Step 16: Select The "Puzzle" Layer Once Again

We've cut one of the puzzle pieces out and have it floating above the puzzle. This time, let's remove one of the pieces completely. We need to have the "Puzzle" layer selected, so click on it in the Layers palette:

Step 17: Draw A Path Around Another Puzzle Piece With The Pen Tool

Choose a different puzzle piece and use the Pen Tool to draw a path around it, just as we did before:

Step 18: Convert The Path To A Selection

Again as we did before, press Ctrl+Enter (Win) / Command+Return (Mac) to quickly convert the path into a selection:

Step 19: Delete The Selection

All we're going to do with this piece is remove it completely from the puzzle, and for that, all we need to do is press Delete on the keyboard. This deletes the puzzle piece, leaving a hole in the "Puzzle" layer which allows the black background color to show through:

Press Ctrl+D (Win) / Command+D (Mac) to deselect your selection, removing the selection outline. Here's my photo after deleting the second puzzle piece:

Continue removing a few more pieces from the puzzle, either by cutting a piece out and floating it above the puzzle (Steps 11-15) or by simply deleting the piece completely (Steps 16-19). Always make sure you have the "Puzzle" layer selected in the Layers palette each time you go to cut or delete a piece.

Here's my image after cutting out and deleting a few more puzzle pieces:

Step 20: Draw A Path Around All The Edge Pieces (Optional)

These last few steps are optional, but I'm going to give my photo a more interesting border by deleting all of the puzzle pieces along the edges. Again, this is optional, but if you want to follow along, use the Pen Tool to draw one continuous path along the inside edges of all the pieces that run along the edges of the photo, as I've done here. Since it's difficult to see a path in a screenshot, I've highlighted my path in yellow:

Step 21: Convert The Path Into A Selection

Once you've drawn your path, press Ctrl+Enter (Win) / Command+Return (Mac) to quickly convert the path into a selection:

Step 22: Invert The Selection

We want to delete all of the pieces that run along the edges of the puzzle, which means we need to have the edge pieces selected. At the moment, though, we have everything except the edge pieces selected. We need to invert our selection so that everything that's currently selected will be deselected and everything that is currently not selected will become selected. To do that, go up to the Select menu at the top of the screen and choose Inverse:

All of the puzzle pieces along the edges of the photo will now be selected:

Step 23: Delete The Edge Pieces

With the edge pieces now selected, make sure you have the "Puzzle" layer selected in the Layers palette, then press Delete on your keyboard to delete them. Press Ctrl+D (Win) / Command+D (Mac) to remove the selection outline:

If you'd prefer to use white for the background instead of black, simply click on the "Background color" layer in the Layers palette to select it, then go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Fill to bring up the Fill dialog box. Choose White for the Contents option instead of black, then click OK to exit out of the dialog box:

This fills the background with white:

Step 24: Add A Drop Shadow To The Main Puzzle (Optional)

This final step is really only necessary if you've decided to use white for your background color instead of black. We're going to add a slight drop shadow to the main puzzle, and obviously, if your background color is black and the drop shadow is black, you won't be able to see the drop shadow, so you can skip this last step if you're still using black for your background.

To add the drop shadow to the main puzzle, first select the "Puzzle" layer in the Layers palette, then click on the Layer Style icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and select Drop Shadow from the list:

This once again brings up Photoshop's Layer Style dialog box set to the Drop Shadow options in the middle column. Lower the Opacity option down to 60% to reduce the intensity of the shadow, then uncheck the Use Global Light option and set the Angle to 120°. You can leave the rest of the options set to their defaults:

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the Layer Style dialog box, and we're done! Here, after applying a drop shadow to my main puzzle, is my final effect:

And there we have it!

Want a better way to learn? Download this tutorial as an easy to read, ready to print PDF eBook!

Or keep up-to-date with all of our latest free Adobe Photoshop tutorials by subscribing to our RSS feed!