Blending Images with Photoshop CS3

We have already reviewed some of the new features of Photoshop CS3 in
February and March (p118 and 120 respectively). Let's continue this further by
discussing some more features that will make your job easier.

After opening the Photoshop CS3 program, you might be wondering as to what
Adobe has added to this version-what are the new tools and which of the existing
tools have been enhanced. For a quick view, click on Windows>Workspace >What's
New in CS3.Also, when you navigate through different menus, you will find the
new items highlighted. Let's now see how you can use some of them.

Photo Merge

Combining two or more images together is very tedious and time consuming. Even
after combining the two images, sometimes the combined area is quite prominent.
In CS3, a new Photo Merge facility is available to overcome this problem. Just
like a magic wand you can blend images together very quickly, without any
noticeable merging effect. This is a pretty cool feature which can be accessed
from File menu. Go to File>Automate >Photo merge and it will show you the Photo
Merge dialog box. There are 5 layout options available-Auto, Perspective,
Cylindrical, Reposition and Interactive. The default option is Auto. Browse the
images you want to merge and apply OK. Don't forget to select Advanced Blending.

Now the process begins. It will load all selected images in separate layers
and spread them out. Finally, it will blend the overlapping tiles together. All
this will take few seconds after which the final image is ready to use.

The highlighted rows in the various menus show new tools that have been added or wherever enhancements have taken place

Photo Merge lets you align and merge two or more photos. The photo merge screen allows you to select anyone of the five layout options, which are shown in the right screen above

Auto Align and Auto Blend

Auto Align lets you analyze edges and prominent features and align layered files
to each other. This feature is best for aligning related photos. To do so, open
an image and place multiple, related images on separate layers in the same file.
Go to Edit menu and click Auto Align Layers. Photoshop CS3 analyzes the contents
by moving and rotating layers, so that they overlap as precisely as possible.
There are four projection methods to choose from: Auto, Perspective, Cylindrical
and Reposition. After completing the process, use masking tools to reveal areas
you need from different layers; to finalize the elements of the composite image.
After completing the Auto Align procedure, go to Edit menu and apply Auto Blend
Layers. This command will figure out the smoothest way to blend multiple images
together. Automatic layer blending seamlessly blends the color and shading into
the final image. Please note, you must have multiple layers selected
simultaneously in the layers palette before apply these commands.

Deselecting a layer will show you the overlapped area and how CS3 has combined the two images together

Check the panorama after Photo Merge feature has been applied. Notice the clarity in the merged image

Resizing images

Whenever you want to resize the image, the default method is Bicubic. In CS3, go
to Image menu and click on Image Size. This will open the Image Size dialog box.
At the bottom of the Image Size dialog box, you can see the Resample Image
dialog. Selecting the Resample Image box will highlight the resample methods.
Not only that, it will also provide some information about these, such as
Bicubic (best for smooth gradients), Bicubic Smoother (best for enlargement),
Bicubic Sharper (best for reduction), etc. So, select the resample method as per
your requirement.