to customize the brush so that it creates elements that look like wonderful stars, with which we will draw a fantastic glow.

Final result:

In this section, we will turn into miniature gnomes to take a better look at how the smallest forest inhabitants are doing: what their houses and the clearings in which they walk look like.

Lead time: 53 minutes

Step 1 - Preparing the background (5 minutes)

In this lesson we will prepare a background photo for further work, get rid of defects in the photo and correct it in color and contrast. And how this is done, you will learn from this lesson.

Step 2 - Adding Mushroom (6 minutes)

If you cannot find an element for a collage that is suitable in quality and angle, then nothing prevents you from creating it yourself from its component parts. You will learn how to solve this problem by watching this video tutorial.

Step 3 - Correction of the mushroom. Shadows. (6 minutes)

Using color balance and levels, you can ensure that the composite image looks perfect, i.e. the drawing will turn out so harmonious that no one will guess that it is a collage. You will learn the secrets of such an impact from this video.

Step 4 - Adding Grass and Door (9 minutes)

After watching this video tutorial, you will learn how to create the effect that an object is standing on a surface, in in this case on the grass, and not hanging above it, as is often the case in beginners’ collages.

Step 5 - Adding a Window (7 minutes)

In this tutorial, using the hue/saturation function and masks, you will learn how to very accurately select color solutions for individual elements collage, which will allow you to more accurately fit them into the overall atmosphere of the image.

Step 6 - Adding a Pipe (4 minutes)

What's a house without a chimney? In this lesson we will add a suitable pipe to our mushroom house. How best to correct it and what shadows to apply to match the light pattern - you will learn all the features by watching this lesson.

Step 7 - Adding Details (8 minutes)

In this lesson we will add a few details, according to our creative concept. You will learn in this lesson how best to edit details so that they organically complement the picture, but do not distract attention.

Step 8 - Adding the snail. General work correction (8 minutes)

Finally, we do additional color correction to the entire image and add reflections, and also add a sunny mood using a color filter. You can easily learn how to do this by watching this tutorial.

Final result:

Here we will create a collage with lovers in a dream world, on the basis of which you can design your wedding photos.

Lead time: 41 minutes

Step 1 - Creating the Background (9 minutes)

If you don't have a suitable background picture landscape, then you will learn how to create it yourself in accordance with your creative ideas, using individual images as components.

Step 2 - Adding Lovers (9 minutes)

If a picture or part of it blends into the background, then it is very difficult to cut it out efficiently, but the tricks described in this lesson will help you solve such a difficult task.

Step 3 - Image Correction. Shadows (9 minutes)

With the help of adjustment layers, you will learn to align parts of the collage in terms of brightness, contrast and color so that they fit seamlessly into the overall picture.

Step 4 - Adding Details (7 minutes)

What separates a professional from an amateur? Attention to detail! It is the little things that you should pay close attention to when you are implementing the idea of ​​a collage. How to do this, see this lesson.

Step 5 - General collage correction (7 minutes)

In addition to the technical perfection of the work, we must also give it mood and emotionality. You will learn how to do this using color in this lesson.

Final result:

“When you descend from a mountain at breakneck speed, when trees and snowdrifts rush past your gaze, it seems as if you are flying beyond the boundaries of the universe!” - we will try to implement such thoughts of an athlete-snowboarder in the form of a poster.

Lead time: 35 minutes

Step 1 - Source correction (6 minutes)

It happens that we have chosen an almost perfect picture to create a collage, but it is disappointing that some of its elements are not the color or texture that we need. In this tutorial you will learn how to edit individual parts of an image using adjustment layers.

Step 2 - Creating the Background (4 minutes)

For background you can use finished works, or you can create it completely yourself. After completing this lesson, you will learn how to make an original background “from scratch” using Photoshop filters.

Step 3 - Create a Motion Effect (9 minutes)

The result of your creativity will be more fascinating if it has dynamics. You will learn how to make your work “move” using a graphic editor in this lesson.

Step 4 - Adding Elements. (10 minutes)

Combination geometric shapes different colors and forms sometimes gives surprising results. How to create unimaginable lighting effects using simple circles and lines, see this tutorial.

Step 5 - Adding lighting effects, textures, general correction (6 minutes)

To give the image depth and volume, you can use special textures that contain small and large elements. Large ones will visually come closer to us, and small ones will fly into the distance. The author will tell you how to properly use such textures when creating a collage in this lesson.

