Photoshop Effects: Collage Of Warped Photos

Step 12: Add A New Blank Layer Above The Other Layers

We're almost done, but let's finish things off by adding some subtle highlights and shadows to our photo to enhance the illusion that it's really bending and twisting in 3D space. To do that, we first need to add a new layer above the other layers, so click on the top layer ("Layer 0 copy") to select it, then click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette to have Photoshop add a new blank layer at the top, which it automatically names "Layer 2":

Step 13: Change The Blend Mode Of The New Layer To "Hard Light"

We need to change the blend mode of our new layer. To do that, go up to the Blend Mode options in the top left corner of the Layers palette. By default, the layer is set to the "Normal" blend mode. Click on the down-pointing arrow to the right of the word "Normal" and select Hard Light from the list:

Step 14: Lower The Opacity Of The Layer

We're going to use this layer to paint in some highlights and shadows with Photoshop's Brush Tool, but before we do, we need to lower the opacity of this layer quite a bit. We want very subtle highlights and shadows, so go over to the Opacity option in the top right of the Layers palette and lower the opacity all the way down to about 20% to start with. You may need to raise or lower it slightly when you're done:

Step 15: Load A Selection Around The Image

Before we begin painting, let's make sure we paint "inside the lines" so-to-speak, so we're not painting over any of the transparent areas around the image. To do that, hold down your Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key and click directly on the preview thumbnail for "Layer 0 copy" (the layer that contains our image) in the Layers palette:

This loads a selection around the image in the document window:

Step 16: Select The Brush Tool

Select Photoshop's Brush Tool from the Tools palette, or simply press B on your keyboard to select it with the shortcut:

Step 17: Paint With Black To Add Shadows To The Image

With the Brush Tool selected and black as your Foreground color, paint over a few areas in the image to add subtle shadows, giving the image a bit more of a 3D look to it. Resize your brush as needed by pressing the left bracket key on your keyboard to make the brush smaller or the right bracket key to make it larger. To control the hardness of the brush edges, hold down your Shift key and press the left bracket key a few times to soften the edges, or hold down Shift and press the right bracket key a few times to make the brush edges harder.

You can also Right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) anywhere inside the document to bring up the Brush Tool dialog box where you can adjust the brush diameter and hardness with slider controls at the top:

Then simply paint over parts of the image to add some shadows. Thanks to the selection we've loaded around the image, we don't have to worry about accidentally painting in the area outside of the photo. The only area we can paint over is the area inside the selection.

If you make a mistake or you're just not happy with how you painted over an area, either press Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac) to undo your last brush stroke, or press E on your keyboard to switch to Photoshop's Eraser Tool, erase over the mistake, then press B to switch back to your Brush Tool and continue painting. Here's my image after painting in some shadows in the top left and right corners, as well as over the page curl in the bottom right corner:

We'll add some highlights next.