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JL, 23 May 2008 Layers
Another question that gets asked alot is how to make photo collages. The simplest way I've already explained at Photo Collage, using FastStone Viewer. But I'll show you a different way using a photo editor. I'll use Paint.Net because it's free so anybody who doesn't have an editor can go get it. The first thing you should do is gather together the pictures you want in your collage. It's easier if you copy them all into a folder somewhere and then open them all at once into the software. For the demonstration, I'll make this simpler by using only 3 pictures. The pictures will line themselves up in a 'photo bin' in the upper right corner of the program.  One
of the pictures may be your background. Otherwise go to
File/New
and define a size for a blank 'page'. You can fill this page
with
color or a gradient as you please. All your other pictures
will
be layered on top. Some of the language is similar to text;
select, cut, copy, paste. Select All is Ctrl+A.
Deselect is
Ctrl+D. So if you get lost, just revert to that way
of thinking.
In the Tools bar, on the left side, there are 3 selection options; rectangle, lasso and ellipse. If you don't want any of these just Select the whole picture. (Ctrl+A)   All
I have to do now is click either Cut or Copy. Then click on
my background picture in the photo bin and click Edit/Paste in to New
Layer. Choose
this option instead of straight Paste so you keep your layers separate.
 While
the flower is still highlighted I can drag the handles to make it
smaller. If I hold down the Shift key and drag one of the
corner
points, I can change the size without disturbing the proportions.
Then I can pick it up and move it wherever I want.
Another
thing I can do is apply an Effect to it or make other Adjustments.
 Notice also, over on the right side is a box called History. This keeps track of every move you make so to undo your history, just go back and click on the last move you liked. It will wipe out everything you did after that. You're not committed to anything yet.  In the meantime, down below that box is another one called Layers. This will show you the layers you're creating, and also gives you the ability to work on one at a time. Until you Flatten the image, all the layers are still separate and can be worked on separately.  The
tick marks on the right refer to Visibility. If you only want
to
see one layer at a time you can untick the others. At the
bottom
of this box are arrows for moving the
layers. If you would rather have one layer ahead or behind
another one you can change the order. For instance:
 If
you want to add a new layer for text or anything else, Deselect
(Ctrl+D) everything on the screen and then click
Layer/Add New Layer. There's alot of tools at your disposal,
so just jump in and have fun. The nice thing about graphics
software is that while you can make an unattractive
mess, you can't
really make a mistake.
 You can add other effects as well
as frames, but these are the
basics. Presumably, you'll be using pictures of ancestors,
not flowers, but you get the drift.
When
I'm ready to finish my collage I always save it in its layered state so
I can come back later and make changes if I want to. In
Paint.Net it will save
in its native format which is .pdn. Then I will also (as if
I'm
finished) click Image/Flatten which brings all the
layers down into
one, and save it again in a usable format, jpg or tiff.
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