Final result:

In this section we will create a cozy home for a squirrel who is preparing to welcome New Year. This collage can be used as a card by printing it and giving it to your dearest people.

Lead time: 1 hour

Step 1 - Create the floor and wall. (9 minutes)

In this tutorial we will begin to shape the interior of the squirrel's house. Using the Perspective transformation tool, you will learn how to easily create volume with an almost 3D effect.

Step 2 - Create a Round Window (8 minutes)

In this lesson you will learn how to cut out elements whose shape is close to a circle or ellipse using contours. Using this principle we will create a window in the squirrel's house.

Step 3 - Window Correction (7 minutes)

Using clipping masks, we will learn how to apply textures to individual collage elements. This way we can match these elements to the overall atmosphere of the collage in color and pattern.

Step 4 - Adding Details (9 minutes)

In this lesson you will learn how to fit individual graphic details into an image so that they look natural there. We will achieve this effect by adjusting the edges of the parts and using shadows.

Step 5 - Shadows (8 minutes)

In this lesson we will talk about shadows in more detail. You will learn how to create shadows on objects according to the direction and intensity of light.

Step 6 - Adding Light Rays and Snow (8 minutes)

Here, using the settings of the gradient tool and its variations, you will see how lighting is created in the work, as well as how to make the lighting match the light sources.

Step 7 - Create window lighting (6 minutes)

In this lesson we will talk more seriously about lighting. You will learn, using layer masks and a brush, to add lighting effects in one way or another. components collage.

Step 8 - Adding a Caption. (5 minutes)

By writing the appropriate text, you can turn an ordinary collage into an original one. greeting card. How this is done - see this lesson.

Final result:

In this series of lessons you will bring to life a hero from myths Ancient Greece. Half-man, half-horse, an inhabitant of mountains and forest thickets, an accurate shooter with a bow.

Lead time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Step 1 - Preparing Photos (14 minutes)

You will learn what nuances of selecting source images you need to know so that the final composed image looks solid.
having learned this lesson.

Step 2, 3 - Combining photos. (18 minutes)

Here you will learn how to smoothly combine parts so that the overlap border is invisible. This problem will be considered using the example of combining the body of a man and a horse.

Step 4 - Adding a Tail (4 minutes)

In this tutorial we will add a tail to the centaur. Using the transform tool, adjustment layers, and masks, you'll learn how to make this element blend well with the rest.

Step 5 - Add a background (5 minutes)

In this lesson you will learn how to properly frame a collage according to the golden ratio rule. You will also learn how to make the background more expressive.

Step 6 - Centaur Correction (9 minutes)

In order for the light in the image of the main character of the collage to be even and correct, you need to add bright spots, highlights and shadows. You'll learn how to do this using dodge and burn techniques.

Step 7 - Creating Shadows (9 minutes)

Depending on the type of light, whether diffused or direct, the shadow will be different. You will learn how to draw a shadow correctly, taking into account this feature, from this lesson.

Step 8 - Tail Correction. (10 minutes)

If some graphic element If the collage is not of very good quality, then when it is cut out it will have a halo from the previous background. To learn how to get rid of this ghosting and how to improve picture quality, watch this video tutorial.

Step 9 - Adding a Bow and Arrow (9 minutes)

Originally, in the photo we are using, the man was holding a stick in his hand. In this tutorial we will replace it with an onion. You will see how to make this replacement so that the bow looks like “native” in your hand.

Step 10 - Adding Clothes (10 minutes)

In this lesson you will learn how to “dress” the main character of the collage. And do it in such a way that no one will believe that these clothing details were not in the source photograph.

Step 11, 12 - Add reflexes (10 minutes)

To give integrity and completeness to the picture, as well as to better fit individual elements into the surrounding background, you need to add reflexes. What these are, and what is the best way to perform them, you will learn from this lesson.

Step 13 - General work correction (5 minutes)

To focus attention on the main object of the painting, we will make a vignette and also adjust the overall color and brightness. You will find the answer to the question of what tools and functions of the Photoshop program this is done in this lesson.

Final result:

Flashes of light seem to dance to the sounds of electronic music, drawing everyone passing by under their influence. This time they were surrounded by a slender brunette.

Lead time: 24 minutes

Step 1 - Creating the Background (5 minutes)

You will move the cut out image of the girl into your workspace and resize it with the Transform tool. Using the Gradient tool, using a selected picture of stars, draw a background and adjust it by color.

