Different Ways to Combine / Blend Images in Photoshop

In today’s tutorial, you will learn to Blend Images in Photoshop. In the previous Photoshop Tutorial, you have learned about different Blending Modes in Photoshop, and in this tutorial, you will see how you can combine two images in Photoshop and blend layers in Photoshop in different ways.

Sometimes, while working on any graphic design project, you might need to create something creative with two images. This can be done by blending images in Photoshop. I will show you 3 easy ways to Blend Images in Photoshop.

Blend Images Using Layer Opacity Option

In the first method, you will learn how you can Blend Images in Photoshop using the Layer Opacity Option. The Layer Opacity Option is available in the Layers Panel. Now follow the below-mentioned steps:

Step 1

Launch Adobe Photoshop and open two different image documents in it.

I have chosen these two images; i.e.; a Nature View Image and a Girl Image, as an example.

Step 2

With the help of the Move Tool, select one image and move it and place it on another image.

You can see in the above image that I have moved the Girl image from its document and placed it on top of the Nature View image. In the Layers Panel, you can see that the Nature View image is the background layer and the Girl image is the top layer.

Step 3

In this step, we will Blend the Images by reducing the Opacity of the top layer.

In the Layers Panel, select the image layer, which is at the top, and then click on the Layer Opacity Option. The Layer Opacity Option is at the top-right corner of the Layers Panel. Now reduce the Opacity of the top layer to Blend Images in Photoshop. You can move the slider to increase and decrease the Opacity. If required, you can also adjust the interior opacity of the top layer by moving the slider to set the Fill percentage.

In the above image, I have reduced the Opacity and Fill, of the selected top layer, to create a blending effect. This is how you can Blend Images in Photoshop by using the Layer Opacity Option.

Blend Images Using Blending Mode

In the second method to Blend/Combine Images in Photoshop, we use the Blending Modes for making a creative blending effect. The initial process of this method is the same as that of the Layer Opacity Option Method. You need to have a Photoshop Document with two images, i.e., a background image and an image layer.

After opening a Photoshop Document and placing the two images on it, follow the below steps to learn to Blend Images Using Blending Modes.

Step 1

Select the top layer in the Layers Panel. Then you will notice, at the top left side of the Layers Panel, the Normal Blending Mode, by default, being active for the selected layer. Now click on the drop-down icon next to the Normal, a list of all the Blending Mode will appear. You can now select a blending mode that gives you the desired blending effect.

Blend Images Using a Layer Mask

This is the third way to Blend Images in Photoshop. We will be blending images using Layer Mask in this method. For this, open two images in the Photoshop Document. The Layers Panel will have a background layer and an image layer.

Now follow the below steps to learn to Blend Images Using a Layer Mask.

Step 1

Select the top layer and then click on the Add Layer Mask icon, which is at the bottom of the Layers Panel. By clicking on the icon, you will add a Layer Mask in the top layer of the Layers Panel.

Step 2

Make sure the Layer Mask is selected and then select the Gradient Tool from the Tool Panel.

After selecting the Gradient Tool, select the type of gradient from the Options Bar. If you want to edit the gradient then double-click on the gradient color in the Options Bar. On double-clicking the gradient color, the Gradient Editor dialogue box will appear on the artboard.

Step 3

After selecting the Black and White Gradient Color and Type of Gradient, drag the gradient slider on the image. While dragging the slider remember the black color will hide the part of the image and the white color will reveal.

This is how you can Blend Images in Photoshop using a Layer Mask.

These were the 3 easy ways of blending two images in Photoshop. Practice this Photoshop Tutorial and Blend Images in Photoshop using any of these three ways.

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