You’ll need two images for this little exercise: “D E Object Selection.psd” (the image of Peachy from the previous lesson) and “E Trains_and_Peachy.psd.”
The next step, bringing Peachy to the scene in the woods, is slightly tricky. You must keep the mouse button depressed continuously while dragging up from the Peachy image to the other document’s tab, waiting for the other image to appear, and then dragging downward into its document window before releasing. In class, I phrase it, “drag upward, pause, downward, release.”
Although we used the “Move” tool, Peachy was actually copied from one document to the other. The Layers panel should show a new layer in the document to which we copied her.
We’ve reached a decision point. Although I think this photo-bomber Peachy is funny, we may wish to reduce her size so she appears to be on the ground nearer the rusted train. But if we changed our minds tomorrow and resized her again to her former large size, the result would be terrible. To reduce the size of an ordinary layer means we’re eliminating a great many pixels. To enlarge a relative few pixels to cover a large area would make a very “pixelated” result.
With a little forethought, we could convert the Peachy layer into a Smart Object. This protects and preserves the content. So if we one day reduce her size and then increase it the next, Photoshop really is using the full resolution Peachy each time. This allows us to restore her to her full size with perfect fidelity. Here, we see the result of reducing Peachy to 10% her initial size, then enlarging again to her original dimensions. Not good!
We can now apply filters and transformations repeatedly with no ill effect on the actual image data. Those filters and transformations can be removed at any time. We have a couple of methods from which to choose for resizing her now. If the Move tool is active, note the checkbox in the Options Bar to Show Transform Controls. If enabled, you’ll have quick access to transformations simply by activating the Move tool and highlighting the layer you want to transform.
Some people dislike this because they accidentally transform things. They prefer the more conscious decision to activate Free Transform. The shortcut to do so is somewhat intuitive (and fast): ⌘-T/Ctrl-T (as in “Transform”). This invokes the same transform controls but only when needed.
With either method, when the desired transformation is completed, we press Enter on the keyboard to commit it. Personally, I’m in the Free Transform camp. It’s fast and I don’t accidentally rotate layers like I sometimes do showing those controls all the time.
I located Peachy on the grass in the foreground. Right now it looks pretty fake because she isn’t casting a shadow. But I’ve found that even a quick-and-dirty shadow will often do. We’ll paint one below Peachy’s, eh, bottom. That is, on a layer below Peachy but above the Background.
Remember, you’re about to paint behind Peachy, so don’t worry that the brush looks like it’s in front of her. Just be sure that the shadow layer is highlighted.