Step 2 - Geometric Patterns (6 minutes)

In this tutorial you will continue to work on the collage atmosphere, install a set of pattern brushes with which you will draw and edit fantastic elements.

Step 3 - Light Elements (8 minutes)

By changing the methods of layering, you will achieve a combination of the added pictures of lighting effects with the overall color scheme of the collage. You will learn the features of this stage of creating a collage by carefully watching this lesson.

Step 4 - Creating Colorful Highlights (5 minutes)

Because The idea of ​​this collage is to create a bright portrait in contrast with a dark background, then the light and highlights have great importance. In this lesson you will continue to work with light, and use a special brush to add bright highlights to the resulting picture.

Final result:

Here we will create a magical and carefree country of childhood, to which every adult dreams of returning.

Lead time: 1 hour 04 minutes

Step 1 - Preparation (9 minutes)

In this tutorial, you'll prepare the main image for your collage by separating it from the background, doing some minor retouching with the healing brush tool, and enhancing the color using adjustment layers.

Step 2 - Suitable Background (12 minutes)

By adding a clipping mask and an adjustment layer to your prepared images, you will make the colors look more vibrant and attractive. By harmoniously combining several pictures into one, you will get an excellent background for use in further work.

Step 3 - Correcting the girl's image (11 minutes)

Now you will transfer the processed picture of the girl to the group of layers that make up the background, and fit it into the surrounding environment as naturally as possible. You will perform all actions on layer masks, which will make it easy to correct flaws, if any.

Step 4 - Adding Plants (9 minutes)

In this lesson you will add details to the collage, namely, insert images of grass and bushes, adjust their brightness, fitting them into the surrounding background. Again, you will actively use layer masks.

Step 5 - Creating Shadows (3 minutes)

Now you will start creating the falling shadows from the trees and the girl. To simulate shadows, you will use adjustment layers and layer masks, and draw the actual outline of the shadow with the Brush tool.

Step 6 - Adding the Bird (11 minutes)

Unfortunately, not all collage elements can be used in their original form. Even if the elements are of excellent quality, they may not reflect our creative intent. In this tutorial you will adjust the image of a bird by adding a tail and making its beak smaller.

Step 7 - General Correction (4 minutes)

In this tutorial you will add a glow to some of the details, immersing the trees and bushes in the haze that is characteristic of the entire work.

Step 8 - Add Details (5 minutes)

Finally, add details: some grass, a couple of butterflies. Use filters to give the butterflies a flying effect. The collage is ready! If in the process of creating it you use your own photographs and story, and not those suggested by the author, then you will get a truly amazing story displayed on the monitor.

Final result:

A riot of colors, flowers and jewelry combined with feminine beauty and tranquility - this is the cocktail we will mix in this series of lessons.

Lead time: 48 minutes

Step 1 - Correcting the original photo (9 minutes)

After separating the girl from the background using the Pen Tool and the Refine Edge function, you'll adjust the resulting image using Levels and Hue/Saturation adjustment layers.

Step 2 - Creating the Background (9 minutes)

In this tutorial you will begin creating a background. You can use an image of the sky as a background. To create smooth transitions, use a gradient mask and add bright accents with pictures of flowers.

Step 3 - Adding Decorative Ribbons (5 minutes)

By loading special brushes into Photoshop, you will draw decorative patterns that add dynamics to the resulting picture.

Step 4 - Adding Flowers and Stones (8 minutes)

In this tutorial, you'll add detail to a collage by adding a few pictures of gemstones. Using the transformation function, you will achieve variety in the size and arrangement of elements in your work.

Step 5 - Creating Lighting Effects (4 minutes)

This is where you will add lighting effects. By activating the Brush tool, you will paint bright prints of a suitable shade.

Step 6 - Adding Paint Splatters (6 minutes)

In this lesson you will continue to “play” with color. This time you will use custom brushes that look like colorful splashes.

Step 7 - Creating highlights. General correction (7 minutes)

In this tutorial you will use a special brush to add highlights to gemstones. And also, at the end of the work, you will make a general correction to the work, giving it a gentle shade. When implementing this task, a “gradient map” will come to your aid.

Final result:

In this series of lessons, we will create an interesting collage with a strange girl on an empty platform, who has been hopelessly waiting for many years for a train that will take her away forever from the worries and anxieties around her.

