Creating a subtle yet interesting background

SG
Posted By
Stephen_Gilkes
Jan 19, 2004
Views
465
Replies
3
Status
Closed
I have "cut-out" from another photo, a picture of a cat and a dog. I want to now overlay this cut-out onto a new background that has a subtle texture/feel to it.

I have thought about just having the image of the cat and dog on a white background (this might look a little false) but I would like to try some kind of background colour first.

I want the picture to look like its been shot against a light colour background (perhaps a subtle orange). So I guess I need to introduce some very subtle light/shadow and light reflection differences. I think.

As you can see I think subtle is the watchword here!

Any help would be great!

Thanks
Related Tags
background create

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

CK
Christine_Krof_Shock
Jan 19, 2004

1.Take one of the wet media brushes, set it’s spacing rather far apart, set opacity to 30-40% flow 30-40%. Set layer blend mode to hard light, multipy or screen. Use the brush to dab light paint on the background. Change colors for subtle blends. Can give you that "portrait" background canvas feel.

or

2. Fill background layer with color Edit>Fill>Foreground Color. Go to Filter>Texture>Texturizer and choose from the presets (Canvas, Sandstone, Burlap, etc.)

3. Take background photo and drag it in as a layer. Go to Filter>Blur>Lens Blur and softly blur background…nice depth of field effects can be achieved with this one.

Also you may want to defringe Layer>Matting>Defringe your cutout to remove any background that was left behind, if matting doesn’t work try a layer mask with a very small, very soft brush to brush out the matting pixels.
SG
Stephen_Gilkes
Jan 19, 2004
Thank you Christine!
BO
Burton_Ogden
Jan 19, 2004
Stephen,

I use a variation of Christine’s method #3. I put a copy of the cutout itself on a layer so I can enlarge the cutout to fill the visible background. Then I apply a lot of blur to it (I usually use Gaussian Blur) to make the features unrecognizable and while it is on a layer I can move it around for composition. When I like the composition I flatten it and apply the cutout. The defringing step is necessary, and is part of the recommended procedure for using a cutout from Corel’s KnockOut in Photoshop. Many of my cutouts (knockouts) come from Corel’s KnockOut.

The reason for making the background out of the cutout itself is to have a completely harmonious color scheme. If most, if not all, of the colors in the background also appear somewhere in the cutout itself, or are mixed from colors in the cutout, the resulting composition appears to be more of a consistent whole and the background does not "compete" with the cutout, or clash with it. Also, the composition is more "believable".

— Burton —

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

– in 4 materials (clay versions included)

– 12 scenes

– 48 MacBook Pro 16″ mockups

– 6000 x 4500 px

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections