PICshopy: Collage Effects in photoshop

Collage Effects

If you think it’s hard to meet new people, try picking
up the wrong golf ball.
—Jack Lemmon

Collage Effects

In Photoshop, you can do more than adjust, tone, and
paint images. You can create an entirely new image by
blending diverse visual elements into one big picture,
called compositing or image blending. This is where Photo-
shop really gets to strut its stuff, and where you can put
your creative agility to the test. The possibilities with
compositing are truly boundless. With Photoshop, all you
need is your imagination and a bag full of good collage
techniques.

Familiar Techniques

In this chapter, we’ll explore the most useful Photoshop
features for combining multiple images into one seamless
composite (Figure 10.1). We’ll get into some of the more
specialized Photoshop capabilities, but you’ve already
learned some of the most basic techniques—probably
without realizing that they can be used to create collages
like magic.

Figure 10.1 Photoshop allows you to
combine parts of different images to
create shots that are otherwise impos-
sible to get. (©2008 Dan Ablan.)

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IV: Creative Techniques

Skeptical? If you don’t believe that you’ve already mastered
the basics, consider these simple examples:
Clipping mask: You’ve spent hours creating a big headline

graphic for a movie poster. Now the client wants you to put
ﬂames or hot lava inside the headline, or maybe change
the headline altogether. Knowing that you’re a miracle
worker, he gives you a deadline that’s only three hours off,
and hangs up. While he was still on the phone, you popped
open the Layers panel and created a clipping mask to get
ﬂames inside the shape of the headline. Now you tweak the
text, swap out some lava for the ﬂames, and head off to the
beach for a break before you get to show off your results.
Blending sliders: A prospective client has given you some
images that you’ve loaded into Photoshop. One is a photo-
graph of some billowy clouds; the other is of a pod of
whales. She wants you to make the whales swim around in
the clouds. In some places, she wants the whales to replace
the sky behind the clouds; in other places, the whales
should blend in with the clouds. Very surreal. She asks how
many hours it will take to get the effect. You can nail this
job in a jiffy with the Blending sliders, so while your hands
are busy with the mouse, you give her a smile and reply,
“I’ll do it while you wait.” The look on her face delivers the
good news—you’ve got a client for life.
Layer mask: Your biggest client, a 20-year-old creative
genius, wants something that looks like a skyscraper
growing out of a pencil. Then he decides he wants to fuse
together a hippopotamus and a ballerina. But ﬁnally he
exclaims, “I know! Let’s put Godzilla in an Elvis suit!” Ah,
you think, a perfect day for layer masks. Without batting
an eyelash, you go about the business of giving Godzilla
his new outﬁt. Six months later, you choke on your coffee

When you create a clipping mask,
the active layer shows only those
places in the image where there’s
information on the layer directly
below it. This technique is useful
for simple effects like controlling
where shadows fall or placing a
photo inside of some text. You
learned about clipping masks in
Chapter 5, “Adjustment Layers.”

The Blending sliders make certain
areas of a layer disappear or show
up, based on how bright or dark
they are. For example, it’s very easy
to make all the dark parts of an
object disappear. You learned about
the Blending sliders in Chapter 9,
“Enhancements and Masking.”

With layer masks, you can make any
part of a layer disappear, and you
can control exactly how much the
edges fade out. We experimented
with layer masks in Chapters 5
and 9.

when you hear that the Elvis-Zilla ad won an award.
See what we mean? With these techniques in your arsenal,
you’re well on your way to building your own collages. Now
let’s work on expanding your expertise.

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Cool Borders and Photo Frames

A very popular Photoshop effect is the use of borders
around images and artwork. Border effects with clipping
masks are easy to set up, and provide a great way to present
your photos, illustrations, or artwork. Begin with a back-
ground graphic—something made of a color, some brush
strokes, layered images, and so on (Figure 10.2).
Once you have the background graphic in place, you’ll cre-
ate your border in a new layer. The border can be painted
with a stylized brush, or even just a plain hard- or soft-
edged brush, whatever you like. Start with a box, rotate it,
and then use a scattered brush to erase the edges (Figure
10.3). Place the photograph or illustration in a layer above
the painted box (Figure 10.4). It will obscure the graphic
frame you just painted.

Figure 10.2 A graphic background
built with various brushes.

Figure 10.3 A simple black box, with
edges painted away.

Figure 10.4 A photo is added in a layer above the frame. (©2008 Dan Ablan.)

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This is where the clipping mask comes in. Right-click the
layer with the photograph and choose Create Clipping
Mask. The black frame you created acts as a window to
the image above it (Figure 10.5). You can select either the

frame layer or the picture layer and move them around
for placement. When you have them lined up as you like,
select both layers, right-click them, and choose Link Lay-
ers. Linking the layers locks them together so that if you
choose to scale or move one, the other is also affected.

Additional techniques for creating a
clipping mask:
 Option/Alt-click between two
layers in the Layers panel.
 Choose Layer > Create Clipping
Mask.

 Press Option-Command-G
(Mac) or Alt-Ctrl-G (Windows).

The icon in the layer is indented to
signify that it’s a clipping layer. A
small down-arrow indicates that
this layer now relates to the layer
directly below it.

Figure 10.5 The clipping mask creates a window to the image from the frame
layer below.

Finally, to make the mask a bit cooler, paint some soft edge
lines above the clipping mask and image layers. Set the
layer to Overlay blending mode and perhaps another to
Multiply (Figure 10.6). You can use this border clipping
mask technique for all kinds of projects, from funky bor-
ders and edges for photographs (Figure 10.7), to simple,
reﬁned edges for images requiring a more subtle touch.

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Spend an afternoon making a
series of frames and borders to use
in future projects. You can also buy
frames and borders from places like
GraphicAuthority.com.