Lead time: 52 minutes

Step 1 - Analysis of lighting at work (3 minutes)

In order for the collage to be harmonious and complete, Special attention you need to pay attention to the direction of the light. In this lesson, you will determine from the photograph where the light was directed when shooting, so that this lighting scheme can be followed when creating the collage itself.

Step 2 - Creating the Background (6 minutes)

In this lesson, you will combine pre-selected background pictures with each other. To implement interesting artistic effects use the “Warp” tool and the “Color Balance” adjustment layer.

Step 3 - Characters and Items (9 minutes)

Before placing character images into a collage, they need to be edited so that when resizing they do not lose their original quality. This is the preparation and arrangement of objects in a collage that you will do in this lesson.

Step 4 - Correcting Objects (7 minutes)

Not all the objects we placed in the collage turned out to match the lighting scheme. In this tutorial you will correct this defect.

Steps 5, 6, 7 - Creating Shadows (21 minutes)

Using layer blend modes, adjustment layers, layer masks, and the Brush tool, you'll create shadows that match the direction of the light. Pay special attention to this topic, because... correct shadows are an integral part of a well-made collage.

Step 8 - Adding Details. Color correction (6 minutes)

In this tutorial, using brushes loaded into Photoshop that resemble flocks of birds, we will give the resulting picture the effect of extension in time, which also emphasizes the presence of the image of a clock, and also add a vignette to focus attention on the girl’s emotions and make the plot more dramatic.

Final result:

If you want your friend to be congratulated not only by his friends and relatives on the holiday, then you can make a card for him in which the cat and the mouse will give him the best wishes.

Lead time: 1 hour 33 minutes

Step 1 - Creating the Background (10 minutes)

You will learn how to create a fabulous background using a seemingly ordinary picture of grass, a gradient fill and applying ordinary filters.

Step 2 - Adding Characters (4 minutes)

You will add characters: a cat, a mouse, as well as objects with which the heroes will interact. In accordance with the direction of light in the picture, we will adjust the shadows on the objects.

Step 3 - Correcting the cat image (7 minutes)

Now you will correct the contrast photo of the cat and remove the gaps in the shadows. The layer overlay function will help you with this, in which we will adjust some parameters, because... The default options are not entirely suitable here.

Step 4 - Correcting Details (10 minutes)

And in this lesson you will edit a photo of a mouse. Add a backlight effect from the moon. Using a layer mask, place a festive flower in the cat's paw and adjust its brightness with an Exposure adjustment layer.

Step 5 - Adding Shadows (8 minutes)

Based on the lighting on the top right, you'll paint in shadows with a Levels adjustment layer. And then correct their shape with a brush on the layer mask. An important parameter is the intensity of the shadow that you should pay attention to.

Step 6 - Moon Correction (9 minutes)

Here you will change the color of the moon, adding golden and blue shades, giving it an outer glow. You can also use the Pen tool to draw a string by which the cat will hold the moon balloon.

Step 7 - Adding a Bow (7 minutes)

In this lesson, you will add a festive touch to the picture: you will “put” a bow on the cat, the moon will not stand aside either - you will “put” a bright bow tie on it. Here you will need transformation, movement, and, as usual, adjustment layers.

Step 8 - Bow correction, reflexes (11 minutes)

Because The decorations worn by the heroes of the collage are illuminated unevenly, then it is necessary to shade the areas where the light does not fall, and lighten those to which the light is directed. You will complete these tasks in this video tutorial.

Step 9 - Finishing the fur (9 minutes)

To make the bow on the cat look more realistic, individual hairs should be added. In this lesson you will solve this problem using a mix brush.

Step 10 - Adding Details (8 minutes)

Now you will add a carnival cap to the mouse. Using the Transform tool you will adjust its size to match the image of the mouse. Because The color of the cap doesn't quite match color scheme drawing, use an adjustment layer to bring the color to the desired color. In addition, we will draw mustaches for the cat and mouse.

Step 11 - Congratulatory inscription (5 minutes)

In this tutorial you will add a congratulatory inscription to free place paintings. Having chosen the style and color of the font, you will write a congratulation to your loved ones for whom this card is intended.

Step 12 - General Correction and Frame (5 minutes)

Finally, all that remains is to make general corrections to the collage and add a frame. You will learn what means and tools are best to do this by watching this lesson.

