Hi Lindsay,
We did an old tip in our newsletter that relates to this actually. I'll paste it below for you.
You can subscribe to our newsletter which is full of great exclusive stuff like this at:
http://www.elated.com/newsletter/Simon
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Breaking a photo out of its frame.
It's hard to describe this one, so I'll show you what I mean. Have a look here:
www.elated.com/grabs/photo_over_frame/leaf_cutout_400.jpgThe Photoshop file is here:
www.elated.com/grabs/photo_over_frame/leaf_cutout_400.psdAs you can see, this technique allows you to take an element of a photo and seemingly break it out over the edge of the frame. This is a slick look that can really bring photos to life and add impact to a page.
So how's it done? Well the first thing to bear in mind is that we're working from a single photo. The top "leaf" element is simply part of the original photo, not an add-on.
The basic workflow is to isolate the element you want to "break out", then put that on a new layer. When you've done that, you can slip a frame in underneath, but above the original photo.
Step One: Cut out your top element.
There are many ways to select elements in Photoshop. In my example I simply used the Magic Wand tool to select the areas outside the leaf, then inverted the selection. For more on selections, try our tutorial at:
http://www.elated.com/tutorials/graphics/photoshop/selecting/I selected the whole leaf rather than just the small area outside the frame, since I wasn't sure exactly where the frame would come - it gave me more flexibility.
When you have your selection, copy and paste it into a new layer above.
Step 2: Add your frame.
Create a frame by filling a new layer between our original photo and our cutout with white. Using the marquee tool, draw out the area you want the photo to show through. Press backspace to clear that area. You should now have a hole with the photo showing through and the cutout resting over the top.
Step 3: Add a drop-shadow.
To really bring your cutout out of the scene, add a drop shadow. I found that the best way to achieve this was to copy the area of the cutout that overhangs the frame and paste that into a new layer, below the original cutout. You can then apply the drop shadow to that using Blending Modes.
The reason for this, rather than using the full area of the cutout for the drop shadow is that I wanted it showing only outside the photo, so that existing shadows within the photo where untouched. Also, if you don't have the full coverage of the top layer the drop shadow shows as it hits the photo. Turn off the top layer "leaf" in my example and you'll see what I mean!
I found that when I saw my cutout against the white of the frame I hadn't made a great job of the selection process, and needed to get rid of a little edge of darker pixels. To do this, I highlighted the "leaf" layer and used Layer>Matting>Defringe. Using the blending modes for the drop shadow meant that as I did this the shadow was updated in real time.
Some photos will lend themselves to this technique more than others, and you will need to make sure the compositions are going to work for whatever project you're applying the technique to. The final result, though, is a nice, dynamic twist on a basic photo, and the the hardest bit is really the initial cutting out!
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