Compositing Multiple Images

You can combine two images to create a single one. And by adding another image to the composited image, you can continue compositing.

Note that the original images are not affected, because your composited image is saved as a separate image.

Note

  • The color space of the background image determines the color space of composited images.
  • No image information is added to composited images.

  1. Select a background image.

  2. Select [Start Compositing tool] in the [Tools] menu.

  3. Select an image to combine with it.

    • Select the image to combine from the [Foreground Image] list box.
    • A thumbnail of the selected image is shown in the [Foreground Image] window.
    • A preview combining the background image and [Foreground Image] is shown in the composite preview window.

    • The following images can be combined.

      • With a main window selected as the background: images in the background image folder
      • With a [Collection] image selected as the background: [Collection] images
      • With the image editing window image selected as the background: images shown as thumbnails
    • You can also combine images of different sizes.

  4. Select a compositing method.

    • Select a compositing method from the [Composite Method] list box.
    • The selected compositing method is applied to the composite preview.
    • Five compositing methods are available: Add, Average, Weighted, Lighten, and Darken. For details on each method, see Methods of Compositing.
    • Selecting [Weighted] enables you to set the weighting of the image to you added. Set the weighting with the [Weight] slider below the [Composite Method] list box or by entering a value.
    • Click [100% view] to view the image at 100%, showing the actual pixels.

  5. Align the images.

    1. Shift by 50 pixels
    2. Shift by 1 pixel
    3. Align the center of the images
    4. You can also align the foreground image by entering the coordinates.
    • By default, the background and foreground are shown aligned at the center of both images.
    • Select [Compose in RAW Format] as needed.

    Caution

    • The following features are not available for images combined using [Compose in RAW Format].

      • Auto Lighting Optimizer ()
      • “Auto” Picture Style (automatically set to Standard) ()

    Note

    • Requirements for [Compose in RAW Format] are as follows.

      Both the background and foreground are RAW images, and all these conditions are met.

      • The images are from the same model of camera
      • Both images were captured at the same ISO speed
      • The same highlight tone priority setting was used
      • Both images were originally the same size

  6. Click [Save As].

    • Complete the required settings, then click [Save].
    • Click [Continue] to combine the images into a new background image, ready for you to add another foreground image to.
    • To exit, click [Close].

Methods of Compositing

  • Add

    Adds and combines the foreground and background.

  • Average

    Combines the foreground and background, with each representing 50% of the resulting image.

    To change the proportion of the foreground, select [Weighted].

  • Weighted

    Combines the foreground and background according to your weighting for the foreground image.

  • Lighten

    Compares the foreground and background and combines only brighter portions of the foreground.

  • Darken

    Compares the foreground and background and combines only darker portions of the foreground.

Note

  • You can add a button for this function to the main window toolbar ().