Replacing a Bland Sky using Photoshop

Sometimes we see a great image in the foreground but the sky is less inspiring. Sometimes we see a fantastic sky without foreground interest. Here we will learn how to match up sky and foreground from two different images in Photoshop CS2.

It is a good idea to take pictures of a variety of skies, not just sunsets, for later use

Below is an image with potential find something similar in your stock and follow the instructions to transform your image. The detail around the skyline will need preserving.

Photoshop replace sky tutorial

  1. Open your image and open the sky image you wish to use for the sky detail.
  2. With both images open you can click on the background layer in you sky image and drag it onto your foreground image, or you can chose Edit > Copy in your sky image and Edit > Paste onto your foreground image. Your layers palette should look like this:

    3. layers palette

    Select the sky layer and set the Layer Blend to Multiply. Layer Blending Modes can be changed by locating the horizontal dropdown menu at the top of your layers palette. It is set to normal by default. We want to change it to multiply.

  3. The best way to get rid of the sky from the foreground area is to use a layer mask. With a layer mask it is easy to tweak your cut out to perfection as the underlying detail in your image will still be there if you need it.

    4. I like to think of a mask as a cardboard cutout. It appears as a black and white icon to the right of the layer that is being masked. The black bits are like a cutout (you can see through this to the layer underneath) the white bits are like the cardboard you can’t see through this it the image underneath is being obscured by the image on top).

  4. With your sky layer selected click on the Layer mask icon at the bottom of the layers palette. 

    layermask icon

  5. Select a brush from the tool palette and set your brush size at the top left of the Photoshop workspace.
  6. Make sure the colour picker at the bottom of the tool palette is set to black and white (if not click on the little black and white icon in the bottom left corner see below:    

    foreground background icon

  7. With the foreground colour set to black, paint out the areas of the sky that overlap your foreground. Should you wish to restore an area, swap the foreground colour to white and paint the area on your mask to reveal the image on this layer.

    8. It is important that you paint on the mask only, and not the image. When painting on the mask, the mask icon will appear next to the eye icon and there will be a blue line around your mask.

    layermask mask icon

    When your image is selected a brush icon will appear next to the eye icon and a blue line will appear around the image

    layer mask brush icon

    PAINT ONLY ON THE MASK NOT ON THE IMAGE

  8. Paint over the edges of the sky. Varying the brush opacity may help and will not leave an obvious line. Reduce the opacity over the fine details will help to preserve them.

    layers palette

  9. When you are happy with your mask you can play with the opacity.

Adding Drama to the sky using Photoshop Gradients

Adding a gradient can add drama to a sky similar to burning in the sky in a darkroom.

  1. Create a new layer by clicking on the New Layer icon at the base of the Layers Palette
  2. Select the ‘Gradient’ tool from the tool bar
  3. Choose the ‘Linear gradient’ option
  4. Set Foreground colour to black
  5. Set the Gradient option to Foreground to Transparent
  6. Set the Gradient Opacity to around 30%
  7. Tick the ‘Reverse’ box and drag the gradient line towards the area you wish to make darker
  8. If necessary, the opacity of the gradient layer may be reduced to suit
     

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