Transparent backgrounds

Hi People

I am new to P-P X6, and am trying to combine two images. the main image is a standard photo, which i want to overlay with a photo i have of smoke taken against a black background, with the end result being just the smoke overlaid on the original photo- how do I do this?

Any assist would be great!

  • If you had something more substantial, like a flag on a flagpole, I would suggest using photopaint's cutout lab to remove the background. Then you would be able to place it in front of your photo.

    Smoke sounds much more difficult to me. It does not have clearly defined edges, so I think the cutout lab will struggle at finding any edges to cut out. But maybe try it (and try using the cutout lab on something more solid first, if you're not already familiar with it). You might be able to apply feathering to the cutout but I think it is going to take some extra work.

     

  • Smoke is a little different to work with as Harry noted. Smoke isn't a solid object, it has varying degrees of transparency. So that's how you work the image.

    I don't have X6, but this is how I created my quick and dirty example in X5.

    Start work in Draw, because it has more transparency options (in X5 anyway). Import the two images and put the smoke image on top. Apply transparency to it, and change the transparency mode. My smoke had a white background, so I used subtract mode. This made the white background disappear, and just left the smoke, with the dragon visible through it. Check where it crosses the body.  You can adjust the appearance of the smoke till you're happy with it.

    Select all the objects and "convert to bitmap." This will combine them. Then choose "edit bitmap" and it will open in PhotoPaint as one image. You can edit further from there.

    Like I said, X6 may have more native transparency options in PP, but starting in Draw works for the rest of us. Wink

    • Wit the smoke layer on top, you could try changing the blend mode to Screen which will drop out the dark areas.

      • Hi,
        I'm not sure what you are after.
        In any case I overlay clouds or fog on an image by putting them on a
        layer above the image. I switch the merge mode to OVERLAY. Then vary the
        opacity to taste. For a harsher effect I use hard Light. For a softer
        effect, I use Soft Light. Sometimes, I use Curves on the clouds layer.
        Phil

        "markyg" wrote in message news:209478@coreldraw.com...



        Hi People

        I am new to P-P X6, and am trying to combine two images. the main image is a
        standard photo, which i want to overlay with a photo i have of smoke taken
        against a black background, with the end result being just the smoke
        overlaid on the original photo- how do I do this?

        Any assist would be great!



        http://community.coreldraw.com/forums/p/43878/209478.aspx#209478
        • Hi,
          Again, I'm not sure what it is that you want to do. If it's smoke
          stacks, then this is what I do.
          1. Make a collection of smoke stacks.
          2. Open the one that you want in PhotoPaint.
          3. Select the smoke (it's usually steam) using the Brush Mask or Freehand
          Mask. Keep trimming until you get the smoke plus a little more.
          4. Open Mask > Paint on Mask. Follow with Effects > Blur > Gaussian Blur.
          Blur to taste, Alternatively use Mask > Feather.
          5. I prefer these methods but the one that is usually recommended is:
          -- Convert the contents of the mask to a layer (aka object).
          -- Feather the layer (object)
          6. (5.) has the advantage that you see the effects on the image. However,
          I like the results of blurring better than feathering.
          Attached are images of smoke stacks. The one on the right is a
          composite of a smoke stack taken from another photo plus the back of a
          train.
          Professional graphics people will instantly recognize what you have
          done. Friends and family will think that you are an artistic genius.
          Phil