Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual

Moving Objects Between Images

If you use layers, then you can easily combine parts of different photos. In Elements 8, if you're using tabs (Image windows), the easiest way to do this simply copying and pasting: Select what you want to move (press Ctrl+A if you want to move the whole photo); then press Ctrl+C to copy it. Then make the destination image the active image by double-clicking it in the Project bin, and then press Ctrl+V to paste. The pasted material comes in on its own layer, and you can use the Move tool (The Move tool) to rearrange it in its new home.

You can also move objects by dragging. To do this, you need to choose one of the tiled views (see Image Views) if you're using tabs, or Tile or Cascade (Window → Images → Tile or Cascade) if you're using floating windows. Just put what you want from photo A into its own layer, and then drag it onto photo B. You can use the Move tool (The Move tool) to move the object from one image to another, or you can just drag it. The trick is that you have to drag the layer from photo A from the Layers panel. If you try to drop one photo directly onto another photo's window, then you'll just wind up with a lot of windows stacked on top of each other. Figure 6-22 shows you how to move a layer between photos this way.

Tip

You can also drag a photo directly from the Project bin onto another image. This didn't work in Elements 6 and 7, so if you've used those versions, you'll find this is a welcome change in Elements 8. It's really useful ...