How To Open images as layers in photoshop

[dave1496926426]

I have 8 pictures of my daughter running around the garden all taken from the same spot. I want to be able to open all 8 as layers and blend them together so that the picture shows 8 versions of her at different points in the garden. I have Photoshop CS5 full version.

[Simon H]

Hi Dave, I replied to your comment re opening images as layers, not sure if you saw it so have copied it here as well.

Select the images in Adobe bridge then on the menu bar select Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop layers. This loads them as layers of the same Photoshop file.

If you’re not familiar with bridge you can also do it directly from Photoshop by selecting File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack. This opens a dialog box to browse to the location of the images; you then just select them and click ok.

Re blending the images together.

1. Select all the layers then on the menu bar select Edit > Auto_Align Layers > Reposition. This usually does a decent job of aligning the images but you can manually align each layer later if necessary.
   
2. Turn off all the layers apart from the bottom two.
3. Select the second layer
4. Add a layer mask to the layer and press ctrl + I to invert the layer mask, this paints over the mask with black which hides everything on the layer.
5. Using a soft brush paint the area on and around where your daughter is with white so that she shows through. By using a soft brush you avoid a line caused by the variations in exposure between each layer.
6. Now turn the layer on and off repeatedly, this helps to show up any misalignment.
7. If the layer is misaligned press V and use the arrow keys to move the layer up down left or right one pixel at a time until the layer is aligned.
8. Once you are happy with the result turn on the next layer above and repeat from step 4

If you need any more help let me know.

[dave1496926426]

Hi Dave, I replied to your comment re opening images as layers, not sure if you saw it so have copied it here as well.

Select the images in Adobe bridge then on the menu bar select Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop layers. This loads them as layers of the same Photoshop file.

If you’re not familiar with bridge you can also do it directly from Photoshop by selecting File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack. This opens a dialog box to browse to the location of the images; you then just select them and click ok.

Re blending the images together.

1. Select all the layers then on the menu bar select Edit > Auto_Align Layers > Reposition. This usually does a decent job of aligning the images but you can manually align each layer later if necessary.

2. Turn off all the layers apart from the bottom two.
3. Select the second layer
4. Add a layer mask to the layer and press ctrl + I to invert the layer mask, this paints over the mask with black which hides everything on the layer.
5. Using a soft brush paint the area on and around where your daughter is with white so that she shows through. By using a soft brush you avoid a line caused by the variations in exposure between each layer.
6. Now turn the layer on and off repeatedly, this helps to show up any misalignment.
7. If the layer is misaligned press V and use the arrow keys to move the layer up down left or right one pixel at a time until the layer is aligned.
8. Once you are happy with the result turn on the next layer above and repeat from step 4

If you need any more help let me know.

 

Thanks Simon for the excellent tips