Figure 10.6 Add more layers with various blending modes to finish off the look.

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Figure 10.7 The clipping mask clips
this photo so that it shows up only
within the frame. (©2008 Dan Ablan.)

Place the clipping mask and related
layers into a group. Simply select
all the applicable layers and drag
them to the small folder icon at the
bottom of the Layers panel. This
will create a group and place the
selected contents inside.

Moving Clipped Layers

Changing the stacking order of the layers may affect a clip-
ping mask on some layers, so be careful:
 If a bunch of layers have a clipping mask applied, and
you move one of them above a layer that doesn’t have
a clipping mask applied, you’ll deactivate the clipping
mask on that layer.
 If you move a layer with no clipping mask between two
layers that do have clipping masks, it will suddenly have
the same clipping mask applied to it.
 If you move the clipping mask layer (the one that’s not
indented and has all those arrows pointing to it) above
or below a layer that isn’t part of that clipping mask,
all the layers that are affected by the clipping mask will
move with it.

IV: Creative Techniques

Creating a Panoramic Image with Photomerge

The Photomerge feature automates the process of com-
bining images into a seamless panorama. To prepare for
a photomerge, you can simply take three or more photo-
graphs, usually from left to right, making sure that a por-
tion of each image overlaps with the previous one.
To start creating your own panoramas, open the images
in Photoshop and then choose File > Automate > Photo-
merge. The initial Photomerge dialog prompts you to
specify which images you want to use to create a panorama.
Because you’ve already opened the images you want to
use, click the Add Open Files button (Figure 10.8). At left
in the dialog are a number of layout options. For now,
just choose Auto. Then check the Blend Images Together

check box to create a seamless ﬁnal image. With every-
thing set, click OK to start the merging process.

If your final stitching doesn’t look
right, try a different layout option,
or choose Reposition and position

the images by hand.

With Blend Images Together turned
off, Photoshop will make an old-
fashioned collage of overlapping
images. If you didn’t shoot your
panorama well enough to create a
seamless image, this option can be
a way to salvage the shot.

Figure 10.8 In most cases, the Photomerge dialog’s Auto option works
quite well.

Merging can take a while, depending on the speed of
your machine, but it can be fun to watch. With the Layers
and History panels open, you can get a good idea of what
Photoshop is doing; basically, it’s copying each image into

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its own layer in one document. The Auto Align and Auto
Blend features perform the actual merge.
When the merge is ﬁnished, you’ll have a single document
with a separate layer for each image. Notice that Photo-
shop doesn’t automatically crop the image; you’ll have to
do it yourself. While manual cropping may seem an extra
hassle, it’s actually nice to have that control, because you
can choose to preserve as much image detail as you want.
For example, in Figure 10.9, rather than cropping, you
might choose to clone in some of the missing sky in order
to get a larger image.

Figure 10.9 Photomerge does a fine job of seamlessly blending the images, yet doesn’t crop them. (©2008 Dan Ablan.)

Notice that the Layers panel includes layer masks for each
layer (Figure 10.10). These layer masks control which part
of each layer is visible and comprise the mechanism that
Photoshop uses to create the seams in the image. Since the
Photomerge feature leaves the layer masks intact rather
than ﬂattening the ﬁnal image, you can easily adjust a bad
seam by simply painting onto that layer’s layer mask.

Figure 10.10 A layer mask is created
for each image, giving you complete
control over blending.

Vector Masks

Vector masks allow you to control which area of a layer will

be visible by using an easily editable, smooth-shaped, crisp-
edged path; anything outside of the path will be hidden
onscreen and when printed.
By the time they make it to your computer screen, all pho-
tographs are made out of pixels, and the resolution of the
ﬁle determines how large the pixels will be when printed.
If those pixels are large enough, the image will appear
jaggy when printed. But with vector masks, you can create

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a low-resolution, jaggy image and still get a smooth, crisp
transition between the content of a layer and the underly-
ing image when printing to a PostScript printer.

Adding a Vector Mask
The simplest way to add a vector mask is to choose Layer >
Vector Mask > Reveal All. The active layer now has two
thumbnail images in the Layers panel (Figure 10.11). It
should look like you just added a layer mask. The only
difference is that with a layer mask, you paint with shades
of gray to control which areas of a layer will be hidden or

visible, whereas with a vector mask you use a path to deﬁne
the area that will be visible.
The easiest way to deﬁne where the image should be visible
is to use one of the Shape tools. Before you start creat-
ing shapes, take a peek at the settings in the options bar.
Four options are available on the right side of the options
bar when the active layer contains a vector mask (Figure
10.12). Here’s what these options do, left to right:
 Allows you to create a shape to deﬁne where the image

Figure 10.11 After adding a vector
mask, you’ll see two thumbnail images
in the Layers panel.

Figure 10.12 Vector mask options on
the options bar.

should be visible.
 Allows you to deﬁne a shape where the image should
be hidden.
 Limits the areas that are already visible, so that they
show up only within the shape you draw.
 Inverts the visibility of the area inside the shape you
draw, making visible areas hidden and hidden areas
visible.
You can also use any of the Pen tools to create and modify
a vector mask. If you’re not already familiar with the Pen
tools, start out with the Freeform Pen tool because it allows
you to create a path by drawing a freeform shape, much
like the Lasso tool allows you to create a selection. To learn
how to use the Pen tool, see Chapter 9.
If you already have a path saved in the ﬁle, such as with
stock photos you’ve purchased (it will show up in the
Paths panel), you can use it as a vector mask. With the
applicable layer active (you can’t add a vector mask to

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the Background layer), click the name of the path in the
Paths panel, and then choose Layer > Add Vector Mask >
Current Path.

