Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

Fading Images Together

So far, you’ve learned how to combine images with relatively high contrast, such as wedging a portrait into the white part of a digital frame or adding a brand-new sky to a light-colored background. But if your soon-to-be-combined images don’t have such stark boundaries, then you’re better off using big, soft brushes to do your erasing or, better yet, hiding parts of your image with a layer mask. You can also use the Gradient tool to create a gradual transition from one image to another as if they’re faded together. Read on to learn all these methods.

Soft Erasers

Because you can set the Eraser tool to use a brush cursor, you can use a soft brush to erase part of an image so you can see the image on the layer below.

Once you’ve wrangled the two images you want to combine into the same document (each on its own layer), grab the Eraser tool by pressing E and then, in the Options bar, set the Mode menu to Brush. Next, from the Brush Preset picker ((Re)Introducing the Brush Tool), choose a big, soft brush (see Chapter 12 for more on brushes). Then, in the Layers panel, drag the layer you want to partially erase to the top of the layer stack, and then mouse over to your image and simply brush away the parts you want to get rid of. If you mess up or change your mind, undo a step by pressing ⌘-Z (Ctrl+Z) or use the History panel to go back a few brushstrokes.

Sure, this technique gets the job done, but keep in mind that it’s just as destructive as cutting a hole—if you ...