Paint Shop Pro Tutorial: Image Mask Blending

Paint Shop Pro is a very powerful image editing software package that uses image masks to protect the image while you change some aspects about it. Image mask blending can be used to seamlessly stitch 2 photos together.

Step 1 - Opening Both the Images

Open the program by either double clicking the shortcut on the desktop or clicking the application in the Start menu. Locate both of your images by clicking File and then Browse. Once you find the right image, double click it to open it. Repeat this process to open the second image into Paint Shop Pro.

Step 2 - Corrections

If there are any imperfections in the photo, use the scratch remover to fix them. The scratch removal is a fantastic tool to remove blemishes from peoples faces. Use the auto adjust functions in Paint Shop Pro to improve the look of the actual image. Also try to make sure that the background is as big if not bigger than the object you're blending into the image. If it is too big then consider resizing the foreground or cropping the image.

Step 3 - Selecting the Foreground Image

Select the image which is going to be placed in front of the background. Click on this to select it and then press Control + A to select everything. Then you need to press Control + C to copy the foreground image.

Step 4 - Pasting the Image

Now you need to paste the foreground image onto the background as a new layer. To do this press, Control + L to paste the foreground as a new layer. Once the layers are pasted together you can then move them into the right position. This is possible because the layers are both separate.

Step 5 - Adjusting Layers

Select the background layer so that it becomes active. If you can't see the layer palette then select it in the view menu. Adjust the colors of the background later by pressing shift and L to bring up the colorize settings. Use the sliders to adjust saturation to 205 and hue to 19.

Now make the foreground layer active and click on Mask Show All, fourth from left at the top of the layer palette.

This is an automatic mask feature which creates a mask layer. Click on the mask layer and use your brush with some black paint to paint around the face. Spend time doing this carefully so that you don't make any mistakes. if you do make a mistake then you can use white paint to correct the mistake. Carefully paint all the way around the profile of the foreground image.

Once the mask has been perfected you should then be able to see the images blended together. Adjust the opacity of the foreground image so that the background is allowed to shine through slightly.