Tutorial: family silhouette

Here’s another version of the silhouette, only this time I combined several images to include the entire family. (Many thanks to my friend who let me borrow her wonderful family!)

To create a family silhouette, I followed the basic instructions given a couple days ago except this time, when I took the pictures, I had each person stand in front of a cutting mat that I hung on the wall. Make sure each person stands the same distance away from the gridded surface (you can measure the distance from their nose to the wall). Place the camera on a tripod so it remains the same distance away from the wall, too. This will make it easy to combine pictures in a digital photo editing program and you can be sure that each person is the correct size compared to the others. Note: I also made sure that my images would fit on a 8-1/2″ by 11″ sheet of paper.

To combine pictures, open one image in your digital editing program. Paste a second image onto a new layer. Reduce opacity on second image to 50%. Stretch the pasted image larger or smaller until grids match. This will ensure that each person is the correct size in relation to the other.

Once your images are sized correctly, use the Magic Eraser tool (that’s what it is called in Photoshop Elements) and erase the background. I like to leave the grid just in case I might need it later. Position your images in a pleasing arrangement. I lined all of mine up so the noses lined up horizontally. As long as you don’t resize the images, you don’t have to worry about keeping the grids lined up.

Once you have all of your loved ones sized correctly and in position. It’s time to print. I started by saving it to a new file. Then crop around your first image so you will still see part of the second person behind the first person and so it will fit on a 8-1/2″ by 11″ sheet of paper. Print. Now either un-crop or go back to your original file. In your digital editing program, hide the top layer. Crop around your second person so it will fit on a 8-1/2″ by 11″ sheet of paper. Print. Repeat for until you have each person printed. Then follow the basic instructions.