Disabling the Vector Mask
After creating a vector mask, you can temporarily disable it
by Shift-clicking its thumbnail in the Layers panel (Figure
10.13). With each click, you’ll toggle the vector mask on
and off. This feature is a great help when you want to see
what a layer would look like if you didn’t have a vector
mask restricting where it shows up.

Figure 10.13 Active vector mask.
When the vector mask is disabled, its
thumbnail is covered by a red X.

Using the Move Tool
When you use the Move tool to reposition a layer, the layer
and the vector mask move together (Figures 10.14 and
10.15). If you turn off the link symbol by clicking it, you’ll
leave the vector mask alone and just move the image (Fig-
ure 10.16). To move the vector mask and leave the image
stationary, use the solid arrow (Path Selection tool) that
appears directly above the Pen tools (Figure 10.17).

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Figure 10.14 Original Image with
vector mask defined.

Figure 10.15 Layer and vector mask
linked together.

IV: Creative Techniques

Figure 10.16 Vector mask left station-
ary while the layer is repositioned.

Figure 10.17 Use the Path Selection
tool to reposition a vector mask.

Transforming the Vector Mask
The Edit > Transform commands are very useful when
working on a vector mask. Because the path is made from

a collection of points and directional handles (instead of
pixels), scaling, rotating, and other transformations will
not degrade the quality of the shape. Make sure that the
path is visible before you choose Edit > Transform Path.

Using Vector Masks with Layer Masks
You can have both a layer mask and a vector mask attached
to a single layer. (Just click the Layer Mask icon twice.)
When you use both, the image is visible only where both
the layer mask and vector mask allow things to be visible
(Figure 10.18). If you have multiple layers with layer masks,
you can mask the cumulative effect of those layers with a
vector mask. Select the layers to which you’d like to apply a
vector mask. Shift-click the Create a New Group icon at the
bottom of the Layers panel (Figure 10.19). Click the newly
created group to make it active, and then add a vector
mask (Layer > Vector Mask > Reveal All). Any shapes that

To toggle the visibility of a vector
mask, Shift-click its thumbnail in
the Layers panel.

Figure 10.18 You can have a layer
mask and a vector mask attached to
the same layer.

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Chapter 10 Collage Eﬀects

you add to the vector mask will limit where all the layers
that are contained in that group show up (Figure 10.20).

Figure 10.19 Select the layers you’d
like to have in a group.

Figure 10.20 The grouped layers
appear inside a folder in the Layers

panel. Add a vector mask to the group
to limit where all the layers within the
group show up.

Removing the Vector Mask
If you want to remove the vector mask, choose Layer >
Delete Vector Mask, or drag its thumbnail to the trash

368

Paths print with crisp edges only
if you print to a PostScript output
device, such as a $500+ laser
printer. Most inkjet printers don’t
understand PostScript, so your
image has the potential of appear-
ing jaggy on those types of devices.

Figure 10.21 Saving an EPS file.

can icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. You can also
convert a vector mask into a layer mask by choosing
Layer > Rasterize > Vector Mask. But be aware that you’ll
lose the crisp-edged, smooth look of the path, and any
transformations applied to the layer mask will cause it to
appear blurry.

Saving Vector Data
If you plan to save the image and use it in a page layout
program (instead of using it for a Web site), be careful
about how you save it; otherwise, the crisp edge of the path
may be lost. Remember that a path is different from pixels
in that it’s made out of points and directional handles.
That’s vector information, whereas images made from pix-
els are raster information. To maintain the crisp edges of
the paths, save the image as an EPS or PDF ﬁle; those for-
mats support vector data. When saving the ﬁle, select the
Include Vector Data check box (Figure 10.21); this option
shows up only after you click the Save button.

IV: Creative Techniques

Clipping Paths
You can also assign a path to a document, as opposed to a
single layer. A clipping path limits which areas of an image
will show up and print in a page layout program (Figures
10.22 and 10.23). To create a clipping path, use the Pen
tool or a Shape tool to create a path, and then choose Win-
dow > Paths to open the Paths panel. Next, double-click
the name of the path and assign it a name. Then choose
Clipping Path from the side menu of the Paths panel.
When prompted, enter a Flatness setting.
When the image is printed, it will be converted into a

polygon made out of straight lines of identical length. The
Flatness setting determines the length of those lines. Low
settings produce short lines, which require more memory
and processing time to output. If the Flatness setting is too
low, the printer might run out of memory when attempt-
ing to output the image. The more complex the path (lots
of points and directional handles), the higher the Flatness
setting needs to be to avoid printing problems. In general,
use a setting between 3 and 10, depending on the com-
plexity of the path. After you’ve assigned a clipping path
to an image, save it as a TIFF or EPS ﬁle so that it can be
understood by a page layout program.

Working with Smart Objects

Introduced in Photoshop CS2, Smart Objects provide a
completely different way of working in Photoshop. Instead
of the good old one-element-per-layer tradition, images

Figure 10.22 Image imported
without a clipping path. (©2007
www.PeterHoey.com.)

Figure 10.23 Image imported with a
clipping path.

are dealt with in a way that’s similar to how page layout
programs link to external image ﬁles. Basically, when you
place an image on a page in a page layout program, you’re
actually just viewing a preview of the image that’s stored on
your hard drive. You’re free to scale, rotate, and crop the
image, but you cannot edit it directly in the page layout
program. Instead, you must open the linked image, make
your changes, resave it, and then update the link to the
image in the page layout program.

