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Learn step-by-step how to fade an image to black, white or any color background with Photoshop!
Perfect for adding space for text or to blend an image with a design.
Written by Steve Patterson. In this tutorial, I show you how easy it is to fade an image into any background color with
Photoshop. This is a great way to blend an image into a larger design, or for creating space to add text beside your
subject.
We'll start by creating a new document and placing an image into it. Then we'll choose an initial color for the background,
and fade the image into the color using a layer mask. Finally, I'll show you how to change the background to any color
you like, including how to choose a color directly from the image itself.
You can follow along with any recent version of Photoshop. But note that one of the steps uses a gradient, and Adobe
made changes to the gradients back in Photoshop 2020. So for best results with this tutorial, you'll want to be using
Photoshop 2020 or later. I'm using Photoshop 2021.
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An image faded into a background color.
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Step 1: Create a new Photoshop document
Start by creating a new document. If you're on Photoshop's Home Screen, create a new document by clicking the Create
new button
Or if you're on the main interface, go up to the File menu and choose New:
Then in the New Document dialog box, enter your settings. I'll set the Width to 3000 pixels, the Height to 1600 pixels,
the Resolution to 300 pixels per inch and the Background Contents to White:
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The new document settings.
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Clicking the Create button.
Navigate to the image on your computer, click on the image to select it, and then click Place:
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Choosing the image and clicking Place.
Photoshop places the image into the document, and it opens the Free Transform command so we can resize the image if
needed and move it into place. If your image is larger than the document size, Photoshop will automatically resize it to fit,
as it did here (fashion portrait from Adobe Stock):
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Free Transform opens automatically when placing an image into a document.
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Dragging the subject to one side of the document.
When you're done, close Free Transform by clicking the check mark in the Options Bar:
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Clicking the check mark.
In the Layers panel, we see that Photoshop placed the image on a new layer above the Background layer:
To add a Solid Color fill layer, first make sure your image layer is selected. Then click the New Fill or Adjustment Layer
icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:
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Clicking the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon.
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Choosing white as the starting background color.
Back in the Layers panel, the fill layer was added above the image, which is why it's blocking the image from view:
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The document is temporarily filled with white.
And notice that the fill layer includes a built-in layer mask. We'll use this layer mask to fade the color into the image:
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The layer mask thumbnail on the fill layer.
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Step 7: Select the Gradient Tool
To fade the color and the image together, we're going to draw a gradient on the mask. And for that, we need the Gradient
Tool.
In the Gradient Picker, twirl open the Basics folder (new as of Photoshop 2020) and choose the Black to White gradient
by double-clicking on its thumbnail:
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Double-clicking the Black to White gradient thumbnail.
So set a starting point for the gradient by clicking and holding somewhere in the general area of where your subject
appears. In my case, she's on the right:
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Clicking and holding with the Gradient Tool to set the start of the gradient.
Then with your mouse button still held down, press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard and drag across the area
where you want the image and the color to fade into each other. So this will be the transition area between the color and
the image. Holding the Shift key as you drag limits the angle of the gradient so it's easier to drag straight across:
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Holding Shift and dragging across the transition area between the image and the color.
Then to complete the gradient, release your mouse button, and then release your Shift key (in that order). And just like
that, the image is now fading into the color:
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The image now fades into the color.
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100 percent visible and blocking the image from view. And the gradient in between is where they fade together:
Holding Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and clicking the layer mask thumbnail.
And now it's easier to see the black area where the image is showing through, the white where the color is visible, and
the transition area between them:
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Viewing the layer mask in the document.
Hold the Alt or Option key and click the layer mask thumbnail again to hide the mask:
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Holding Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and clicking again on the layer mask thumbnail.
I'll click to set my starting point somewhere around the woman's eye:
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Clicking to set the starting point of the second gradient.
Then with my mouse button still down, I'll hold the Shift key on my keyboard and I'll drag over to the left:
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Holding Shift and dragging across the transition area.
But notice when I release my mouse button that I went too far, and we can see the left edge of the image:
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The left edge of the image is visible.
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Clicking to set the starting point for the third attempt.
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Dragging out a shorter transition area.
I'll release my mouse button, then the Shift key. And this looks better:
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A better result.
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Double-clicking the fill layer's color swatch.
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Choosing a different color from the Color Picker.
Or choose one directly from the image. Just move your mouse cursor over the image and click on a color to sample it.
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color of an individual pixel. I'll choose 5x5:
Then click on different parts of the image to sample the color until you find the one that works best. I'll sample a grayish
color from the upper right. When you're done, click OK to close the Color Picker:
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Clicking in the upper right of the image to sample the color.
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Reselecting the layer mask.
Then with the Gradient Tool still selected, click and hold on the starting point, hold Shift, and drag out the transition area:
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Redrawing the gradient on the layer mask.
Release your mouse button, then release the Shift key. And here is my final result:
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The final effect.
Where to go next...
And there we have it! That's how to fade an image into any background color with Photoshop!
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For more ways to blend images together, check out my Three Ways to Blend Two Images tutorial. Or visit my Photo
Effects section for more tutorials! And don't forget, all of my tutorials are available to download as PDFs!
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