Easy peasy lemon squeezy layering

After waxing lyrical about the overlay function on PicMonkey earlier, I decided to go one further and do a basic tutorial.

It really is easy peasy lemon squeezy ;)

I chose a photo of my mum from her modelling days in the late 50s & a photo that I took in Eastbourne last year.

As they both have a neutral & uncluttered background they are easier to blend together.

I also used a plain white base image to layer the pics on but you don't have to, I just like doing it this way cause it offers more scope of movement.

So here's my little tutorial...

Find two images that you want to merge together and a plain white base image  if  you want. 

Go on to PicMonkey and click the 'Edit a Photo' option. I chose to work on a white base image but you can just open one of your photos instead.

Now I have opened my base image and I want to add my two pics onto it. I do that by going to the 'Overlays'  tool, fifth icon from the top on the left hand side of your screen and click the 'Your Own' option at the top.

Here I've added my two pics to my base image and now I can start  having some fun with them. 

In order to really blend the two images together, the best course of action is to  tweak around with the  fade slider and the blend modes. There is also a handy eraser tool.

Lined up and blended to my liking. With some images it is quite difficult to completely get rid of the seams where the two images overlap.

Now I want to crop the layered image , so I click the top icon, then simply adjust & apply.

If you want to add more effects to the image, you can do so by clicking on the second icon from the top to access some awesome  stuff. Not all of the effects will be suitable for your new image cause they make the overlap seams show up again...play around with it :)
You can also add a frame to your image by clicking the sixth icon from the top to access frames. 

As a final touch you can also add some text by clicking the 'P' icon to access loads of cool fonts. 

When you are happy, save your masterpiece by clicking the 'Save ' button above your image and save photo.

All done, now you can make someones day by posting your good work onto their FB page or sending it to them in an e-mail ;)

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Praise PicMonkey

I'm sure most you clever cookies already know about PicMonkey but just in case there is still someone out there unaware of its awesomeness, I thought I'd better do a quick blog about it.

I've been using the same antiquated photo editing software that came with our very first scanner for years; I'm actually too embarrassed to tell you how many, it's that long.

I just got used to it (read:LAZY) and thought that learning anything new would be a complete hassle, so I didn't.

I was always admiring photos on other peoples blogs, convinced that they had all been edited by Photoshop wizards using mega expensive software.

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon PicMonkey which is a partly free photo editing website.

The service is a so-called 'freemium' with a whole bunch of ad-supported features that you can use to your hearts content at no cost and some premium features that you can only access though paying a monthly membership.

So far I have only used the free stuff but I have to say that I am very impressed with how the pictures are coming out and needless to say my old editing software has finally been retired....and there was much rejoicing!

I have been playing around with it for the past few days and my favourite feature is the 'Overlay' cause you can add your own.

So now I can finally create those dreamy layered pics that I've been hankering over.

It's pretty straightforward, even I (a complete cave dweller when it comes to stuff like this) was able to get a handle on it after a few hours.

So if you haven't used it before, pop over and have a play around, I'm sure you won't regret it.

Just in case you are wondering, PicMonkey did not give me a bagful of cash to sing their praises (if only), I genuinely want to spread the word about this service cause it ROCKS & a lot of it is FREE which in my book makes it even better!

Are you using PicMonkey already, if so for how long have you been using it and would you recommend paying the monthly $4.99 for the Royale membership?

One of my layered images ;)

HAPPY FRIDAY everybody, I can almost smell the weekend ;)

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx