Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

Auto-Blending Layers

The Auto-Blend Layers command was designed to be used after the Auto-Align Layers command. It helps you blend images for a panorama or collage, or combine multiple exposures of the same image to create an extended depth of field so more of an object looks like it’s in focus (though you can also use it for special effects like the ballerina pictured in this section). When you use this command, Photoshop creates complex layer masks to blend your images together, saving you a lot of masking time.

To get the best results, run the Auto-Align Layers command as explained on Auto-Aligning Layers and Photomerge, and then choose Edit→Auto-Blend Layers. In the resulting dialog box (Figure 7-22, left), choose a blending option:

• Panorama. Pick this option to have Photoshop search for overlapping areas in your images so it can piece them together into a single image.

• Stack Images. If you’ve fired off several shots of an object with different parts of it in focus (known as different depths of field) and you want to combine them into a single shot where the whole object is in focus, pick this option. Let’s say you took a photo of a tiger—with a long zoom lens, of course—that was stretched out lengthwise and facing you. If one photo has the tiger’s head in focus, another has the middle of his body in focus, and a third has his tail in focus, you can choose Stack Images to make Photoshop combine the three photos into a single shot with the whole cat in focus.

  Tip

  You can also use ...