Final result:

In just a few lessons, we will turn a girl into a mermaid with a fish tail, who lives underwater and spends her leisure time with sea creatures.

Lead time: 1 hour 11 minutes

Step 1 - Preparing Sources (3 minutes)

In this tutorial you will prepare images that will be used in shaping the mermaid's body. The main task of the lesson is to choose the best way separating the main object from the background.

Step 2 - Creating the Base of the Mermaid Tail (9 minutes)

You will create the tail from two symmetrical halves of the fish. For convenience, work will be done using guides. You will shape the shape of the tail using the Perspective and Warp tools.

Step 3 - Tail Shape Correction (7 minutes)

In this tutorial you will finally form the shape of the tail and make smooth transition between the girl's body and the fish's tail, merging them together.

Step 4 - Adding Fins + Details (11 minutes)

Now you will add blue and blue tones to the girl's image using adjustment layers. Using Various types transformation, add tail and side fins. Finally, create a smooth transition from the fin to the body using a layer mask.

Step 5 - Creating the Background (8 minutes)

Here you will merge the mermaid layers and start creating the background. The background will be based on a gradient fill. blue color and a picture of fish.

Step 6 - Creating Rays of Light (7 minutes)

In this tutorial you will add rays of light coming from the surface of the water deep into the sea. The Gradient tool with special settings will help you cope with this task. You will learn how to set it up correctly for a realistic effect in this tutorial.

Step 7 - Adding Scales (9 minutes)

Using layer overlays, layer masks and the Stamp tool, you can add scales to the girl's body so that the transition to the fish tail is almost invisible.

Step 8 - Adding Lights and Shadows (6 minutes)

According to the direction of light in the work, we must adjust the shadows and highlights. The difficulty is that the intensity of the shadows increases at the bottom of the work and decreases at the top. In this tutorial you will use the darken/lighten technique.

Step 9 - Drawing the Bubbles (6 minutes)

By installing a special brush in the form of bubbles, you can easily add them to your work, changing the size and transparency. And if the brush is also specially adjusted, the arrangement of the bubbles can be made more natural.

Step 10 - General work correction (5 minutes)

Now we just need to make the final adjustments. In this tutorial you will add ripples to the water using transformation, adjusting the intensity of the ripples using the layer opacity settings. And finally, correct the entire image in terms of color/contrast.

Final result:

Lead time: 40 minutes

Step 1 - Layout the Elements (6 minutes)

To better visualize the overall picture of the intended collage, you will place the main objects on the Photoshop canvas and make preliminary adjustments to color and brightness. To do this, you will use the capabilities of the “color balance” and “levels” adjustment layers.

Step 2 - Creating the Fire Wings (10 minutes)

For the sample you will use the wings of an eagle. We will place pictures with flames along their contour. You will actively use the Screen blend mode. We will adjust the shape of the flame using the “Puppet Deformation” function.

Step 3 - Flames (8 minutes)

At this point you will add fire around and in front of the person. Here, too, it is advisable to use “puppet deformation” and transformation tools.

Step 4 - Lighting the Person (7 minutes)

Fiery wings and tongues of flame illuminate a person in a special way, so we need to create appropriate light and shadows. In this tutorial, using a layer mask and a color adjustment layer, you will achieve harmonious color and lighting.

Step 5 - Adding details, general adjustments (9 minutes)

After adding light directly on the man, we must also illuminate the ground on which the demon man is standing. You need to perform this operation on a layer mask. Finally, you will add sparks and flying flames and adjust the overall color of the work.

Final result:

Lead time: 48 minutes

Step 1 - Creating the Background (8 minutes)

Using the “stamp” tool, you will remove elements that are not suitable for us from the background image, using several adjustment layers you will make the background less contrast and darker in light areas, which will allow you to realize the night atmosphere in the collage.

Step 2 - Adding a girl (10 minutes)

In this video tutorial, you will add a photo of a girl, previously separated from the background, to a collage, use the Transform tool to change its size to fit it well into the background, and use adjustment layers to edit the color balance and saturation of the work.

Step 3 - Image and Background Correction (5 minutes)

In this lesson you will return brightness and saturation to those areas of the background that will be illuminated by the light of the lantern that the heroine is holding in her hand.

Step 4 - Create the lighting. Moths (8 minutes)

First of all, you need to create light from the lamp. You'll make it a highlight filter. However, the effect this filter creates on its own isn't quite right, so you'll edit its color and light intensity. And what tools you will use - you will learn from this lesson.

