Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451361
3 0 G R A P H I C S P R O A P R I L 2 0 2 2 G R A PH I C S - PR O.C O M S I G N A G E & P R I N T I N G T H E D I G I T A L E Y E | S T E P H E N R O M A N I E L L O O ne of the advantages of using image editing software is its ease of per- forming seemingly complex tasks. When you think about it, there are so many ways to alter images to tell a spe- cic story; whether to recolor an image to create a certain mood or to apply a lter to turn a photo into a drawing or painting or, most importantly and probably most com- monly, to alter the actual physical content of a picture. e tools and techniques are all there so that virtually any eect can be achieved. In the exciting world of digital art, if you can imagine it, you can create it! SIMPLE CONCEPT e concept is simple. Combine two or more images into single undetectable composite. I'm sure you've seen this done in most any media. When experienced, the eect can be stunning. To compos- ite images successfully — seamless to the extreme and no trace of where one image ends and one begins — requires a sharp eye and bit of digital sleight of hand. e sequence of techniques that produces seamless compositing varies depending on the image and the range of values as- signed to these techniques. Compositing then depends on your skill as a digital art- ist, your knowledge of the software, and your acuity of observation. FUNDAMENTALS Compositing images can be frustrating if you don't understand what the core fundamentals are. e goal is to create an image where all of the elements in the composition are in place and the im- age doesn't appear to have been altered. e three most important considerations when adding or replacing picture content are: 1. e edges of the new content are undetectable 2. e colors perfectly match the ex- isting colors 3. e direction of the light source is similar in both the source and des- tination images LIGHT SOURCE e rst two considerations can be eas- ily modied in Photoshop during the REPLACING CONTENT WHAT'S NEEDED TO SEAMLESSLY CREATE COMPOSITE IMAGES Fig. 1: ometimes ipping or rotating the source content is necessary so that the light source corresponds to the destination image. ll images courtesy tephen omaniello