In this tutorial, I'll show you three easy ways to blend two images 
together in Photoshop! We'll start with the most basic way to blend 
images, and that's by using the Opacity option in the Layers panel. Then
 we'll look at how to get more interesting and creative results using 
Photoshop's layer blend modes. And finally, we'll learn how to blend two
 images seamlessly together using a layer mask. I'll also include a 
quick tip in each of the three sections to help speed up your workflow 
and get the best results.
Let's get started! 6park.com
How to blend images In Photoshop

For this tutorial, I'm using Photoshop CC but everything is compatible with Photoshop CS6. 6park.com
You can also follow along with my video of this tutorial on our YouTube channel. Or download this tutorial as a PDF and get my Complete Guide to Layer Blend Modes PDF as bonus! 6park.com
Method 1: The Layer Opacity Option 6park.com
The first way we'll look at for blending two images together is by using Photoshop's layer opacity option. Here's the first image I'll be using: 6park.com
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The first image. Photo credit: Adobe Stock. 6park.com
And here's the second image: 6park.com
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The second image. Photo credit: Adobe Stock. 6park.com
If we look in the Layers panel, we see both images on their own separate layers. The beach photo is on the Background layer, and the portrait is on "Layer 1" above it: 6park.com
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The Layers panel showing each image on a separate layer. 6park.com
Related: How to move images into the same Photoshop document 6park.com
The Opacity Value

The Opacity option is found in the upper right of 
the Layers panel. By default, it's set to 100%, which means that the 
currently-selected layer ("Layer 1") is completely blocking the layer 
below it from view: 6park.com
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The Opacity option, set to 100% by default. 6park.com
The Opacity value controls a layer's level of transparency. By simply
 lowering the value, we make the layer more transparent, allowing some 
of the image below it to show through. The more we lower the opacity, 
the more the top image will fade into the bottom image. I'll lower the 
opacity from 100% down to 75%: 6park.com
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Lowering the opacity of the top layer to 75%. 6park.com
This means that we're now blending 75% of the image on the top layer 
with 25% of the image on the bottom layer. And here we see that the 
woman is starting to blend in with the beach photo: 6park.com
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The result with the top layer's opacity lowered to 75%. 6park.com
If I wanted to fade her even more into the background, I could simply
 lower the opacity value even further. I'll lower it to 30%: 6park.com
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Setting the Opacity value to 30 percent. 6park.com
At 30% opacity, we're seeing just 30% of the top image and 70% of the
 bottom image, creating a nice blending effect. You'll want to adjust 
the opacity value as needed for your images: 6park.com
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The result with the top layer's opacity at 30%. 6park.com
Quick Tip: Setting the Opacity value from the keyboard

Here's a quick tip to speed up your workflow. You can change a 
layer's opacity value directly from the keyboard. Press 1 for 10%, 2 for
 20%, 3 for 30%, and so on. Press two numbers quickly, one right after 
the other, for more specific values (like 2 and then 5 for 25%). You can
 also press 0 for 100% opacity, or quickly press 0 twice for 0%. 6park.com
Method 2: Layer Blend Modes 6park.com
The second way we'll look at for blending two images together is by using Photoshop's layer blend modes.
 Blend modes are great for blending any two images together, but they're
 especially useful for blending a texture with a photo. Here's a 
portrait image that I have open: 6park.com
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The first image. Photo credit: Adobe Stock. 6park.com
I'll blend the portrait with this texture image: 6park.com
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The second image. Photo credit: Adobe Stock. 6park.com
Again if we look in the Layers panel, we see each image on a separate
 layer. The portrait is on the Background layer and the texture is on 
the layer above it: 6park.com
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The Layers panel again showing each image on a separate layer. 6park.com
The Blend Mode Option