Step 5 - Lighten/Burn Technique (7 minutes)

Now you will add additional light to the girl in those places where the light from the lamp falls, work on areas with shadows, and edit significant areas of the background for light/shadow. The best way to achieve this is to use the dodge/burn technique.

Step 6 - Adding Lighting Effects (6 minutes)

Here you will add an image of fireworks to your work. By adjusting it by color, you will create a mood of magic and fairy tales in the collage.

Step 7 - Final work correction (4 minutes)

So, all that remains is to make the final adjustments to the collage, let’s make the light areas brighter and add a blue tint to the dark areas. You achieve this effect with a gradient map and overlay layers. The intensity of the effect can be adjusted by changing the opacity value of the adjustment layer.

Final result:

After completing all these collages, you will be confident in answering all these questions:

- How to create the right perspective?
- What is the best way to arrange objects in a combined picture?
- Which colors will go best in a particular collage?
- What size should one object be, and what should the other be?
- In which direction should the shadow be directed and how long should it be?
- What are reflexes and what should they be?
- How to use additional drawing?
- How to add volume to an image using light and shadows?
- How to properly tint the final collage?

And most importantly, all these methods and techniques will be stored in your head and will then be used “automatically” when creating your own collages.

All this knowledge is waiting for you!

New course from Elena Vinogradova

"Collage Mastery in Adobe Photoshop"

This is the shortest way to master the skill of creating high-quality collages in Adobe Photoshop.

But in fact, that's not all...

The course would be incomplete if there weren’t special VIP bonuses for creating absolutely incredible looks through high-quality costume fitting:

17 detailed lessons await you, where you will first dress a young girl in the image of Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and then dress a young man in the image of a fearless warrior!

You will also have access to 43 ready-made costumes in PSD format with a separated background, which you can immediately use in your work. A wide variety of images await you: kings, emperors, generals. The bonus included both women's and men's suits.

Given:

After opening hours:

What you get as a result:

1. A course of 128 lessons.

2. Bonus series of lessons "Marie Antoinette". These lessons are already included in the course and are located in the bonus section of the menu.

3. Bonus series of lessons "Warrior". These lessons are also waiting for you in the bonus section of the menu.

4. A collection of costumes to create your own looks.

Technical information:

Version of Adobe Photoshop used in the course: CS5 (Russian version)

Video tutorial format: MP4 (opens in any browser)

Operating system for viewing: Any (Windows, MacOS and others)

Linking a course to a specific computer: Absent

Video tutorial resolution: 1280x720

Volume of the electronic version: 7.3 GB

OUR GUARANTEES

We have a friendly team working on each course. Author of lessons, designer, programmers, proofreader. We are proud of what we do and always guarantee high quality of the courses that we publish. But we also understand that situations vary, and for one reason or another, the course may not be suitable for you.

That's why we offer a 100% money-back guarantee, which you can take advantage of within a year from the date of ordering the course. To take advantage of the guarantee, just send a request to our support team.

We also guarantee the integrity of the course upon delivery. Behind Last year More than 5,000 people have become our clients, and each of them received the course(s) in perfect condition, even when delivered by mail. We pay a lot of attention to the quality packaging of our shipments.

Cost of the video course "Collage Mastery in Photoshop":

2990 rub. 46 $ 1246 UAH. 40 €

Delivery is not included in this price, you will find out its cost during the ordering process,
since it is influenced by several factors (delivery method, parcel weight, etc.)

Answers to frequently asked questions:

I'm not from Russia, can I buy your course?

Yes, but only by prepayment using one of the proposed methods. Upon delivery, you can choose to send the course on a flash drive by mail or choose electronic version and download it immediately after payment. If you are from Ukraine, then cash on delivery (payment upon receipt) is available to you, just like for Russians.

Is it safe to pay for the course with a credit card?

Yes, it's absolutely safe. We have concluded agreements with proven and reliable payment systems, such as ROBOKASSA and PayOnlineSystem, through which we accept your payments.

How long does it take to receive a package by mail?

All postal items We ship from the Republic of Bashkortostan. Depending on your remoteness, the parcel will arrive by mail from 2 to 15 days. To Moscow - 4-7 days, to St. Petersburg - 5-9 days.

Where can I drive to in Moscow if I want to pick up the course?

There is no such possibility yet.

Will I receive all the necessary sources to create 15 collages?

