How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop (Part 1)

Sometimes designers have to create a collage from several photos. In Part 1 (of two) of this tutorial I would like to show you the technique of creating collages, by creating a gothic collage as an example.

Final Image Preview

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop

Resources

Step 1

Start by opening Cathedral Saint Julien du Mans photo.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 1

Step 2

To begin let´s remove the sky from this photo. Double click on the background layer in the layers palette to remove the lock. Now we are going to select blue sky. It can be easily done by using the Magic Wand Tool, as the sky is monotonous. Select the sky with Magic Wand Tool (Tolerance: 20). If you want to add to selection press Shift and click, if you want to subtract from selection press ALT and click. Use Lasso Tool or Polygonal Lasso Tool to select areas identified on photo below and add those to selection.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 2

Step 3

Press Delete button to clean the selected area.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 3

Step 4

Open Unique Sunset photo. Drag the photo on our main canvas and go to Edit > Transformer > Scale to scale it down.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 4

Step 5

Place the layer with the sky under the layer with the cathedral.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 5

Step 6

Although cathedral is the centre of composition, the mood of the whole picture is indeed made by the sky, so let´s try adding more contrast. Create a new layer above the layer with the sky. Select soft-edged brush, 400px in diameter, opacity 30% and colors: red (#cb1e00) and blue (7389f8). Then using the Brush Tool add these colors to the canvas carefully as show on image.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 6

Step 7

With layer selected change blending mode to Color.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 7

Step 8

Now change the layer opacity to 50%.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 8

Step 9

Open Dock To Nowhere photo. Cut out a fragment of sky by using the Polygonal Lasso Tool (Feather: 10px).

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 9

Step 10

Copy the selected area on the main canvas below the layer with the castle.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 10

Step 11

Transform this layer using Edit > Transform > Scale and move to the right a bit.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 11

Step 12

Then desaturate this layer using Image > Adjustments > Desaturate.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 12

Step 13

Adjust brightness and contrast using Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast with the following parameters:

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 13

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 14

Step 14

Now select the Eraser Tool and soft-edged brush and erase the empty area of the sky on the left.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 15

Step 15

Set Hard Light blending mode for this layer.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 16

Step 16

Then change layer opacity to 65%.

How to Make a Gothic Collage in Photoshop 17

Part 2

Part 2 of this tutorial has been published.

Follow Photoshop Star
If you want to receive updates from PhotoshopStar, please consider subscribing our RSS feed. You can also follow us on Twitter.

If you prefer, you can also subscribe to our monthly Newsletter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *