How to make the image more natural?

[snowynight]

When you try to combine two images from different sources, how to make the pasting seem more seamless? Example: What can I do to make this icon more natural?

Comments

[rivenwanderer]

In this case, it's a little odd for the person in the foreground to look smaller than the person she's in front of. Perspective would dictate that it be the other way around.

You might also experiment with making the two people more similar colors (edit the color levels for each person before pasting), or applying textures, color tweaks, and filters to the whole picture after the pasting. Basically, make it look like they're in the same color of light.

[snowynight]

Thank you. It shows what happens when I just paste thing together.

[rydra_wong]

Adding to what rivenwanderer said: it looks a bit like the head of the person in front has been cut off at the top. That may be a limitation of the original picture you're working with, but because it's hair, you might be able to use paint or smudge to restore the curve of her hair on top of her head.

Another trick is to try using some careful blurring at the edge of one image; that can make it look a little less "cut out". It can make it look worse, though, so you have to experiment.

[snowynight]

Thank you! Please excuse the n00b question: How should I blur the edge?

[rydra_wong]

No need to apologize; this is a place for asking questions. *g*

In the tools, look for the one shaped like a water drop. That's the Blur/Sharpen tool. Set it to blur, and click it on the bits of the image that you want to blur a little. Like the brush or pen tools, you can adjust the size of the "brush", the opacity, etc.

(Obviously, make sure you save the icon first, or make a duplicate layer and blur that, so that you can revert to the un-blurred version if you need to!)