Answer - Yes, of course. You can exactly repeat all these collages using the same source materials.

P.S. Finally, a few more fresh, first-class collages that made it into the top five best works in our latest competition “Tales of the Forest”. The people who created them were also once beginners and, having comprehended all the laws of this art, became masters. And today you have such an opportunity. Take advantage of it!

Sincerely, Zinaida Lukyanova, Evgeniy Popov and the entire team of Photoshop experts.

Quite often you have to face the problem when the photograph taken does not convey the atmosphere of the place, mood, etc. In this case, a photo collage will help; it allows the viewer to notice many times more than usual. The process of creating a collage is called collaging, when many different pictures and elements are used in one image.

How to make a collage in Photoshop

The easiest collage option in Photoshop:

Transfer and place You can take photos according to your taste, it is advisable to leave a little space between them, it looks more aesthetically pleasing. The size is also selected according to your opinion. In order to change the scale and position of the photo you need to select " FreeTransform", or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+T. Transformation also allows you to stretch the photo or flip it.

Creating a collage with effects

When you are tired of simple collages and want something brighter, effects are used. You can use a ready-made collage as a basis or create a new one from several photographs. We will take a ready-made one as an example.

The simplest and neatest way to create a collage in Photoshop is to use filters or apply effects.

How to apply an effect to a picture

To do this you need to create new white layer and paint it in any suitable color, we used brown. Then turn the mouse wheel to select saturation colors. You can already see some changes in the image. You can leave it like that, or you can use effects.

Near the layers in " Layers", you can find a list possible options image changes, so-called mode. The screenshot shows that the selected effect is " Divide", made the collage colder.

Working with filters

Filters are located at the top of the application screen. In total there are about 50 of them, sometimes more.

All effects can be viewed in filter gallery in advance before use. Therefore, first you need to select the layer on which the collage is located and click “ FilterGallery" Then you can safely try everything available. It is possible to adjust softness, sharpness, etc. on the right side of the screen. For example, the filter " Cutout».

After small changes in the settings, which can be seen in the screenshots, the image began to look like this:

Make a collage from one photo

A good option is adding stickers, or pictures in png format. You can also use what was learned above - filters and effects. You can download and use the frames. You can achieve an abstract photo effect, and also use the brushes that are in the application.

An example of creating a photo collage:

Templates for collage in Photoshop

Templates can be used when learning to work in Photoshop, or to design your VKontakte page or website. Below you will find different types of templates for individual works:

1. " ". Time flies so quickly, but save important points I really want to. An elegant template in a pleasant color scheme is suitable for especially important photos.
   
2. . Suitable for photographs of celebrations, walks, beautiful places and even weddings.
   
3. . A bright and cheerful template for Photoshop. Suitable for photos of children, or a pleasant holiday.
4. . An elegant template, perfect for a photo themed party.
   

Collage is several self-photos, arranged in some way into an overall composition. There are a great many ways to create collages in Photoshop, and to describe all these techniques you would need to write separate book. Therefore, in this article we will talk about a simple, but quite effective and popular way to create collages in Photoshop using a layer mask. The undeniable advantages of this technique is that it is very simple and quite flexible.

We will look at how to make a collage in Photoshop using three images as an example: beautiful girl on a yacht, expensive car and images of money.

The photo with the girl is very suitable for the background of the future collage, and we will try to superimpose the rest of the images on it.

1. Launch Photoshop and open an image with a girl on a yacht.

   

   
   
2. Open in graphic editor a photo with a car that should be placed on top of the main one.

   

   
   
3. Press combination Ctrl keys+ A (English) to select the entire image area with the car. As a result of selection, a flickering black and white frame should appear around the perimeter of the image. Copy the selected area to RAM computer by pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C (English).

   

   
   
4. Go to the window with the girl’s image and copy the photo of the car into it using the Ctrl + V key combination. As a result of this operation, a new layer should appear.

   

   
   
5. Obviously, the size of the image with the car needs to be adjusted. Therefore, apply the “Scaling” tool to it (full path Editing-Transforming-Scaling) and reduce the height and width of this image to 70% and then move it to the upper left corner.

   

   
   
6. At the bottom of the Layer Control window, click the Add Layer Mask button, select the Gradient Tool from the Tools panel, and press the Enter button to select the Gradient Palette. Select the "black, white" gradient.

