Hello, Melissa (yzerbear19) here with this week’s Saturday Special challenge. If you’ve seen my gallery, you’ve probably noticed that I love to blend pictures into the background of my layouts. It’s pretty easy to do. The instructions for this tutorial are for Photoshop. The techniques may be slightly different depending on your program.

For basic blending

1. Place your photo where you want it.

2. Select the blend mode you want to use. I tend to use OVERLAY and SOFT LIGHT. Play around with the different blend modes to see which one you like best.

3. Adjust the fill and opacity levels until you achieve the look you want.

Sometimes though there are parts of your blended photo you don’t want or you might want a softer edge. For this technique we are going to use the layer mask. The benefit of the layer mask is that if you make a mistake it is very simple to correct. To achieve this:

1. Select the layer you want to blend.
2. Follow the steps above for the basic blend.
3. Add a layer mask

4. Select a large soft brush.

5. Paint over the edges you want to soften.
6. If you make a mistake you can paint over the area with the white and it will restore the original picture.

Another way to soften the edges is to use the gradient tool with the layer mask.

1. Follow steps 1-3 above.
2. Once you have added the layer mask instead of using the brush select the gradient tool.

3. This technique works best with a straight gradient.

4. Add a gradient to the mask.
5. It may take a few tries to get one that you are happy with. Just undo and try again if you don’t like a particular gradient.

Here is my finished layout.  I decided to go with the linear gradient blend.

Credits: Moments in time by Erica Zane

Check out these totally beautiful layouts by the Creative team:

By kmkarayannis

Credits: A Little Love by  The Design Girl.

By jendavey

Credits: Crazy Love by WM[squared] Designs

By canadianmommy

Credits Chikkadea by KimB’s Designs

Your challenge is to create a layout with at least one blended photo using one of the methods posted above.

I can’t wait to see how you use these tips.

Some important reminders:
-You have until the end of March to post your entry. Be sure to post it to the “Saturday Special” gallery and link it back to the thread in the forum.
-No double-dipping! This challenge CANNOT be combined with any other ScrapMatters challenge or Speed Scrap. Your layout must be unique to this challenge.
-You can earn an extra point for using any new ScrapMatters product during the first week of its release. Be sure to note the new product in your layout description and your post in the thread on the forum. In order to get your bonus point, it does need to be noted on your forum post.
-You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products, but we like it when you do.