Combining Pictures
using Arithmetic

PSP9

updated for psp9

*NOTE*

Sometimes the links for filters change, it's difficult (and a lot of work) to
keep changing them on individual pages, so I have created a page with
links to filters and programs that I have used in my tutorials.
That way it is easier for me, because when there are changes I will
only have one page to update and hopefully better for you, because I'm
less likely to miss a page out when doing the updates :)

You will find links to filters/programs used in this tutorial Here
the link will open in a new window

Filters and programs used in this tutorial :-
Paint Shop Pro

Materials :- OPTIONAL
My sg_startile texture preset and bmp Here
There is a text file included in the zip, if you don't know where to place the items.

some images have been made smaller to shorten file size

Step 1.
The images that I have used in this
tutorial are from freefoto.com

I liked the way these two images worked together,
you can use different picture combinations, some
look better than others and a lot you'll put straight
in the wastebin LOL, but it's fun to experiment and
occasionally a great pairing will turn up.

I have resized the images for my screenshots, but
there is a link below each image, which will take
you to the page at freefoto.com where you can download
the full size versions of the photos that I used.

When you locate picture you want, click on the
image to bring up the full size picture, then
right click and save as...into the folder you
are using for your current work.

The poppies picture ref. is 15_5_3_web and
is the third from the left in the top row.
There are several similar landscape scenes.
The one I used is ref. 16-01-55-misty morning.

The photos haven't got a descriptive name, but
are named with a series of numbers, so it will make
the next step easier if we use the browser to rename
the images more descriptively before we open them.

Go to File...Browse...(ctrl+B)
In the dialogue box open the folder where you saved
the photos. Here is my screenshot
The names may be different as freefoto.com have
renamed some of the images.

Click on the thumbnail of the image
you want to rename, then go to
ImageFile....Rename...(ctrl+R)
Type the new name into the Rename File dialogue box,
you need to include the file extention (eg .jpg),
because the browser doesn't do this automatically.
I named mine poppies.jpg and misty-morning.jpg

Step 2.
Now open your two images in psp.
Go to Image...Arithmetic...
The size and shape will be the same as the image
that you put into the image #1 box, if the image
placed in the image #2 box is a different size it
will be distorted to fit.

We want the poppies.jpg in the image #1 box and
the misty-morning.jpg in the image #2 box.
You can select them from the drop down lists if
you need to. This was why we renamed them before
starting ;-) It's much easier than trying to
remember which number goes with each picture,
especially if you're experimenting with different
combinations and have several images open at the
same time. These are the settings that I used.

Feel free to experiment with the settings.
If you are using different images these ones
may not work so well. If you untick the all
channels box you will get a greyscale image.

When you click 'ok' a new image will be
made combining your two pictures.

Because the shape of the 'misty morning' picture
has been changed to that of the 'poppies', the
tree looks much wider than the original image,
but I thought that in this case it worked well.

The two photos that you used to make your new image
are not needed any longer, so you can close them.

Save your new image, but don't close it yet.

Step 3.
Next we will make the frame.
You can use any colours that you want for
this, but I selected two colours from my
image using the 'Eye Dropper' tool.
Right click in the image, on the colour
you want for the background and left
click for the foreground colour.
My foreground colour is #E65126
and background colour is #939764

Make your foreground style gradient fill, click on
the styles box and in the dialogue box choose
linear gradient angle=0, repeats=0,
click on the little arrow next to the
window and from the drop down list choose
#1 Foreground-Background.
Make the background style transparent

Activate the 'Preset Shapes' tool and from the drop
down list choose 'Starburst3' with these settings

Line Width=10
Antialias=ticked
Create as vector=ticked

Draw a starburst shape on your picture (as this is
a vector it will be on it's own vector layer) use
the handles on the vector box to stretch the shape
to make a frame around the central part of the
picture. The area ouside the starburst shape will
be partially covered by the frame.

When you have stretched it to the size you want,
go to Objects...Align...Centre in Canvas...
Go to Layers...Convert to Raster...
This is my screenshot

Step 4.
We are going to cut the shape from this
image and paste it on a new one, so go to
Edit...Cut...(ctrl+X)
Go to Image...Information...
and check the dimensions of your image, if you
have used the same pictures as I did they will
be 600 x 400 pixels. Minimise your image so
that it is out of the way and open a new
transparent image with the same dimensions.

Go to Edit...Paste...Paste as New Layer (ctrl+L)
You should have a transparent image with
the starburst shape in the centre
Go to Effects...3D Effects...Inner Bevel...
Use these settings

Step 5.
With the magic wand
Mode=replace
Match Mode=RGB Value
Tolerance=0
Sample Merged=unticked
Contiguous=ticked
Feather=0
Antialias=ticked
outside
Click on the area outside the starburst
Go to Selections...Invert...
Selections...Modify...Contract...
Contract the selection by 1 pixel, then
Go to Selections...Invert...
Add a new layer.
Go to layers...Arrange...move Down...
Flood fill the selection with your gradient.
De-select.

Go to Effects...Texture Effects...Texture...
Click on the presets window at the top of the
dialogue box and choose the sg_startile texture
from the dropdown list. You can choose an alternate
texture, or no texture at all, if you prefer. My example
at the end of the tutorial has no texture added.

I saved the frame as 'poppyframe'
in case I wanted to use it again.

Step 6.
If you want to you can just copy the frame (Ctrl+c)
and paste as a new layer on to your picture, but
for this tutorial I'm going to use 'Arithmetic'
again to mix our frame with our picture

Go to Image...Arithmetic...
As both images are the same size, it
doesn't matter which is image #1
In the 'Function' section I changed to
'And', the other settings I kept the
same as we used before

Step 7.
Go to Selections...Select all...(ctrl+A)
Selections...Modify...Contract...
contract the selection by 10, then go to
Selections...Invert...(shift+ctrl+I)
Flood fill with the same gradient used earlier
Apply an Inner Bevel using the the same settings as before.
De-select.

Here is another example using different
pictures, starburst 2 for the preset shape
and no texture on the frame.

These are the images I used for this picture
They are also from freefoto.com and there is
a link to the page I found them below each picture.
the sunrise ref number is ref. 15-30-20-sunrise at the
far right in the fifth row and the spider's web
is ref. 01_17_3 third from the left.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.
I would like to give a big thankyou my testers

To see my other tutorials click Here

If you wish to contact me you can find an email address to use included on my Site Map