You’ve probably seen this interesting effect of two or more overlapping photos. In this double exposure Photoshop tutorial, we’ll create a trendy double exposure effect from scratch. We’ll use Blending Modes and Clipping Masks in a few steps. But first, let’s get the basics right.
What Is Double Exposure?
The multiple or double exposure effect is a combination of two or more exposures to create a single image. This is a technique in which the camera shutter is opened multiple times to expose the film, usually to different images. Now, we can create double exposure photos in Photoshop.
Watch how to do a double exposure in Photoshop with this video from the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:
You may also like our free course on making a double exposure effect in Photoshop. Try it out!
Try this amazing Double Exposure Photoshop Action from Envato Elements to create a double exposure effect with a few clicks. Add a wonderful double exposure effect to your image in seconds. After it’s finished, add a color tone or gradient to your composition, and you’re done!
What You’ll Learn in This Double Exposure Photoshop Tutorial
- How to prepare the main photo
- How to do a double exposure in Photoshop by combining two images
- How to add the finishing touches to your double exposure photos
Double Exposure Portrait Tutorial Assets
If you want to follow this double exposure Photoshop tutorial exactly, here are the photos I used:
1. How to Prepare the Main Photo for the Double Exposure Effect
Step 1
For the base of our image, we’ll be using the following photo of a young man from Stockvault.net. You can use any photo of your liking, for example, from your personal archive. However, make sure that the background of your photo is more or less neutral, without noisy elements such as grass or foliage, to make it easier to work with.
Let’s take the Crop Tool (C) and make the photo less wide by deleting its side parts.
Step 2
Now we need to make it much brighter and add contrast. Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels or press Control-L to call the pop-up Levels menu. Move the lightest slider to the left, making our photo brighter, and add contrast by moving the left black slider to the right. Otherwise, you can just set the particular values in the spaces below: 7 for the shades of black, 1.15 for greys, and 197 for whites. Click the OK button to apply the adjustments.
Step 3
Let’s fix the guy’s ear with the Spot Healing Brush Tool (I). Just click and move your mouse, drawing above the area you wish to fix and—voila!—the marked area is clean and flawless. This is a very handy tool for photo retouching, when you need to get rid of some minor flaws and bumps on the skin.
Step 4
Now we need to get rid of the background. This is a piece of cake, as we’re using a photo with a clean background. Take the Magic Wand Tool (W) and click anywhere on the background to select it. Then go to Select > Inverse to select the man.
Step 5
While you are still armed with the Magic Wand Tool (W), find the Refine Edge button in the control panel above to reveal the Refine Edge options window. Here you can change the View of your photo in the View Modes, placing the selected element on white, black, transparent and other backgrounds, making it more visible and convenient to edit.
Slightly increase the Radius value in the Edge Detection, setting it to 1.5, making the edges less rigid and thus revealing minor details, such as separate hairs. Set the Output To in the Output section of the options window to New Layer with Layer Mask. This will automatically create a copy of your initial image with the background hidden by the Clipping Mask.
You can play with other Refine Edge options as well, making the edge smoother or more blurred. This would be handy if you’re cutting out the element that is surrounded by other elements, or the image has some more complex background and the edges of the main object are messy. In our case, these minor adjustments are enough to continue creating the desired effect.
Step 6
Create a New Layer below the cut-out portrait and fill it with a neutral greyish color (#dcdbd9) using the Paint Bucket Tool (G).
2. How to Do Double Exposure in Photoshop by Combining Two Images
Step 1
Let’s select the second photo for our composition. This can be a nice flower shot or cityscape, or anything abstract and intricate. For this double exposure Photoshop tutorial, we’ll use this monochromatic nature scene of a forest by Samuel Rohl, which you can find at Unsplash.com.
Step 2
Place the image of the forest above the man’s portrait. Keeping the forest layer selected, press the Control key and click on the Layer Clipping Mask of the layer below (the one with the portrait). You will see the marching ants selection of the man’s silhouette on the forest layer.
Step 3
Press the Add vector mask button at the bottom of the Layers panel to hide the unneeded parts of the forest image. If you click on the chain icon between the image thumbnail and the mask thumbnail in the Layers panel, this will unlink the layer and its mask, so that you can move and rotate the image inside the mask without moving the whole layer.
In our case, let’s put the forest image upside down, so that the dark reflection of the trees is placed in the head area of the silhouette, as shown in the screenshot below.
Step 4
Select the layer which contains the cutout portrait with a clipping mask. Make a copy (Control-J) and drag and drop it above the forest layer.
Let’s make the portrait monochromatic to fit the forest image color palette. Keeping the portrait layer selected, move to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate or just press Shift-Control-U, converting our image to grayscale.
Step 5
Open the Levels (Control-L) options window and make the image much darker by moving the black slider to the right side or manually setting its value to 117.
