Creating a Montage

Step Two: Blend the Background Images

Select image B again, then click Show or hide Mask Mode on the Tool Panel. This will show image B in the foreground and image A, which is underneath it, hidden behind a white mask. Note that image C will not be affected by the mask because it is in front of the selected object (image B).

Select the Linear Gradient Fill Tool on the Tool Panel, then select black and white as the gradient colors. Applying a black to white gradient to the selected image in mask mode makes it smoothly fade out and blend seamlessly with the neighboring image.

To apply the gradient, drag your mouse from the left edge of the visible image to the middle of it as shown by the yellow arrow below.

Select Show or hide Mask Mode again to see the results.

Select image C this time, then click Show or hide Mask Mode. Select the Linear Gradient Fill Tool on the Tool Panel similar to the previous instructions, but this time, set Merge mode to Difference. Refer to the image below for this step, and follow the yellow arrow below for the direction of the gradient fill.

Notice that we applied the gradient in a different direction this time. Try experimenting with the different Merge modes to see how they can be applied. The merged background will look like the image below.

In this step we will be working with images D, E, and F and using the Smart lasso to select more objects that we want to place on the montage.

First, open image E. Here, the clown will be extracted from the image using the Smart lasso then pasted onto the background. Click the Selection Tool in the Tool Panel then select the Lasso Tool. Make sure the Smart lasso checkbox on the Attribute Toolbar is selected.