Adding Backgrounds

 

Now, this was fun. Really fun! 

And, no, I didn't wallpaper my house in a crazy decorating fit.  I added these fun backgrounds to, some otherwise, pretty boring photos of Brody using digital scrapbook paper and Photoshop. I saw this snazzy, little photo editing trick on Rebecca Cooper's fabulous blog and knew I had to try it.  It seemed a little complicated but after a couple attempts I'm feeling pretty good. Pretty, pretty good. 

Here it is in a nutshell:

1.  Find a photograph with a plain background.  I took this photo against my trusty "picture taking wall" in the family room.  No biggie.

2. Now, choose a piece of fabulous digital scrapbook paper.  (You could also photograph a regular piece of scrapbook paper and upload.  Just make sure you are standing directly above your paper when you photograph it so it doesn't come out all screwy.)

3. Next, crop your paper to the same size as your photograph and move it onto your photograph.  At this point, your photo should be hiding.

4. Next, find your Layers Box located on the far right of your Photoshop screen.  Click on the paper layer.  

5.  Now, adjust the Opacity to at least 50% or lower.  The Opacity is found at the very top of your Layers Box.  Not working:  Make sure you are clicked on the paper layer or it won't work.  As you lower the opacity, you should start to see your picture popping through.  I found that the lower the opacity, the easier it was to edit.

6.  Now, grab your Eraser Tool located on the far left.  It looks like a pink eraser.  Easy enough.

7.  Making sure you are on the paper layer, start to erase the paper.  I used a soft brush and changed the size and opacity based on where I was editing in the photo.  (Once I'm satisfied, I usually flatten my image too.)

8.  Done!!!!!!!!!  How happy are you right now? 

P.S.  I'm trying to ignore the fact that Brody looks like a total ginger in all of the pictures so don't mention it.