How to Photoshop Photos Together – Beginner's Guide to Compositing

Compositing – combining parts of several photos into one seamless image – opens up creative possibilities you cannot capture in a single shot. The key is matching light, perspective and colour, then blending with layers and masks. Here’s a beginner’s guide to compositing.

How to Photoshop photos together is a process known to many photographers simply as compositing.

In this guide, we’re going to walk you through what compositing is. We’ll also show you what you can offer with your photography once you’ve finished your basic editing.

But by the end of this guide if you want to learn more about how to Photoshop photos together then you’ll love our iPhotography compositing course.

If you’ve got a good understanding of Photoshop, you’ll be able to add further skills through this course. We’ll show you how to blend multiple images through lighting, colours, textures and other adjustments.

What is Compositing?

‘Photoshopping’ photos together is what others call compositing and we (as photographers) have been doing it for years.

Even back in the film days it was possible to composite two pictures together. We even wrote about a famous portrait that was actually a composite.

It’s not cheating or lazy to composite images together, in fact we believe it takes a deeper level of creativity to see an opportunity to enhance a story (or create one) that doesn’t already exist.

If you like building photos from scratch (creating a background, adding props, choosing lighting etc) then you could really enjoy compositing.

You can Photoshop two photos together or more. It’s always best to start with an idea of what you want the outcome to be and then hunt down the relevant components. Whether you’re shooting all the shots you need or taking them from free stock sites just keep in mind these key points:

• Look to match lighting directions.
• Make sure elements don’t jar in style or time periods.
• Match up shots that are taken at the same angles.

Do You Always Need Photoshop for Compositing?

No. But it helps.

Honestly, if you’ve got an alternative editing platform that gives you tools such as layer masks, local selections, colour adjustments and lighting effects then you should be fine to give compositing a try.

Software such as Lightroom wouldn’t be suitable as it has no layers, which compositing depends on.

Affinity Photo, GIMP, Pixlr X (and E) and Photopea would be some of the most suitable alternatives when learning how to ‘photoshop’ photos together.

If you want to learn Pixlr X, then iPhotography has a tutorial you can access once you’re here.

How to Composite Two Photographs

Here is the shape of a simple composite, and it is the same five steps whether you are dropping a moon into a sky or a person into a landscape.

1. Open both files as layers. Put the background on the bottom and the element you are adding on top, in one document.

2. Select the element. Use Select Subject or the Object Selection tool to get a rough outline, then refine it. Select and Mask is where you sort out hair and soft edges.

3. Turn the selection into a layer mask rather than deleting anything. A mask is reversible: paint black on it to hide, white to reveal, and you can change your mind for as long as the file exists.

4. Match the two images. This is the part that decides whether anyone believes it. Check that the light falls from the same direction in both, that the camera height and perspective agree, that the scale is right, and that the colour and contrast sit together – a Curves or Colour Balance adjustment clipped to the top layer will get you most of the way.

5. Bed it in. Add a shadow where the element meets the ground, soften the mask edge by a pixel or two, and add a little noise to the pasted layer so its texture matches the background.

Get the light direction right and almost everything else is forgivable. Get it wrong and no amount of masking will save the picture.

What Composite Effects Can I Create?

Once you know how to Photoshop photos together then the possibilities are close to endless.

With the number of photos in the world, creating combinations – conceptual, surreal or photo realistic – means we’ll never run out of resources. It’s just our creativity we need to stimulate to begin a new project.

Here’s a little showcase of some of our favourite composites to give you a little inspiration. Check out our Pinterest board for more ideas.

How Can I Learn More About Photoshop Compositing?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you. iPhotography has its own compositing course where you can learn how to Photoshop photos together. We’ll give you the background on how to select the best shots (and where to find them for free).

Find out more about this course.

There’s great advice on how to cut out and merge your images as well as making those vital lighting and colour adjustments to bring the whole effect together.

For more, read our guide to combo photos.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is photo compositing?

Combining elements from two or more images into one seamless picture, adding a sky, a subject, or building a surreal scene. It is done with layers and masking in editing software.

How do I composite photos together?

Stack the images as layers, then use masking to reveal and hide parts of each, blending them into one. Match the light, perspective, colour and scale across the images so the result looks believable.

How do I make a composite look realistic?

Match lighting direction and quality, perspective, colour and scale across the combined images, add consistent shadows, and blend edges carefully with masks. Consistency is what sells a composite.

What do I need to composite photos?

A layer-based editor with masking (Photoshop is the standard, but free alternatives work too), and source images that match in light and perspective. The key skills are layers, masking and blending.

What can I create with compositing?

Sky replacements, adding or removing subjects, clone effects, surreal montages, and scenes impossible to capture in one frame. It is limited mainly by your imagination and blending skill.