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Adobe applied this idea to Photoshop in the form of Smart
Objects. You can place an external image ﬁle or encap-
sulate multiple layers into a Photoshop document as a
Smart Object. But instead of “linking” to external ﬁles, the
images are “embedded” in the Photoshop document. The
Smart Object acts much like a linked ﬁle in that you’re
limited to scaling, transforming, and masking its contents,
but if you want to make edits, you must do so in a separate
document. There are many advantages to working with
Smart Objects:
 You can create a complex document without having to
show all the layers that make up the image.
 You can scale a layer to a small size while retaining the
ability to later enlarge the layer, using the full-sized lay-
ers that were originally used to create the Smart Object.
 You can duplicate a Smart Object multiple times and
make edits to the original, and all the duplicates will
automatically update to match the original.
 You can embed an Adobe Illustrator or Camera Raw ﬁle
into a Photoshop ﬁle and later make changes in Illus-
trator or the Camera Raw dialog. You can also extract
the original ﬁle at any time.
 You can apply some ﬁlters nondestructively, using the
Smart Filters feature.
 You can work nondestructively with Camera Raw ﬁles,
which allow you to go back and adjust your Camera
Raw conversion settings at any time.
There are also limitations to what can be done to a Smart
Object. The Smart Object layer cannot be edited directly,
which means that you won’t be able to paint or directly
adjust the Smart Object without using a few special tricks,
or editing the layers that make up the Smart Object.

Creating Smart Objects
There are several methods for creating a Smart Object.
The easiest is to choose File > Open as Smart Object, and
then select the image(s) that you want to open. (You can
select more than one by Shift-clicking multiple ﬁle names.)

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The image(s) open as normal and, at ﬁrst glance, you
won’t see anything conspicuously different. However, in
the title bar of each image is “<<image name>> as Smart
Object” and then the usual color mode and zoom percent-
age stats.
The other indication that you’re working with a different
kind of image is in the Layers panel. There’s no Back-
ground layer, as in a normal document. Instead, the image
sits as a Smart Object in its own layer, with a special badge
superimposed over its thumbnail (Figure 10.24).

Finally, select the Brush tool and hold it over the image. A
very stubborn “no” icon indicates that the tool will not work

Figure 10.24 The little icon at lower
right in the layer thumbnail indicates
this is a Smart Object layer.

on this image. Remember, Smart Objects don’t contain
normal pixel data, and therefore can’t be edited on a pixel-
by-pixel basis using the normal Photoshop procedures.
To convert layers to Smart Objects, select them and choose
Layer > Smart Objects > Convert to Smart Object. To use
a layer or layers from an external ﬁle, choose File > Place
instead. The external ﬁle can be in any ﬁle format that
Photoshop can open, including Adobe Illustrator and
Camera Raw ﬁles.
Grouping layers into a Smart Object prevents the indi-
vidual layers within the Smart Object from interacting with
layers outside of the Smart Object. The general appear-
ance of the document might change, depending on which
features were used to create it:
 The Underlying Layer sliders in the Layer Style dialog
won’t affect layers outside of the Smart Object.
 The layers will become adjacent to each other in the
Layers panel and no longer be intermixed with other
layers.
 Adjustment layers used within the Smart Object will not
affect layers outside of the Smart Object.
 Blending modes used on individual layers will be
limited to interacting with the other layers within the
Smart Object.

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Multiple Instances
Once you’ve created a Smart Object, you can drag it to
the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to
duplicate the layer and create another instance of the
same Smart Object. Each instance of the Smart Object
will refer to the same set of layers that were used to create
the Smart Object. Layer styles, masks, and warping can be
used to modify individual instances of the Smart Object.
Editing the layers that make up the Smart Object causes
all the instances of that Smart Object to update to reﬂect
the changes. In Figure 10.25, a single leaf was used to cre-
ate a Smart Object, and then that Smart Object layer was
duplicated nine times to create the other leaves, which
were rotated and styled to create the composition in Figure
10.26. Since all ten leaves that appeared in the ﬁnal image
were instances of the same leaf, editing one leaf caused all
ten leaves to update to reﬂect the change (Figure 10.27).
In this case, a subtle change was made to a vector mask,
which changed how much of the leaf was visible.

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Figure 10.25 Ten instances of the
same Smart Object have been rotated
to create this complex image.

Figure 10.26 Layer styles added color
to each instance of the Smart Object.

Figure 10.27 Editing the Smart Object
caused all instances of the Smart
Object to be updated.

IV: Creative Techniques

Nested Smart Objects
You can nest one Smart Object within another by select-
ing a Smart Object and choosing Layer > Smart Objects >
Group Into New Smart Object. Nested Smart Objects are
useful when you want to simplify the Layers panel view
of the image (Figure 10.28) or cause layer styles to treat
multiple layers as a single object, instead of applying to
each individual element that makes up the image (Figures
10.29 and 10.30). This will also allow you to apply warping
to all the layers at once (we’ll talk about warping later in
this chapter).

Figure 10.28 Left: Ten Smart Objects are used to
create a complex document. Right: The same docu-
ment viewed after nesting the ten Smart Object
layers into a single Smart Object.

Figure 10.29 Here, a Drop Shadow
layer style was applied to each of the
individual leaf Smart Object layers.

Figure 10.30 This time the Drop
Shadow layer style was applied after
nesting the leaf layers into a single

Smart Object.

When you nest one Smart Object inside another, you cause
that nested Smart Object to become independent of any
other instances that are used outside of the Smart Object
within which it’s safely nested. Therefore, editing the
nested Smart Object will only affect other instances of that
Smart Object that appear within the outer Smart Object,
and other Smart Objects will be unchanged. It might sound
confusing just reading about it, but once you’ve driven this
thing around the block a few times, it will make sense.

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Editing Smart Objects
To edit the layers that make up a Smart Object, choose
Layer > Smart Objects > Edit Contents, or double-click
the Smart Object’s thumbnail image in the Layers panel.
The contents of the Smart Object will appear in a separate
document window, where you can edit the individual layers
within the Smart Object by using any of Photoshop’s tools.
When you’re ﬁnished modifying the Smart Object, press
Command/Ctrl-S to save your changes and update the
parent document containing the Smart Object.

