No Composite Photoshop Newborn Edit

So here's the down-low.  I don't like doing composites.  I know, scandalous right?

I know they work well, but they are a pain in the butt.  Here's my solution.  When possible I don't do them!!!  Here's what you do:

First for this type of edit it's best if baby is wearing a hat, and the hand is placed either behind the head like this photo, or one finger on each side of the head. Open up your photo in Photoshop.  I use PSE12.  Next, duplicate your layer.  This is done by right clicking on the photo over in the right hand layers column. It should look like this:

Next, add a layer mask.  Click the layer mask button.  You can see it is the 3rd button above my "Background copy" image.  Now it should look like this:

Next make sure you click your "background Copy" again so it is highlighted and not your layer mask.

Then select your brush tool.  It should be a soft brush with about a 45% or less opacity.

Then "ALT+CLICK" on the color of your background, around the same area as your assistants hand.

When you do this, the color of your brush will change to that color.  Then start brushing.  Brush away your assistants hands or fingers on both sides.  Don't worry if you get a little color on the baby's hat.  You can fix this in the next step.

Then enlarge your brush size by hitting your bracket key: (]).  Lightly brush your background to blend in your patch. This will also help to smooth out any wrinkles in your baby blanket. After this it's time to touch up on the hat.  Click over onto your layer mask.  Then click your colors at the bottom right of your screen so they return to black and white.  If the black is on top it will erase the brushwork you previously did.  Set your brush at a low opacity (30-40%) and touch up around the baby's hat.  It's easier if you zoom in on your image by hitting (CTRL +).  You may need to toggle between black and white, and lower the opacity as needed.

It will look something like this:

 

Lastly, right click on your layer and hit flatten image.  Make sure the background looks how you want it before you flatten your image. 

 

To finish up my picture I watermarked it, and ran a Photoshop Action called Coffee Shop Baby Miracle, which you can get here.  She has a ton of cool actions for your photos, and some of them are even free!

So here was my end result:

There you have it.

BugsEarPhoto