STEP BY STEP DROP IN A DRAMATIC SKY

Use selections, layers and masks in Affinity Photo to replace a dull sky

01 SELECT THE LAND

Open sky_before_1.jpg into Affinity. Get the Selection Brush from the toolbar and check ‘Snap to edges’ in the options. Paint over the land and sea to select it. If the selection includes unwanted areas, check Subtract at top left and paint to remove them.

02 REFINE THE EDGE

Click the Refine button at the top. Set Border Width to 2% to control the refinement along the edge. Using the Adjustment Brush, paint over any areas, like the edges of the lighthouse, to direct the command to parts of the edge that need a bit more refinement.

03 IMPROVE THE SELECTION

The Adjustment Brush in the Refine command has buttons for Foreground and Background. These let you tune edges by telling the command what is foreground and which is the background. Use the brush to paint over bits of the edge that aren’t perfect.

04 DROP IN A SKY

Set Output: Mask and hit Apply. Open sky_before_2.jpg, press Cmd/ctrl+a to Select All, Cmd/ctrl+c to copy, go to the other image and press Cmd/ctrl+v to paste. Go to the Layers panel and drag the sky layer below the other. Use the Move tool to move and resize the sky to fit.

05 PERFECT THE MASK

Highlight the mask on the top layer, then zoom in to the horizon to check that the edge is perfect. Grab the Brush tool and, if needed, paint with black to hide parts of the layer, or white to reveal hidden areas (you can press X to switch between black and white).

06 BOOST THE COLOURS

Finally, we’ll add a tonal tweak. Go to the Layers panel, click the Adjustment Layer icon and choose Channel Mixer. Select the Red channel and set Red +200, Blue -50, Green -50. Then select the Blue channel and set Blue +200, Red -50, Green -50. Lower opacity to 30%.