   

   
   
7. Left-click on the right edge of the inserted car image and drag the cursor horizontally to the left, then release the button. As a result, a gradient in the form of transparency should be superimposed on the image, in which at the point at which the mouse button was pressed there should be maximum transparency, and after the point at which the button was released the image should remain completely opaque.

   

   
   
8. After this, open the third drawing with the image of money and repeat steps 3-7 for it. The result of these steps should be something like the following image.

   

   
   
9. It can be seen that we have a very good overlay on the background image of the girl, but the photos of the car and money do not fit together very nicely due to the lack of a gradient in this place. To fix this, in the layer management window, click right click mouse on each applied layer mask and select “Apply Layer Mask” from the menu that appears. This will allow you to add another layer mask to each image and create additional gradients on them.

   

   
   
10. Select the first additional layer with the image of the car and perform steps 6-7 for it, only drag the mouse cursor from the bottom edge of the image to its middle.

    

    
    
11. We do the same for the layer with the image of money, selecting it in the layers control panel, but drag the cursor from the top edge to the middle.
    
12. As a result of the actions performed, you should get something like this image, in which the boundaries of the images completely dissolve into each other, forming an original photo collage.

    

    
    

If you want to repeat all the steps described above for creating a collage in Photoshop using the original images given in this article as an example, you can download them from along with the final high-resolution collage (1920x1280 pixels), which can be used as desktop wallpaper table.

There are many ways to create collages in Photoshop; here are two examples that are most suitable for a beginner. You can combine them or learn new techniques as you progress in Photoshop.

First way. It is also the simplest, because it does not require any technically complex photo editing work. However, with the help of it you can get a good wedding or amateur collage.

1. Create a new background (“File” - “Create...” Ctrl+N), which will serve as the basis for the future collage. The background content can be any color, either solid or transparent.

2. Open the necessary photos (“File” - “Open ...”)

3. Go to the first of open images and select the photo using the Rectangular Marquee Tool. (You can also select an entire photo by clicking “Select” - “All” or Ctrl+A)

4. Copy the image (“Edit” - “Copy” or Ctrl+C)

5. Find the collage background tab

6. Insert a photo into it by clicking “Edit” - “Insert” or Ctrl+C. The image will appear on the background and a new layer will appear in the layers.

7. To adjust its location in the way we need, select “Scaling->Transform” in the “Editing” tab and drag the photo to the desired location. (At the same time, you can do some magic with its size - increase or decrease it.)

8. In the same tab “Editing” - “Transforming” there is a “Rotate” function, using which you can rotate the image to any angle.

9. Carry out similar operations on the remaining images. When you're done, go to the Layers section and right-click on the background layer and select Merge Visible. This way your collage becomes a single image rather than a series of separate layers.

10. Now save the finished collage.

Clue! For fast work with several photos you can in a folder with the necessary photographs select several and drag them onto the collage being created.

The second way to create a collage in Photoshop.

This option is already more interesting, and using it together with others you will achieve very interesting effects.

Open the photo and double-click "Background" in the "Layers" section. A menu for creating a new layer will open, in which you should not change anything, just click “Yes”.

With this operation you have turned the background into normal layer, which can now be masked. In the same “Layers” section, click the “Create a new layer” button. Drag the created “Layer 1” down.

Now comes the most important part. Make a new “Layer 1” white using the Fill tool. Please note that the primary colors should be white and black. For other selected colors, return to the standard ones, as shown in the screenshot.

After filling, single-click “Layer 0,” which was previously the background, and click “Create Layer Mask.” Now open the brushes menu (“Window” - “Brushes” or by pressing the key combination “B” and “F5″)

In the window that opens, select the brush you like and customize it using an extensive selection of functions. I must say, this is the most exciting moment of work, where you can use all the limitlessness of your imagination!

Having drawn everything you wanted, return to the “Layers” section and select “Apply Layer Mask”, as shown in the screenshot (or go to the menu “Layers” - “Layer Mask” - “Apply”). Combine the layers and your collage is ready!

The most interesting thing is that creating collages is not a strict sequence of actions that must be strictly followed. All instructions are created only to show you the possibilities offered by Photoshop and teach you how to use them.

You can combine tools and techniques, change the transparency, colors and textures of layers, layer them on top of each other in any order, get creative with new brushes, sets of which you can download separately on the Internet, and apply special effects in your collage that are so famous latest versions Photoshop.

It's only up to your imagination!