Apply the effect and go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. Tick the Colorize checkbox in the bottom right corner of the options window to change the whole range of colors of our image. Set the Hue value to 212, moving the slider to the right, thus adding tints of blue. Set the Saturation level to 10, decreasing the vividness of the photo, and click OK to apply the created effect.
Step 6
Right-click on the portrait layer mask, and we can Apply Layer Mask in the dropdown menu. Change the Blending Mode of the portrait layer to Screen in the Layers panel. We can already see that the desired double exposure effect appears! Only a few minor tweaks left, so let’s move on!
3. How to Add the Finishing Touches to Your Double Exposure Photos
Step 1
Let’s make the image more surrealistic by editing the head of the portrait. Take the Brush Tool (B) and select the Airbrush Soft Round 17 from the standard Round Brushes with Size set (you can find it in the drop-down brushes menu if you click the right mouse button or in the Brushes (F5) panel).
Select the Layer Mask of the forest layer, set the Fill color to black and paint softly over the upper part of the head area, thus erasing the unwanted parts of the head and adding some air in the top part of the image. This makes the image look as if the trees are growing directly from the man’s head.
Step 2
Some parts of the image look too noisy at this step—for example, the eyes area, where the trees from the forest image create a distracting effect. Let’s get rid of this and make these parts more clear and contrast.
Create a New Layer beneath the desaturated portrait layer, take the Brush Tool (B) again and switch the Fill color to dark blue (#2f2c35), which you can pick directly from the hair part of the portrait with the Eyedropper Tool (I).
Start painting over the eyes area, making it more distinct. For more convenience, you can Control-click on the layer mask of the portrait layer to create a marching ants selection, which allows you to draw inside the selected area, without crossing its boundaries.
Step 3
Let’s add a finishing touch to our image. Select the desaturated portrait layer and Add Layer Mask by clicking the mask icon in the bottom part of the Layers panel. Take the Brush Tool (B) and switch the Fill color to black. Since our Layer mask is white by default, the black color will help us to erase the unwanted parts of the image. Paint over the neck area of the man, creating an illusion of his face popping out from the trees.
Great Job! Our Trendy Double Exposure Effect Portrait Is Finished!
Congratulations! These simple steps helped us to create a stylish Photoshop double exposure portrait by combining two images and creating an interesting surrealistic effect. I hope you’ve found some handy tips and tricks, which will help you to make more interesting combinations and photo manipulations. Good luck!
5 Top Double Exposure Photoshop Actions From Envato Elements
You’ve learned what double exposure is and how to do a double exposure in Photoshop. But if you don’t have the time to do one from scratch, go for premium double exposure Photoshop actions!
If you’re a digital artist or photographer who uses Photoshop, Envato Elements is the best option for you. Subscribe for a low monthly fee and get access to unlimited digital creative assets.
Download as many double exposure Photoshop actions, add-ons, and stock photos as you need. Here’s a hand-picked selection of our favorite double exposure effects. Grab one today!
1. Double Exposure Photoshop Action (ATN, PSD)
If you don’t know much about what double exposure is, you can achieve the effect fast with a double exposure Photoshop action like this one. Your job is only to prepare the photos and run the double exposure effect action. The whole process will be done for you in seconds! Before you know it, you’ll have killer double exposure photos.
2. Special Effects: Double Exposure in Photoshop (ATN)
This Photoshop double exposure action pack contains more than a simple double exposure effect. It includes 235 light effects and 33 textures, as well as chromatic distortion and depth of field effects. Even if you don’t know how to do a double exposure in Photoshop, you can create a real work of art with this pack.
3. Double Exposure Photoshop Kit (ATN, GRD)
This pack of Photoshop double exposure actions contains dozens of variants of the double exposure effect. Apply them all with a single click, and then pick the best version. As a bonus, this pack for double exposures in Photoshop includes 30 high-resolution textures and 10 gradients.
4. Double Color Exposure: Double Exposure Effect (ATN)
This double exposure Photoshop action doesn’t only combine two photos, but also gives them contrasting colors to instantly create an eye-catching result. Choose from seven color styles, each including a pair of complementary colors to put together high-quality Photoshop double exposure photos.
5. Glow: Double Exposure Photoshop Action (ATN)
If a classic Photoshop double exposure effect looks boring to you, this action makes it unique by adding a modern glow to your photos. And you still don’t have to do anything to get this extra effect—everything is done with a single click! You can simply grab this download to create double exposure photos without learning how to do a double exposure in Photoshop on your own.
Create Trendy Photoshop Double Exposure Photos Today
I hope you’ve enjoyed this double exposure Photoshop tutorial. You’ve learned what double exposure is and how to create Photoshop double exposure photos. Want to create some more trendy effects? See what’s hot right now in our articles on the biggest creative trends and design trends. And if you’re looking for more photo effects and tutorials, check out the following articles:
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- How to Create VHS Glitch Art in Adobe Photoshop
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- How to Create a Cool Glitch Photo Effect in Adobe Photoshop
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