Expert: Glen Demers - 1/7/2009

Question
Hi Glen,

I used to use PhotoDeluxe and loved it, it did everything I needed. I can no longer use Photodeluxe because my new computer has Vista, and it is not compatible. How can I get those easy to do collages with one photo into another? a multi-image? Also, how can I delete backgrounds with a wand tool which follows the outside edges of an image and deletes it?

Thank you, Ken.

Answer
Hi Ken,

Photoshop is very flexible for making collages. Put every image on it's own layer and give it a descriptive name- this will help when you have many layers.
Use the magic wand to select outside your image if the background has a consistent color and once the selection is made just hit the delete key or use the extract filter which has many tools available for this. If you use the extract filter - do so on a copy of the layer and just hide the original in case you need it later.
There are many ways to blend images into each other with feathered selections, a big soft brush eraser or layer opacity.
Play around with this and feel free to ask if you get more specific questions regarding selections or transparency.

Hope this helps,
Glen Demers
Adobe Certified Expert, Photoshop 7
Prepress Technician, Best Printing Online
www.bestprintingonline.com

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