How to open two photos on top of each other and aligning them.

[leep40312335]

Hi all,

I'm sure I've done this before, but I don't use PS often and I'm really struggling.

I want to place one image on top of another and align elements in the photos. (Eventually I would like to create an animation that fades from one photo to the other, but I'm saving that for another day!)

A Google search says things like select "both photos and auto align" but can't even do that! I need some really basic step by step instructions as I'm struggling to even open both photos at the same time (they come up as seperate windows in PS). I belive I want to use 'Auto Align', but i don't seem to be able to select both photos at the same time to do this.

I'm sure it's quite simple (or should be) when you know how.

Thanks in advance.

[Stephen_A_Marsh · Accepted solution]

Method 1:

Open both Photos in Photoshop, go to one of the images, select all, copy and close that image. Paste the clipboard contents from the second image into the new image. You should have both images as layers in the layer panel. Select both layers by shift or cmd/ctrl clicking both layers in the layers panel. Edit > Auto-align layers

Method 2: 

File > Scripts > Load layers into stack. You should have both images as layers in the layer panel. Select both layers by shift or cmd/ctrl clicking both layers in the layers panel. Edit > Auto-align layers.

Method 3:

Use one of the preceding methods to layer both images. Set the upper layer to difference blend mode. Use the move tool and or the arrow keys to nudge one layer over the other. Perfect alignment would be a black image. Once aligned, change the upper layer back to normal blend mode (difference blend mode is just used to help align).

[leep40312335]

Excellent! Thanks Stephen, all three methods worked a treat.

Method 2 looks best for me as the photos are from slightly different viewpoints. Loading as a 'stack' allowed me to tick the box to correct 'geometric distortion' which looks like it's giving me what I want.

Method 3 produces a great effect! Probably better for photos taken from a fixed point.

Thanks again,

Lee

[Trevor.Dennis]

I've always used Bridge.  The great unsung hero in the Adobe app line up.

[leep40312335]

Thanks Trevor. I've not used Bridge before but it worked perfectly. Looks like a useful tool that could do with a bit more exploration!

Cheers,

Lee