Introduction to Compositing: Creating Your First Composite Portrait

Creating the Composite in Photoshop

Here’s where it all really starts to come together. In this section, we’ll jump into Photoshop to mask the subject, refine our edges, and address some details. Then we’ll position and resize our subject in the background. Finally, we’ll work on the sky and clouds to bring it all together.

All Masks Start with a Selection

The biggest part of this entire composite project is masking your subject in Photoshop. Over the years, there have been many tutorials on the best way to approach this. The most straightforward, “elbow grease” method is to use paths to cut out your subject. However, this is also the most time-consuming, and it doesn’t work well for masking complexities such as hair.

Fortunately, Photoshop (since ...