If the Smart Object contains a
Camera Raw file, editing the
contents will take you back to the
Camera Raw dialog, where you’ll be
able to adjust your raw conversion
parameters.

Choose Layer > Smart Objects > Replace Contents to
replace the entire contents of a Smart Object with the
contents of a ﬁle on your hard drive. This feature is useful
when working with Camera Raw ﬁles, since it allows you to
start a design with placeholder images that you can later
replace with alternative images.

Smart Filters
Smart Filters allow you to apply ﬁlters to a Smart Object,
just as you would to any other type of layer. Just select the
ﬁlter you want from the Filter menu. The ﬁlter’s dialog (if
it has one) will appear as it always does, and the image will
be processed. Not all ﬁlters are available as Smart Filters,
but you should ﬁnd all of the crucial ﬁlters—sharpening,
blurring, and so on.
After the ﬁlter is added, a Smart Filters effect is added to
the layer in the Layers panel (Figure 10.31). This is the
same way that CS4 displays layer styles. As you add ﬁlters,
they’re added to the Smart Filter entry for that layer.

Figure 10.31 When you add a filter to
a Smart Layer, it appears in a special
Smart Filters effect in the Layers panel.

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To change the parameters of any ﬁlter you’ve added,
double-click its entry in the Layers panel. The ﬁlter’s dia-
log will appear, allowing you to adjust its settings.
To change the order of the ﬁlters, drag them up/down

the list. You can delete a ﬁlter by selecting it in the Layers
panel and pressing the Delete key.
The Smart Filters collection attached to a layer has a
built-in masking function that works just like a layer mask
or the mask that’s attached to an adjustment layer. To use
the Smart Filter mask, click it in the Layers panel and then
use any Photoshop painting tool to paint onto the mask
(Figure 10.32).

Figure 10.32 Painting onto the layer
mask of a Smart Filter allows you to
constrain the effects of the filter to
specific areas of the image.

Smart Filters differ from adjustment layers in that they
affect only the image to which they’re attached. You can’t
use an Unsharp Mask ﬁlter to sharpen all of the layers in
an image, for example. Instead, you’ll need to apply sepa-
rate Unsharp Mask ﬁlters to each layer in the document,

Changing the filter order is likely to
change the results.

The layer mask applies to all filters
you’ve added to that Smart Object.
You can’t create separate masks for
each effect.

conﬁguring each of them with the same settings.

Smart Objects Tips and Tricks
Let’s look at a few interesting ways to use Smart Objects.
These ideas just scratch the surface of what you can do.
The more you experiment, the more useful ways you’ll ﬁnd
to use Smart Objects.

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Camera Raw
You can blend two different interpretations of the same
raw format image by using Smart Objects. Embed a
Camera Raw ﬁle into an existing document by choosing
File > Place. In the Camera Raw dialog, you can control the
tonality and color of the image—but what if you can’t ﬁnd
a single interpretation that does justice to the entire image
(Figure 10.33)? Choose Layer > Smart Objects > New
Smart Object via Copy to create a second Smart Object
that’s independent of the ﬁrst. Double-click the thumbnail
image for the new Smart Object, causing the Camera Raw
dialog to appear, and choose different settings that you
want to apply to the second Smart Object. Once you have
the two different interpretations of the raw ﬁle (Figures

Figure 10.33 Using a single set of
Camera Raw settings produced this
less-than-desirable result.
(©2007 Ben Willmore.)

10.34 and 10.35), you can add a layer mask to the top
Smart Object and use it to control where each version of
the raw ﬁle contributes to the ﬁnal image (Figure 10.36).

376

Figure 10.34 The sky was ignored
and the bottom was optimized in this
Camera Raw interpretation.

Figure 10.35 The bottom was ignored
and the sky was optimized in this
Camera Raw interpretation.

Figure 10.36 The two interpretations
of the same raw file were combined
by using a layer mask.

IV: Creative Techniques

Painting and Adjustments
Many of Photoshop’s tools are disabled when a Smart
Object is active in the Layers panel. Here are a few tricks
you can use to get around that limitation:
 To apply paint to a Smart Object, create a new layer
directly above the Smart Object and choose Layer >
Create Clipping Mask so that any paint applied to the
layer will show up only where the Smart Object appears.
 To adjust a Smart Object without affecting the rest of
the image, select the Smart Object layer, hold down
Option/Alt, click the Adjustment Layer pop-up menu
at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose the
adjustment you want to apply. When the New Layer dia-
log appears, turn on the Use Previous Layer to Create
Clipping Mask check box to limit the adjustment to the
Smart Object layer.
 If you want to apply a ﬁlter that’s not available as a
Smart Filter, ﬁrst duplicate the Smart Object layer by
pressing Command/Ctrl-J, and then hide the original
by clicking its eyeball icon. Now apply the ﬁlter to the
duplicate. Photoshop merges the layers that make up
the Smart Object (also known as rasterizing), which
turns it into a normal layer. But since you hid the
original Smart Object, you still have a copy that you can
later edit and then re-ﬁlter.
 Be careful when adding layers to a Smart Object. If
the original Smart Object was created after opening
a ﬂat JPG ﬁle that contained no layers, adding lay-
ers will cause problems. Photoshop will act as if the
Smart Object is actually a JPG ﬁle. Since JPG ﬁles can’t
contain layers, Photoshop will present a Save As dialog,
forcing you to save the document in a ﬁle format that
supports layers. That means that adding a layer will
cause your edited Smart Object to be saved on your
hard drive instead of being embedded in the parent
document in which you used the Smart Object. To
update the parent document, choose Layer > Smart
Object > Replace Contents and point Photoshop to the
newly saved layered ﬁle.

