PSE 15 Copying a Selection From One Image to Another In this tutorial, I will make a selection in one image and then copy it to a second image. We will make use of the Quick Selection Tool to make the selection, but any other combination of selection tools could also be used. In our example, we will copy the selected image into an image that will be used for a title slide. However, the technique and tools work for any two images. 1. Select the two images in the Organizer, and then open them in the Full Editor by pressing Ctrl-I. In our example, we are going to cut out the little girl and post her walking on air in the picture of the sky. 2. Both pictures should be visible in the Photo Bin, and one will be in the main editing window. To open a particular image in the main editing window, double click on its thumbnail in the Photo Bin. 3. Start by adjusting the exposure and color of the image that you will be making the selection in to copy to the second opened picture. Use any of the techniques that we have learned, including those that work on selected areas. Normally you want your selection looking good before you copy it to the second image. In the figure below, I used the Levels command on an Adjustment Layer to brighten the image. PSE 15 Copying Selection to Different Picture.docx 1
4. At this point we can flatten the image by clicking on Layer > Flatten Image from the Menu Bar. In our example photo, no color or enhancements were required. 5. Select the Quick Selection Tool from the Tool Box in the left pane. You should see the Option Bar for the various selection tools at the bottom of the screen, if not click on the Tool Options button in the lower left corner of the screen. 6. Click on the Brush Settings button. a. Set the Hardness to about 50%. b. Make sure there is a check next to All Layers and Auto Enhance c. Use a small brush. Adjust the brush size as required using the [ ] keys. PSE 15 Copying Selection to Different Picture.docx 2
7. Zoom in on your intended selection, and click and drag a little somewhere in the middle of it. Depending upon the color/tone makeup of the subject, you may select a good portion of it on your initial click. a. To add to your selection, hold down the shift key, click/drag in the area you want selected. b. To subtract from your selection, hold down the Alt key when you click on the area to be subtracted On most subjects, you will not make a perfect selection with this tool and will have to fine tune your selection with another tool, e.g. the Selection Brush Tool. PSE 15 Copying Selection to Different Picture.docx 3
8. We ll use the Selection Brush Tool to finish up our selection. Its icon is in the lower left corner by the Quick Selection Tool. Set its options as needed: a. Medium Soft Brush b. Brush Size = As Needed c. Mode = Selection or Mask as desired d. Drag to add to the selection and Alt-Drag to subtract from the selection if in Selection Mode. The opposite is true if in the Mask Mode. e. We ll stay in the Selection mode. f. The key to success for making good selections is to zoom in and take your time. g. Also, if you are using the Selection mode, and you want to add to your selection, holding down the Shift key, nudge the dotted line outward from within the selection to the edge you want selected. h. Do the opposite if you want to subtract from a selection. Hold down the Alt key as you nudge the dotted line back into the edge you want to select. 9. To finish up the selection, you may want to use Refine Edge. I will cover this tool better in another tutorial. Hopefully, the following will get you started at least. One of its great strengths is selecting strands of hair. Click on the Refine Edge button, seen in the above figure. Some of the controls available are: a. Smooth to smooth any added jagged edges. b. Feather to soften the edge selected c. Contract/Expand to move the selection in/out a fixed percentage. d. Viewing the selection with various backgrounds. PSE 15 Copying Selection to Different Picture.docx 4
10. The settings for these controls depend upon the image. The details for using this tool are covered elsewhere. It works will for better selections of hair. If you do use the Refine Edge Tool, select New Layer with Layer Mask, and then click OK. 11. Once the selection is fine-tuned, press Ctrl-J to copy it to its own layer. The figure on the left shows the Layers Palette at this point. If you finished up your selection with the Refine Edge Tool, this was done in Step 10. 12. We are now ready to work with the other image. Double click on its thumbnail in the Photo Bin to open it in the main editing window. 13. In a similar manner as we did for the first image adjust its exposure and color using the appropriate tools and techniques. 14. Double click on the Photo Bin thumbnail of the image with the selection to open it again in the main editing window. PSE 15 Copying Selection to Different Picture.docx 5
15. Ctrl-Click on the layer with the isolated image to make the selection dotted lines visible again. If you used the Refine Edge Tool and have a mask, Ctrl-Click on it. In the figure above, this is what was done. 16. Once again, double click on the image in the Photo Bin that you want to past your selection into the sky in our example to open it in the main editing window. 17. Select the Move Tool from the Tool Box and drag the image with the selection up to the image open in the main editing window and drop it. This will open the image with the selection somewhere within it. The selection is also the top layer of the layer stack as shown to the right. Note, in early versions of PSE, you would drag the selected image from the main editing window down to the sky image in the photo bin. 18. Use the corner handles to resize the image as needed. Position the image by dragging it around. Click the green check in the lower right corner, just outside of the Move Tool s bounding box, when you are satisfied with it size and position. 19. To finish up, click on Layer > Flatten Image from the Menu Bar. PSE 15 Copying Selection to Different Picture.docx 6
Again, the key to making the final image look realistic is how well you make the selection of the subject. PSE 15 Copying Selection to Different Picture.docx 7