BRIEF
Create a digital photomontage composition using three components: a randomly assigned postcard (base image), an image selected from the collage materials provided, and an area of solid color. (Email me if you missed the class when we chose the postcards.) Assemble your composition in Photoshop, and post the finished piece to OpenLab and submit for grading via Blackboard.
PROCESS
STEP 1: BASE IMAGE AND ANALYSIS
- Select a postcard at random from the collection provided.
- Make rough thumbnail sketches outlining the basic geometric composition of your base image. This analysis will help you in the next step.
STEP 2: SELECT SECOND IMAGE
- Browse through the provided materials to find a second image to layer with your postcard. You will be combining these digitally, so you don’t have to worry about sizing – you can scale the second image up or down in Photoshop.
STEP 3: SCAN AND SAVE YOUR IMAGES
- Scan your postcard and selected image. Scan at 600ppi or higher and save in TIFF format – you can save time by scanning both together if they fit on the scanner bed.
- Don’t forget your scanned files! Once you scan your imagery, make sure to take the files with you, either by uploading them to cloud storage or copying them to a portable hard drive.
STEP 4: ASSEMBLY
- Create a new Photoshop document: 6” x 9” at 300ppi (1800 x 2700 pixels). Use the same orientation (portrait or landscape) as your postcard base image.
- Place the scanned postcard image into your new document (File -> Place Embedded). Scale it just large enough to fill the frame; avoid cropping out any more of the original than necessary.
- Place the scanned secondary image into your new document (File -> Place Embedded).
- Create a solid color fill layer (Layer -> New Fill Layer -> Solid Color). Turn off visibility on this layer for now by clicking on the eyeball icon to the left of its thumbnail in the layers panel. The advantage of using a solid color fill layer is you can easily change the color it uses by double-clicking the color thumbnail in the layers panel.
- Use the selection tools to isolate the part(s) your secondary image you want to show, then apply that selection as a layer mask (Layer -> Layer Mask -> Reveal Selection). Remember, you can keep editing layer masks by selecting the mask in the layers panel and using the brush tool; painting white makes hidden areas visible, and black hides visible areas.
- Repeat the previous process for your solid color layer. You will need to delete its original (empty) layer mask first (Layer -> Layer Mask -> Delete).
- Revise and refine your layer masks using the brush tool (see step 10).
STEP 5: TURNING IN
- When your composition is complete, save as a PNG (File -> Export -> Quick Export as PNG).
- Post your finished PNG to OpenLab (Category: Three-Part Harmony) and submit via Blackboard for grading.
