Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Step Seven:
Here's a workaround background trick
that lets you put a photo inside your back-
ground (complete with a shadow): instead
of using a graphic as a background image,
use it as an Identity Plate. That way, you
can have the background image appear in
front of (or over) your photo rather than
behind it. Here's a slide mount image
I bought from iStockphoto. I took it into
Photoshop, selected the slide and put it
on its own layer, then selected the box in
the center, and deleted it (to make the
slide opening see-through). Next, I added
a drop shadow in the opening, deleted the
Background layer, and saved the file as a
PNG, to maintain its transparency when
I bring it into Lightroom as a graphical
Identity Plate. To bring it in, go to the
Overlays panel, turn on the Identity Plate
checkbox, click on the triangle at the
bottom right of the Identity Plate preview,
and chose
Edit
from the pop-up menu.
When the Identity Plate Editor appears
(shown here), click on the Use a Graphical
Identity Plate radio button, then click on
Locate File to find your slide file, and click
OK. Once it appears in the Preview area,
resize both the Identity Plate (by dragging
the corner points) and the image (by drag-
ging the margin guides). Also, be sure to
have the Zoom to Fill Frame checkbox
turned on in the Options panel.
BONUS VIDEO:
I did a bonus video for you, to show you
step by step how to create Identity Plate
graphics with transparency like you see
here. You'll find it at
www.kelbytraining
Step Eight:
Here's another variation using a picture
frame I bought from iStockphoto. The only
difference is that I changed the Background
Color (in the Backdrop panel) from gray to
white. Now that you're seeing the potential
of these backgrounds and Identity Plates,
let's put the two together for some really
creative layouts.
Continued