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Chapter 10 Collage Eﬀects

Warping Images

Photoshop’s warping features allow you to bend and distort
images in interesting ways. Choosing Edit > Transform >
Warp causes various warp settings to appear in the options
bar (Figure 10.37) and places a grid over the active layer
(Figure 10.38). There are 15 preset warp shapes available
(Figure 10.39). After choosing a preset from the Warp
pop-up menu in the options bar, you can adjust the Bend,
H (Horizontal), and V (Vertical) ﬁelds in the options
bar to control the extent of the warp that’s applied to
the active layer. If you need to warp an image to match
an element in a photograph, set the Warp pop-up menu
to Custom.

Figure 10.37 The options available when warping a layer.

378

Figure 10.38 Choosing Edit > Transform > Warp causes a warp grid to appear
over the image. (©2008 Dan Ablan.)

Figure 10.39 The default warp
presets.

IV: Creative Techniques

When applying a Custom warp, you can drag the corner
points, handles, or grid lines to distort the image. To
match the contours of an object, start by positioning the
corner handles to meet the underlying image (Figure
10.40). Adjust the corner handles to specify the angle at
which the edge of the image should match the underly-
ing image (Figures 10.41 and 10.42). To ﬁne-tune the
results, drag the grid lines until the image is distorted to
match the underlying object (Figure 10.43). If you warp a
Smart Object layer, you can choose Layer > Smart Object >
Replace Contents to swap out a different image while
retaining the warping last applied to the layer (Figures
10.44 and 10.45).

Figure 10.40 Choosing Custom from
the Warp pop-up menu presents a
grid.

Figure 10.42 Adjust the corner
handles.

Figure 10.44 End result of warping
the image to match the page. (©2007
iStockphoto.com and Ben Willmore.)

Figure 10.41 Drag the four corners
of the grid so they line up with the
object you’re trying to match.

Figure 10.43 Fine-tune the results by
dragging the grid lines.

Figure 10.45 Using a Smart Object,
you can swap the image while retain-
ing the warping.

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Chapter 10 Collage Eﬀects

Creating Complex Collages

Now we’re ready to put all these features together, com-
bine them with the blending modes we explored in
Chapter 9, and throw in a few other techniques to create
a complex collage. If you haven’t read through all of this
chapter and Chapter 9, it might be difﬁcult to follow along
with this project, so make sure that you’ve covered that
material before you dive in.

Figure 10.46 A collage on the cover
of a previous edition of this book.

The collage in Figure 10.46 was originally created by
Regina Cleveland for the CS2 edition of this book. She
challenged Ben Willmore to re-create it in Photoshop and
gave him a total of four photos, which she snagged from
www.istockphoto.com (Figures 10.47 to 10.50), along with
a shot of Ben taken by his friend Andy Katz (Figure 10.51).

380

Figure 10.47 This leaf image started
out as a black-and-white shot. (©2007
iStockphoto.com/BritishBeefUK.)

Figure 10.48 This pattern was used
on both the head and background.
(©2007 iStockphoto.com/LindaMarieB.)

Figure 10.50 The lens from this
camera was used in the center of
the image. (©2007 iStockphoto.com/
avarkisp.)

Figure 10.49 The head was isolated
from its background. (©2007
iStockphoto.com/puentes.)

Figure 10.51 This shot of Ben
Willmore goofing off was used as
a reflection in the lens. (©2007
Andy Katz.)

IV: Creative Techniques

We’re going to ﬂy through this procedure, so pay close
attention!

Creating the Fan of Leaves
The ﬁrst element is the single leaf image, which, when
later multiplied, will provide a headdress for the face.
We double-click the Background image to turn it into a
normal layer, and then use a vector mask to isolate the leaf
from its background (Figures 10.52 and 10.53). Because
this element is going to be scaled and rotated many times,
and needs to retain as much of the original detail as pos-
sible, we convert the layer into a Smart Object.

The original leaf document doesn’t have enough space to
create the fan of leaves, so we create a new document the
exact size of the book cover plus nine points (just over 1/8
of an inch) of extra space on three sides to allow for bleed
(the fourth side will merge with the spine of the book and
therefore doesn’t need any bleed). Once the document
is open, we position three guides (using the View > New

Figure 10.52 Isolate the leaf from its
background by using a vector mask.

Figure 10.53 Layers panel view of the
isolated leaf.

Guide command) to indicate the trimmed page size. Then,
before doing any more work, we drag the leaf Smart Object
to the newly created document (using the Move tool) and
scale it to an appropriate size (using the Edit > Free Trans-
form command).
The fan needs a total of ten leaves spanning a 180-degree
arc. To space the leaves evenly, we divide the total degrees
of rotation (180) by the number of leaves that will be
used (9, since two of the leaves will end up at the same
angle—straight up and down—and therefore shouldn’t be
counted twice). Since dividing 180 by 9 produces 20, that
means that each leaf needs to be rotated by 20 degrees
from the one adjacent to it.
With those calculations in hand, we duplicate the original
Smart Object layer by pressing Command/Ctrl-J to create a
second instance of the Smart Object. We rotate the dupli-
cate by pressing Command/Ctrl-T to access the Free Trans-
form command; then the pivot point (which looks like a
crosshair and appears in the center of the layer that’s being
transformed) is dragged straight down and positioned on

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Chapter 10 Collage Eﬀects

the bottom center transformation point (Figure 10.54). To
get the proper amount of rotation, we enter a value of 20
in the Angle ﬁeld in the options bar, which ends up rotat-
ing the image to the right—the wrong direction. Oops!
Add a minus sign before the percentage to rotate it in
the opposite direction. After pressing Return/Enter twice
(the ﬁrst time to have Photoshop accept the number and
the second time to complete the rotation), we repeat the
process (duplicate, move pivot point, rotate) until a total
of ten leaves are in place (Figure 10.55).
Next, the leaves needed to interact with each other instead
of obscuring each other. For each layer, the blending mode
is set to Multiply, causing the layer to act as if it were being
printed on top of the underlying layers using ink (Figure
10.56). At this point, the fan of leaves starts to look inter-
esting, but lacks any hint of color.

