Page 64 - Photoshop User December 2016

HOW TO ››
Beginners' Workshop combining photos into the perfect group shot
LESA SNIDER
Group photography can be difficult. Inevitably, someone is smiling in one photo and not in another; at least one person has his or her eyes closed in every shot; and so on. Happily, Photoshop can perfectly align multiple shots so matching areas overlap, leaving you the task of a little layer masking. Read on!
Step One: There are several ways to open two photos within the same document and then align the layers; however, the easiest way is to choose File>Scripts>Load Files into Stack. Click the Browse button, navigate to the files you want to combine, Shift-click each file so they’re all selected, and click Open. (If the images are already open in separate Photoshop documents, and they’re the only files open in Photoshop, click the Add Open Files button instead.) Turn on the checkbox next to Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images and click OK. Tip: You can also Shift-click to activate multiple lay- ers in the same document and choose Edit>Auto- Align Layers. This is handy if you send files from Lightroom over to Photoshop on separate layers.
If you watch your document closely, you’ll see the top layer shift to align with the bottom layer. In the background, Photoshop rotates, scales, changes perspective, and even performs a cylindri- cal warp (if necessary) to make the images match up (the latter is mission critical if you’re not shoot- ing with a tripod). Here are the two images we’re working with. [KelbyOne members may download the files used in this tutorial at www.kelbyone .com/magazine. All files are for personal use only.]
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JACK DAVIS
JACK DAVIS