CONTINUED… A natural-looking composite image

4 Complete the selection

You may find bits of background clinging to the edge, especially between delicate details such as hairs. Increase Contrast to 27. Add a Feather of 0.9 to soften the edge. Set Output to New Layer with Layer Mask. Click OK.

5 Add new background

You’ll see a new layer with a black and white mask. Open the background photo. Choose Edit > Select All and then Edit > Copy. Go to the Lioness document and choose Edit > Paste. Drag the new background below the lioness.

6 Transform the subject

Our lioness is too large. Click on that layer and choose Image > Transform > Free Transform. In the Options bar, tick Constrain Proportions. Drag the Transform box’s corner handles to scale the lioness down. Click the green tick.

7 Remove the dog

Click the lioness layer’s eye-shaped icon to hide it. Click on the background layer containing the dog. Grab the Clone Stamp tool. Hold down the å key and click to sample some grass. Spray the grass over the dog.

8 Modify the mask

Make the lioness’s layer visible. Click on that layer’s mask to target it. Grab the Brush tool from the Tools panel. Set the Foreground colour to black. Spray over the paws to make them blend with more grass on the background layer.

9 Apply the mask

Spray a black brush on the mask to hide any more unwanted background from the lioness’s original photo. Use a white brush to reveal missing details from the lioness’s edge. Right click on the mask and choose Apply Layer Mask.

10 Select the subject

The layer mask will vanish, leaving the lioness against a transparent background. Hold down the ç key and click on the lioness layer’s thumbnail. This keyboard shortcut selects the lioness’s shape with a marquee.

11 Fill with black

Choose Layer > New > Layer. Click OK. Click on the new layer. The marquee will still be visible. Choose Edit > Fill Selection. In the Fill Layer box, choose Black from the Use menu. Click OK. Press ç+D to deselect the marquee.

12 Transform the shadow

Drag the shadow layer below the lioness. Choose Image > Transform > Free Transform. Hold ç and drag the corner handles to distort the shadow. Click the green tick. Choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian blur to soften the shadow’s edges.