Layering in Photoshop

Combining Images

Use a couple of images. One will be the main image of a persons face for example. The other can be of some textural surface or texture. Turn the texture image that will go on the top into a high-contrast monochrome image. I did this by Going to Menu item Image - Adjustments - Hue/Saturation. I took the saturation to zero and bumped up the lightness a fair bit. Then go Image - Adjustments - Curves and pulled the curve down until i got the desired level of high contrast.

On the texture image, hit Control + A to select all and copy(Control+C). Then click on the other image and paste. You will get the textured image on the second layer on top of the main image. With the texture layer selected pick menu item Layer - Layer Style - Blending Options. Use the Multiply Blend Mode.

Merge the two layers together and then add another layer. With that layer selected fill with a red colour and in the Blending Mode select Soft Light. I set the Opacity of this layer to about 70 percent. Create another layer and fill this layer with yellow. Set the Blend Mode for this layer to Multiply.

Think about the digital process and make sure that the photos that you are using are the best quality that you can manage. Shoot the subjects against a white background so that later you can blend in another image or cut out the subject or model later. Make sure the lighting is similar for photos that you may want to montage in Photoshop post-processing.