Photoshop Question

[defaultwvtvr31mafhd]

Hey guys, I'm trying to make a booth design with the American Flag. I'd like to have photos of families and children replacing parts/shapes of the flag but I want to keep the flag's shadows and highlights when im replacing with photos. For example, I'd like to replace this star with that photo. At the same time, I want to keep the shadow and highlight the star already on the American Flag picture. I'd like to cover the whole flag in different photographs but maintain the shadows and highlights the flag already has so it doesn't look choppy and looks like it just a part of the flag. Another thing, I want the photo to match the color of the flag whichever area it is. How would I do this as well? 

I tried explaining the best I could haha. Thank you! ❤️ I did this stuff in the past but just forgot how to do it. I'm pretty rusty and don't know what name for a tutorial I should look up. 

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Please post part of the flag-image and one or two of the other images. 

On white the Blend Mode Multiply and some Blend If-settings might suffice. 

[kevin stohlmeyer · Accepted solution]

Hi @defaultwvtvr31mafhd here's how I would handle:

1. Position the photos over the individual stars.

2. Hide the Photo layer's visibility (eye icon) on the layers panel.

3. Choose the flag layer and select the stars individually using a selection tool.

4. Click the corresponding photo layer, turn the visibility back on and while selection is active, click the Layer Mask icon to mask the photo to the shape of the star.

5. Bonus - click the link icon between the image and the layer mask. This will allow you to click the image layer and move/position/scale the image inside the mask without moving the mask itself.

6. Adjust the layer blending mode to blend the photo in to the flag.

[defaultwvtvr31mafhd]

Thank you, this really helped! What blending mode would you recommend to blend with the flag? 

[kevin stohlmeyer]

I would try multiply first then adjust the opacity.

[defaultwvtvr31mafhd]

Thank you so much!