Help with Duplicating Parts of an Image

Hi Robin

If you are still struggling with this, I'm wondering what background you will be using.  It makes a difference.

You need to get rid of that nasty flare, so make the original a Smart Object. Open the Camera RAW filter, and move the Black and Shadows sliders all the way to the left.  That will kill the flare (haze).

Note: Making the layer a Smart Object means you can open the Camera RAW filter as many times as you like to fine tune, with losing image quality.

Now copy the layer a couple of times, and distribute them on the canvas.  So long as the background is Black, you can set the Blend mode for the three match layers to Lighten to show just the area you need. 

To make the background completely black (if you have some flare left in the image) add a Curves layer to the top of the layer stack, and move the black as shown below.

Good luck.

I think I would do this by making two additional copies of the full layer, and then paint on the masks with a soft brush to remove the background of the upper two layers. Each layer can then be repositoned for the grouping you need.

Thanks, Jane. That was the approach I was considering but I wasn't sure how to do it. It sounds like it would be easier in Illustrator, so I'll try a quick search for a suitable vector image too.
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@Robin29374542cuvv 

It would be difficult to select the match and flame, so I would try this to make the extra copies:

• Create a new layer for each of the other two matches
• Use the Clone Stamp tool "S"
• In the options bar, choose All Layers, not Current Layer
• Set a starting point on the original match
  macOS: Option+click, then release
  Win: Alt+ click, then release
• Paint on the new layer with the clone stamp tool

If the original stock image was vector (.ai), there would be a different answer. You could just copy the match and flame to a new area in Illustrator.

Jane