James Paterson
Discover four ways to slice up your photos for inventive results, from Hockney-esque collages to stylish geometric patterns
Editing pro James teaches us some creative collage Photoshop effects
SOFTWARE Photoshop CC GET IT FROM adobe.com Get Start files from The Resources folder on the disc
1 Ripped paper tricks
Download an image of ripped paper. (We found ours at pixabay.com; search for ‘ripped-2034949’.) Drop the paper image on top of your portrait photo with the Move tool. (The download file is already cut out.) Next highlight the background layer and press Ctrl+J (Cmd+J in macOS) to duplicate. Drag the layer to the top of the stack then go to Filter > Stylize > Find Edges. Press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+U to desaturate. Right-click the layer and choose Create Clipping Mask, then change the Blending Mode to Multiply.
3 Retro Hockney collages
Go to File > New. Open ‘Grunge Paper Textures’ under ‘Art and Illustration’. Go to File > Place Embedded to load your image then drag the layer above ‘Your image here’. Move and resize it to show a small part, then press Ctrl/Cmd +Shift+Alt+E. Turn the merged layer’s visibility off. Click the image layer, press Ctrl/Cmd+T and reposition, then merge again. Repeat to make lots of layers. Open a new document, drag the layers in and rearrange to make a collage. Add a drop-shadow to each layer.
2 Th e strip line effect
Open an image and make a new layer, then drag a thin selection with the Marquee tool. Press Alt+Backspace to fill with a colour. Grab the Move tool and Alt-drag the shape sideways to make a copy, then press Ctrl/Cmd+E to merge down. Repeat this until the strips cover the frame. Click the FX icon in the Layers panel to add a drop-shadow. Next, copy the image layer and drag to the top of the stack. Right-click it and choose Create Clipping Mask, then press Ctrl/Cmd+T and drag the corner to offset the layer.
4 Tr endy geometric shapes
Go to File > New and download ‘Textured geometric shapes’ under ‘Photo’. Drop in your photo and drag above the ‘Your image here’ layer in the Layers panel. Scroll through the layers and choose a shape. Next, duplicate the background layer. Select a portion of the design with the Polygonal Lasso, then click the Add Layer Mask icon. Click the link between the mask and the image thumbnail to unlink them, then reposition the image to offset it. Drop in metal_texture.jpg and set its Blending Mode to Multiply.