Figure 10.54 The pivot point is
dragged to the tip of the leaf.

Figure 10.55 Result of duplicating
and rotating the leaf Smart Object
nine times.

Figure 10.56 The leaves look more
integrated after setting each Smart
Object layer to Multiply mode.

Color is added by applying a Gradient Overlay layer style
to each layer, using the Color blending mode to apply the
color of the active layer to the brightness information from

382

IV: Creative Techniques

the underlying image. In this case, Color mode causes
the Gradient Overlay to apply color to the brightness
values in the leaf. We click the Gradient Overlay Preview
and change the color used on one end of the gradient, and
then adjust the Opacity and Angle settings until the color
is affecting the leaf in just the right way (Figure 10.57).
To apply similar settings to the other leaf Smart Objects,
we Control/right-click the style-laden layer in the Layers
panel, choose Copy Layer Style, select all the other Smart

Object layers, Control/right-click one of the layers, and
choose Paste Layer Style, which makes all the leaves take
on the same color (Figures 10.58 and 10.59). To make
each leaf a different color, double-click the Layer Style icon
on each layer, change the color used in each gradient, and
adjust the Angle setting to cause the color to be concen-
trated near the outer tip of each leaf (Figure 10.60).

Figure 10.57 One of the Gradient Overlays that we
applied to the leaves.

Figure 10.58 Copying and pasting
the layer style applies it to each of the
selected layers.

Figure 10.59 The leaves appear as a
single color because we applied the
same layer style to each leaf.

Figure 10.60 The leaves take on dif-
ferent colors after we modify the layer
style applied to each layer.

Adding the Head
At this stage, the fan of leaves is about done, but it lacks a
background. A stylistic head is the next element to tackle.

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Chapter 10 Collage Eﬀects

We open the head image in Photoshop and drag it into
the book cover document, using the Move tool. A problem
develops after scaling the head layer to an appropriate size
and moving it to the bottom of the Layers stack: All the leaf
Smart Object layers look like they’re printed on top of the
head, because we set them all to use the Multiply blending
mode (Figure 10.61).
Since we needed the Multiply mode to cause the leaves
to print on top of each other instead of obscuring each
other, we select all the leaf Smart Object layers and choose

384

Figure 10.61 Set to Multiply mode,
the leaves look like they were printed
on top of the head.

Figure 10.62 The leaf layers are
grouped into a Smart Object, with
blending mode set to Normal.

Figure 10.63 The background is
removed from the head with the
Magic Wand tool and a layer mask.

Layer > Smart Objects > Group into New Smart Object to
nest them into a new Smart Object. This solves the prob-
lem, because the individual layers that make up a Smart
Object cannot interact with layers that are outside the
Smart Object. A Smart Object can only interact with the
underlying image as a whole, and the blending mode for
the newly created Smart Object is set to Normal, which
prevents it from interacting with the rest of the image
(Figure 10.62). Grouping the leaf layers into a Smart
Object also has the added beneﬁt of greatly simplifying
the Layers panel.
The cover of this book traditionally features a white back-
ground, which means that the background of the head
image needs to be removed. We start by hiding the fan of
leaves Smart Object so it doesn’t obstruct the view of the
head layer. Removing the background on the head layer is
an easy process because the background is quite different
from the subject in both color and brightness. The Magic
Wand tool is perfect for this job. Clicking the background
probably isn’t enough to select the whole area, though,
so we hold down the Shift key and click unselected por-
tions of the background. It takes less than a dozen clicks
with the Magic Wand tool to get a decent selection of the
background. Then, to hide the background on the head,
hold down Option/Alt and click the Layer Mask icon at
the bottom of the Layers panel. Holding down Option/Alt
causes the selected areas to become hidden when the mask
is created (Figure 10.63). We might have to touch up a few
spots near the mouth and nose, since the original selection
isn’t perfect.

IV: Creative Techniques

The head is now ready for her beauty treatment. The
paisley/fractal pattern image is placed on the layer directly
above the head. Then we choose Layer > Create Clipping
Mask to make the pattern show up only where the head
is (Figure 10.64). To make the pattern interact with the
head, we switch to the Move tool, hold down Shift, and
press the plus (+) key on the keyboard a few times to cycle
through all the blending modes in the pop-up menu at
the top of the Layers panel (Shift and the minus key cycles
back). After going through the whole list a few times, we
settle on the Overlay blending mode (Figure 10.65). The
improved look of the head is good, but the colors aren’t
popping the way they did in Regina’s original collage. With
the pattern layer still active, we choose Gradient Overlay
from the Layer Style pop-up menu at the bottom of the
Layers panel, created a colorful gradient, and then experi-
ment with the Blending Mode pop-up menu until we like
the results (Figures 10.66 and 10.67).

Figure 10.64 A clipping mask is used
to make the pattern show up only
where the head is.

Figure 10.65 The Overlay blending
mode causes the pattern to overlay
onto the head.

Figure 10.66 Additional color comes
with a Gradient Overlay layer style on
the pattern layer.

Figure 10.67 This Gradient Overlay is
applied to the pattern layer.

