Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create a photo montage of multiple shots from a single image.
This is an update of a tutorial I did quite a while ago on an earlier version of Photoshop.
Before we begin, if you're not already a subscriber to my channel, click that small Subscribe
button at the lower, right corner to let you know as soon as I upload new Photoshop tutorials.
Open a photo you'd like to use for this project.
I downloaded this one from Shutterstock.
The first step is to convert it into a Smart Object, so we can modify it non-destructively.
To do this, click the icon at the upper, right of the Layers panel and click, "Convert to Smart Object".
For now, I'll make 8 copies of it, since I'm going to make 7 or 8 separate, smaller photos from the large photo.
You can always delete any extra copies later.
Press Ctrl or Cmd + J for each copy.
Scroll to the bottom.
We want to hide all the layers in the Layers panel except the bottom layer.
To do this, Alt-click or Option-click the eyeball icon next to the bottom layer.
Make the bottom layer active.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Black & White".
Next, we'll create a Polaroid-style photo template that we'll for each of our photos in the montage.
Click the New Layer icon to make a new layer.
Open the Rectangular Marquee Tool and press and hold Alt as you drag the tool out.
Add the Shift key as you drag it to confine it to a square shape.
Check your foreground and background colors.
If they're not black and white respectively, press the "D" key on your keyboard.
Fill the selection with black by pressing Alt or Option + Delete.
Go to Select and "Transform Selection".
Go to a corner and when you see a diagonal, double-arrow, press and hold Alt or Option
+ Shift as you drag it out approximately this much.
If you're using CC 2019 or later, just press Alt or Option as you drag it out.
Go to the bottom, middle anchor point and drag it down approximately this much.
If you're using CC 2019, press the Shift as you down it down.
Then, press Enter or Return.
We’ll make a new layer below the active layer by Ctrl-clicking or Cmd-clicking the New Layer icon.
In this empty layer, we'll fill the selection with white and since white is our background color,
press Ctrl or Cmd + Delete.
Deselect it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + D. Click the "fx" icon and click "Drop Shadow".
The Blend Mode is "Linear Burn", the color is black and the Opacity is 10%.
Global Light is checked and the Angle is 135 degrees.
The Distance is 30 pixels, the Spread is 0% and the Size is 12 pixels.
Click "Bevel & Emboss".
The Style is Inner Bevel and the Technique is Chisel Soft.
The Depth is 100%, the Direction is Up, the Size is 2 pixels and the Soften is 0.
Global Light is checked, the Angle is 135 degrees and the Altitude is 30 degrees.
The Highlight Mode is irrelevant, since its Opacity is 0%.
The Shadow Mode is Multiply, the color is black and its Opacity is 20%.
To save space in the Layers panel, let's collapse the effects.
Next, we'll reposition and angle our small photo.
Shift-click the black shape to make it active, as well, and reduce their opacities, so we
can see the photo under it.
Open your Transform Tool by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T.
Drag it to a section of the photo that you want to be part of your montage.
Go to a corner and when you see a curved, double-arrow, rotate to an angle you like.
Finesse its position and to accept it, press Enter or Return.
Increase its opacity back to 100%.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the black shape to make a selection of it.
Make the image above it visible and active.
Click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask of the selection.
Since we have the shape as a layer mask, we can delete the layer with that shape in it
by making it active and either clicking the "Delete" key or, on earlier versions of Photoshop,
by dragging it to the Trash.
We'll place these two layers that comprise our small photo into a folder by Shift-clicking
the layer above the white shape and pressing Ctrl or Cmd + G.
Drag the folder to the top of the Layers panel.
Make a copy of the folder.
Make the original folder active and reduce its opacity.
Press "v" to open your Move Tool and make sure the "Auto-Select" icon is unchecked.
Drag the copy to another location.
Open your Transform Tool and drag the Transform's Register Point to the center of the transparent photo.
Rotate the photo to an angle you like and finesse its position.
Increase its Opacity back to 100% and open the active folder.
Drag the layer mask next to the photo under the white shape.
Make the angled image above the white shape active and delete it.
Make the image with the layer mask visible and drag the layer above the white shape.
Close the folder and make a copy of it.
Make the bottom folder active and reduce its opacity.
Drag it to another location, open your Transform Tool and rotate and position it.
Increase its opacity back to 100% and open the active folder.
Drag the layer mask next to the photo under the white shape.
Make the angled photo active and delete it.
Make the photo with the layer mask visible and drag it above the white shape.
Close the folder and continue to follow these steps to create the rest of your montage.
If you'd like to bring some photos to the front of others - no problem.
Just drag those folders above the others that you’d like to place in front of.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!