Blend modes in Photoshop are different ways that layers can interact 
with each other. The Blend Mode option is found in the upper left of the
 Layers panel, directly across from the Opacity option. By default, a 
layer's blend mode is set to Normal. "Normal" just means that the layer 
is not blending at all with the layers below it: 6park.com
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The Blend Mode option. 6park.com
Click on the word "Normal" to open a menu with lots of different 
blend modes to choose from. We won't go through all of them here, but I 
cover the most important ones in detail in my Essential Blend Modes tutorial. Three of the most popular and useful blend modes you'll want to try are Multiply, Screen and Overlay. The Multiply blend mode creates a darkening effect, Screen creates a brightening effect, and Overlay blends the two layers to increase the overall contrast: 6park.com
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The result with the blend mode set to Multiply (left), Screen (center) and Overlay (right). 6park.com
The results you get from the various blend modes will depend entirely
 on your images. In my case, I get the best result using the Soft Light blend mode: 6park.com
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Changing the blend mode to Soft Light. 6park.com
Like the Overlay blend mode, Soft Light blends the two images 
together in a way that boosts the overall contrast. The difference is 
that Soft Light produces a more subtle and natural looking effect: 6park.com
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The result with the blend mode of the texture layer set to Soft Light. 6park.com
Another blend mode that works really well with these two images is Divide: 6park.com
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Changing the blend mode to Divide. 6park.com
Divide is one of the lesser-known and rarely-used blend modes in 
Photoshop. But with these two images, the effect actually looks pretty 
cool: 6park.com
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The blending effect with the texture layer set to Divide. 6park.com
Combining blend modes with layer opacity

Once you've chosen a blend mode, you can fine-tune the result by 
adjusting the layer's opacity, just as we saw earlier. I'll leave the 
blend mode of the texture layer set to Divide and I'll lower the opacity
 from 100% down to 50%: 6park.com
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Leaving the blend mode set to Divide and lowering the opacity to 50%. 6park.com
And here's the result: 6park.com
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Combining the blend mode with a lower opacity produces a less intense effect. 6park.com
Download this tutorial as a print-ready PDF! 6park.com
Quick Tip: How to cycle through blend modes from the keyboard

Here's another quick tip to help speed up your workflow and make 
working with blend modes easier. You can cycle through Photoshop's 
various blend modes directly from your keyboard. Press the letter V to quickly select the Move Tool. Then, press and hold your Shift key and use the plus ( + ) and minus ( -
 ) keys to move up or down through the list. This lets you quickly try 
out the different blend modes to find the one that works best. 6park.com
Method 3: Using A Layer Mask 6park.com
The third way we'll look at for blending two images in Photoshop, and by far the most popular way, is by using a layer mask.
 Unlike the layer opacity option or the blend modes which blend entire 
images as a whole, layer masks let us control exactly where the two 
images blend together. There's lots that we can do with layer masks, 
more than we could cover in a single tutorial. So here, we'll just learn
 the basics. 6park.com
Here's the first image I'll be using: 6park.com
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The first image. Photo credit: Adobe Stock. 6park.com
And here's the second image: 6park.com
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The second image. Photo credit: Adobe Stock. 6park.com
Again looking in the Layers panel, we see each photo on a separate 
layer. The dandelion photo is on the Background layer and the girl is on
 "Layer 1" above it: 6park.com
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Each photo is on a separate layer. 6park.com
Adding a layer mask

To add a layer mask, first make sure the top layer is selected. Then, click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel: 6park.com
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Clicking the Add Layer Mask icon. 6park.com
A layer mask thumbnail appears next to the layer's preview thumbnail: 6park.com
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The new layer mask thumbnail. 6park.com
How a layer mask works

Layer masks control the transparency of a layer, just like we saw 
with the Opacity option in the Layers panel. But while the Opacity 
option affects the transparency of the entire layer as a whole, a layer mask
 lets us add different levels of transparency to different parts of the 
layer. In other words, we can use a layer mask to show some areas while 
hiding others, making layer masks perfect for blending images. 6park.com
They work by using black and white. Any part of the layer where the 
layer mask is filled with white remains visible. And any part of the 
layer where the mask is filled with black is hidden. Let's see how we 
can quickly blend our two images together by drawing a black-to-white 
gradient on the layer mask. 6park.com
Selecting the Gradient Tool