385

Chapter 10 Collage Eﬀects

Adding the Camera Lens
At this point, we make the fan of leaves Smart Object vis-
ible again and reposition it so that the center of the fan
is close to being centered on the round part of the head
(Figure 10.68). To add the camera lens to the middle of
the fan, we open the photo of the camera, extract the
camera body from the lens by using a vector mask, and
then drag it into position within the collage. To add a little
accent to the lens, we choose Drop Shadow from the Layer
Style pop-up menu at the bottom of the Layers panel,
set the blending mode to Screen, and chose a cyan color
(Figure 10.69).

Figure 10.68 Result of repositioning
the fan of leaves.

Figure 10.69 We added the camera
lens and a Drop Shadow layer style.

Adding Type and Logo Treatments
It’s time to add the cover text, using four Type layers. (For
more about working with text, check out the bonus video
“Type and Background Effects” at www.danablan.com/
photoshop.) The logo that appears at lower right on the
cover was supplied by the publisher as an EPS ﬁle. To add
that element, we choose File > Place and point Photoshop
to the logo ﬁle. That embeds the EPS ﬁle into the collage as
a Smart Object layer, which allows it to be scaled to any size
without losing quality. To complete the graphic elements

386

Figure 10.70 Text and logo treat-
ments are added to the cover.

on the cover, we add a red bar across the top of the docu-
ment, using the Rectangular Shape tool (Figure 10.70).

IV: Creative Techniques

Creating the Background Texture
Now we’re ready to tackle the background behind the
head. The pattern applied to the head was the same used
for the background, so we duplicate the pattern layer, drag
it to the bottom of the Layers panel, and scale and position
it to ﬁll most of the white space at the bottom of the image
(Figure 10.71). At this stage, the head and the background
contain similar colors, so we shift the color of the back-
ground: Hold down Option/Alt, choose Gradient Map
from the Adjustment Layer pop-up menu at the bottom of
the Layers panel, and turn on the Use Previous Layer to
Create Clipping Mask check box so the adjustment affects
only the background pattern. We added the gradient to
force the colors in the background toward red and orange

(Figures 10.72 and 10.73). To make the background fade
into the white found at the top of the cover, we add a layer
mask and apply a gradient to the mask (Figure 10.74).

Figure 10.71 The pattern from the
head is duplicated and used as the
base of the background.

Figure 10.72 A Gradient Map adjust-
ment layer shifts the background

Figure 10.73 Result of shifting the
colors in the background.

Figure 10.74 Result of masking the
background with a gradient.

colors toward red and orange.

Final Tweaks
The cover collage now contains all of the major pieces
found in the original version provided by Regina, and it
just needs a few tweaks to reﬁne the results. For the back-
ground pattern, we duplicate the fan of leaves as a Smart
Object, setting its blending mode to Screen, lowering the

387

Chapter 10 Collage Eﬀects

Opacity, and scaling it up to lighten the background, using
the same shape as the leaves. To make the fan of leaves
partially transparent, we add a layer mask and paint with a
soft-edged brush at a low opacity, which lets the shape of
the head show through. For the lens reﬂection effect, we
add Ben’s photo above the lens and use Overlay blending
mode. Finally, to make a beam of light emanate from the
lens, we create a new layer, make a triangular selection and
ﬁll it with white, and lower its opacity to connect the lens
to the eye (Figure 10.75). With a big “Whew!” we consider
the collage as ﬁnished, and now only need to put it into a
3-D mockup of the book’s cover.
Figure 10.75 The finished cover,

complete with lens reflection.

Figure 10.76 The transformed cover
image matches the perspective of the
photograph.

Figure 10.77 Shading with the Gradi-
ent tool helps to make the end result
look more realistic.

Creating a 3-D Cover Mockup
To create the 3-D cover mockup, we use a photograph of
a similarly sized book, ﬂattening the newly created collage
and moving it into the book photograph image. Using the
Distort command (Edit > Transform > Distort), we distort
the collage to match the shape of the photographic cover
(Figure 10.76). Finally, we use the Gradient tool in Multiply
mode to add subtle shading to the cover, which adds a bit
of realism to the end result (Figure 10.77).

The Next Step

Hopefully you get as much of a kick out of creating col-
lages as we do. It’s one of those things that really never gets
old; you can always count on another surprise around the
corner, and knowing how to create a complex image like
this will help you to tackle whatever comes your way. If you
want to create truly realistic-looking collages, keep the fol-
lowing ideas in mind:
 When combining images that were shot under different
lighting conditions, be sure to color-correct the images
individually before turning them into a collage; other-
wise, each one will have a different color cast.
 If you’re basing a collage on an image that has a
desirable color cast (such as candlelight, ﬁrelight,

or sunrise/sunset), use the techniques mentioned

388

IV: Creative Techniques

in Chapter 8, “Color Manipulation,” to infuse all the
images with the same desirable color cast.
 When combining images, make sure that the direction
of the light in all the images is consistent; otherwise,
viewers will pick up on the fact that the image is a fake,
although they might not be able to pinpoint exactly
why they think that.
 The direction of the light should also dictate the direc-
tion in which shadows fall. Shadows should fall directly
opposite of the light source.
 When placing objects in a scene, think about where
each object appears in 3D space and make sure
that it has the appropriate focus compared to its
surroundings.
 The ﬁlm grain that shows up in an image is usually con-
sistent across the image, so either use the noise removal
techniques covered in Chapter 6, “Sharpening,” on
each image, or apply the Add Noise ﬁlter (Filter >
Noise > Add Noise) to make sure that all the images
have the same amount of grain.
If you keep these ideas in mind, with a little practice and
a lot of perspiration you should be able to create collages
that fool even a trained eye. Now, move on to the last
chapter, probably one of the most important subjects for
photographers, “Retouching Techniques.”