Photo manipulation exercise: make a composite image

Version 1.2

This exercise will give you practice manipulating layers of images to create an artificial photograph. You do not need to make it perfect--just practice the steps--but feel free to fine-tune your image to be more realistic if you have time.

Your goal is not to make an image that is obviously fake, like a meme. So do not combine cartoon characters and actual photos. Also, if you download images from the Internet, take care to ensure that they seem to be real as well, because starting with a fake will make your result also look fake.

❌🤖 You may not use AI for this task.

The following instructions apply to Photopea, a free browser-based editor that works like Photoshop, but you can achieve similar results with Photoshop, the GIMP, and other tools.

1. Choose a subject photo and a background photo from your own collection or the Internet. You'll crop the former and insert it into the latter.
2. Visit Photopea.com in any browser.

   ℹ️ The free version is complete and requires no account; it just shows ads in a sidebar. Choose File > New or drag in an image to dismiss the start screen.

   ⚠️ Use only the manual editing tools for this assignment. Do not use any AI features (such as Magic Replace or generative fill).

3. Open your background photo with File > Open.
4. Add your subject photo on top with File > Open & Place, which imports it as a new layer.
5. With the subject layer selected, choose Select > Subject, then Select > Inverse, and press Delete to remove the subject's background. If that doesn't work, try:
   1. Use the Quick Selection tool to select only the part of the foreground you want to keep.
   2. Right-click on the paintbrush icon at left to select Quick Selection.
   3. You can select add (+) or subtract (-) and adjust the size at top.
   4. For tricky edges, refine with the Eraser or a layer mask instead.
6. Once you're happy with the selection, Select > Inverse and Delete to isolate it.
7. Make sure that layer is selected at right, then Edit > Free Transform
8. Adjust the position, size, and rotation of your foreground image.
9. Press Enter to save this adjustment.
10. Drag layers in the Layers panel at right to change their stacking order if you like.
11. Select a layer to add effects or adjustments:
    • Start with Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation and adjust to match.
    • You can also try changing brightness/contrast, color balance, and sharliness (Filter > Sharpen) to match the two layers. Matching light direction and color temperature is what sells a composite.
    • By default the adjustment layer affects all layers below it, but you can clip it to only the layer immediately below by clicking the bent arrow in the Adjustment panel.

Export or screenshot the resulting image and post to #x-composite-image.