Select the Gradient Tool from the Toolbar: 6park.com
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Selecting the Gradient Tool. 6park.com
Choosing the Black, White gradient

With the Gradient Tool selected, go up to the Options Bar and click on the down-pointing arrow next to the gradient swatch: 6park.com
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Clicking the arrow beside the gradient swatch. 6park.com
In the Gradient Picker, choose the Black, White gradient by double-clicking on its thumbnail (third from the left, top row): 6park.com
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Choosing the Black, White gradient. 6park.com
Blending the two images together

Make sure the layer mask, not the image itself, is selected by 
clicking on the layer mask thumbnail. You should see a highlight border 
around it: 6park.com
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Clicking the thumbnail to select the layer mask. 6park.com
Then, click on the image and drag out a black-to-white gradient. 
Remember that black will hide that part of the layer, and white will 
show it. In my case, I want to keep the left side of the photo (the part
 with the girl) visible, so the left side of the mask will need to be 
white. I want the right side to be hidden, which means the right side of
 the mask needs to be black. Since the gradient will start with black 
and end with white, I'll click on the right side of the image and drag 
horizontally over to the left. Press and hold your Shift key as you drag to move straight across: 6park.com
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Drawing a black-to-white gradient on the layer mask from right to left. 6park.com
When you release your mouse button, Photoshop draws the gradient on 
the layer mask and blends the two photos together. Here, we're seeing 
the girl from the top image blending into the dandelions from the bottom
 image. If you're not happy with the first result, simply draw another 
gradient on the mask to try again: 6park.com
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The two photos are now blending together. 6park.com
Viewing the layer mask

If we look at the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel, we see 
where the gradient was drawn. The black area on the right is where the 
top image is hidden in the document, allowing the photo on the 
Background layer to show through. And the white area on the left is 
where the top image remains visible: 6park.com
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The layer mask thumbnail showing the gradient. 6park.com
We can also view the actual layer mask itself in the document. If you press and hold the Alt (Win) / Option
 (Mac) key on your keyboard and click on the layer mask thumbnail, 
you'll switch your view in the document from the images to the layer 
mask. This makes it easier to see exactly what's going on. Again, the 
area of black on the right is where the top layer is hidden from view, 
and the white area on the left is where it's visible.  6park.com
But notice the gray area in the middle, where the gradient gradually 
moves from black to white. This area creates a smooth transition between
 the two layers, allowing them to blend seamlessly together. To switch 
your view from the layer mask back to the images, again press and hold 
your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key and click on the layer mask thumbnail 
in the Layers panel: 6park.com
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The dark to light gradient in the middle is what allows the two images to blend seamlessly together.. 6park.com
Quick Tip: How to toggle a layer mask on and off

Here's a quick tip for working with layer masks. You can toggle a layer mask on and off by pressing and holding your Shift key and clicking the layer mask thumbnail
 in the Layers panel. Click the thumbnail once to temporarily disable 
the mask and view the entire layer. A red "X" will appear in the 
thumbnail, letting you know that the mask is disabled. Hold Shift and 
click the thumbnail again to turn the layer mask back on: 6park.com
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Hold Shift and click the thumbnail to toggle the layer mask on and off.And there we have it! That's a quick look at how to blend two images 
together using the layer opacity option, layer blend modes, and a layer 
mask, in Photoshop! To learn more about blending images with layer 
masks, see our Layer Masks and Gradients tutorial. Use our Layers Learning Guide to learn more about Photoshop layers, or visit our Photoshop Basics section for more tutorials! 6park.com
https://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/three-ways-to-blend-two-images-together-photoshop/ 6park.com