3 Ways to Combine Photos Using Photoshop

Creativity is about mixing two or more elements into something wonderful. Learning to combine photos using Photoshop is a basic skill. The steeper learning curve really starts after that when you have to create eye-catching effects from the simple mix of images.

Adobe Photoshop is a powerful piece of software, so there are many ways to edit photos using Photoshop. Let’s start with the easiest methods to bring two photos into the canvas and combine them into a new photo in under five minutes.

The three methods are:

• Create a composite layout.
• Blend one photo with another.
• Combine a specific part of a photo.

1. Drag and Combine Photos Into a Composite Layout

You must have seen those fancy magazine page layouts with images arranged beautifully. It is the easiest method to combine photos in Photoshop.

1. Launch Photoshop. Start with a new image. Choose File > New.
2. Go through the document types like Web or Print on the dialog box. You can use the Width and Height measurements of your base photo. Set the Background to Transparent from the dropdown. Click OK.
   
3. Bring the first photo from your computer into the document and then position it as you like.
4. Press Ctrl + T for the Free Transform handles. Click and drag the handles around the edges to resize the image if it does not fit the document. Press Enter to commit the transform or click the checkmark on the toolbar.
5. Add your other image to the document with a drag and drop. Each image is on its own layer. If the layer panel is not visible, go to Window > Layers.
6. Drag and drop the layers with the Layer Panel to move images on top or below each other. Use the Move tool (Shortcut: V Key) to reposition the images as you want.
   
7. Now, finetune your design so that it looks exactly right. To resize the images and make their edges touch each other (without distorting them too much), you can always use the Ctrl +T (Windows) or Command + T (Mac OS) for the Free Transform handles.

Your final layout will depend on the number of images you want to combine. Try different ways to order them until you are happy with the look. You can also frame your composite better by adding beautiful borders to your photos.

2. Combine Photos With Blend Modes

Blend modes change the way one layer interacts with the layer below it. This gives you many options to combine two photos into creative composites.

There are several ways to use them creatively, but here’s a simple walkthrough for adding elements of one photo to another.

1. Start with two photos each in its own layer. The main image should be the bottom layer. The image (the sand dunes) you want to combine should be on top.
   
2. In the Layers panel, select the top layer. Use the dropdown to the top left of the Layers panel to change the blend mode.
3. The default blend mode is Normal which means that the two layers are not blending. Once you change the blend mode, the colors in the top layer will interact with the colors on the layer below.
   

The final image uses the Darken mode here. The part of the top image (the sand dunes) which is darker than the bottom layer is now visible. The part which is lighter than the trees does not appear. The Lighten blend mode does the reverse.

Cycle through the other blend modes to find the one that looks best with your images. Multiply, Screen, and Overlay are three common blend modes. You can also use the Opacity slider to finetune the texture on the image.

Tip: Want to cycle through the blend modes quickly? First, press the letter V to select the Move tool. Then, press and hold the Shift key and use the plus (+) and minus (–) keys to go up or down the list. It’s a quicker way to visually compare the blend modes.

It can be a little daunting for beginners. So, learn more about blending modes and keep experimenting to grasp how it works visually.

3. Combine Any Part of a Photo With a Layer Mask

A layer mask helps you combine two photos when you want to merge part of one photo into another photo.

1. Bring the two images you want to combine into Photoshop and place them as two layers. The main image (the hand) should be at the bottom and the image you want to merge (the bulb) should be on top.
   
   You can also bring the second image from File > Place Embedded to add it as a Smart Object (how to use Smart Objects in Photoshop). But let’s keep it simple for this tutorial.
2. Go to the Layers panel and select the top layer.
3. Click the Add layer mask icon (the rectangle with the black circle). The layer mask links to the top layer and appears as a white thumbnail next to it. The white part of the mask reveals everything below it on the linked layer. The black part hides everything else. You have to use these black and white properties to hide and combine parts of the top layer with the layer below it.
   
4. Select the Brush tool from the Tools panels. Hit D on the keyboard to set default colors as Black and White in the Tools panel. On Windows, press the Alt + Right Mouse key and then drag left or right to decrease or increase brush size. Drag up or down to decrease or increase brush hardness.
5. Click on the Mask thumbnail to keep it selected. Choose black as the brush paint color and start painting on the mask on the image to make areas you want to hide. In this case, we are hiding everything except the bulb. You can reverse the color to white and touch up the areas you want to keep hidden.
6. Press Ctrl + T for Free Transform. Use the corner handles to resize the image of the bulb proportionate to the hand.
   

The layer mask controls the transparency or the amount of light it will let through. Unlike the Opacity slider which applies to the entire image, the layer mask is more selective with the black and white interplay as we see above.

This is a simple illustration of layer masks as there are better ways to select and mask a subject in Photoshop.

Stitch Photos Into Wide Panoramas

If you are into landscape photography, then panoramas are the best way to grab more visual real estate. If you are not packing a DSLR or a wide angle lens, don’t despair, as you can do a lot with a simple lens too.

Just take multiple photos and combine them with Photoshop’s Photomerge feature. Of course, Photomerge isn’t the only tool that can stitch them for you. So why not try these free tools to create a panorama from multiple photos.

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What Is the EARN IT Bill and How Will It Affect Digital Privacy?

Every so often, a government puts forward a bill that threatens our privacy on the internet. One of these is the American EARN IT bill, which caused discontent amongst privacy enthusiasts due to potentially making privacy a thing of the past.

Let’s explore what the EARN IT bill is, what it’s trying to achieve, and why you should care.

What Is the EARN IT Bill?

The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2020 (EARN IT Act of 2020) is the new bill to tackle abusive content online. The bill’s acronym is not a coincidence; the initial idea was that websites had to “earn” protection by obeying the government’s guidance.

The “protection” in question is section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. If a business wants this protection, they have to allow the installation of a governmental backdoor on their systems. If they allow it, they’re protected; however, if they don’t, someone can sue them into bankruptcy.

Two relatively vague terms are fundamental to understanding the EARN IT bill: “section 230” and “governmental backdoor.” As such, before we can discuss what the EARN IT bill means for the internet, let’s explore what these terms mean and understand why they’re essential.

What Is “Section 230?”

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is titled “Protection for private blocking and screening of offensive material.” This is an important section of the act, as it allows websites to promote free speech without getting into trouble.

Section 230 aims to separate the people making statements on a website from the host of said website. For example, imagine if a website owner installed a forum that they hosted themselves. They leave for a few days and come back to find that some rogue users posted illegal content on the forum.

If this case ends up going to the courts, it’s not inherently clear who here was in the wrong. Was it the host, as they let the content sit there unmoderated? Or is it the user, who posted illegal content in the first place?

Fortunately, section 230 answers the problem for us. It states that, when illegal content finds its way onto a website, the original poster is in trouble:

(1) Treatment of publisher or speaker

No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

This is the protection that the original EARN IT bill had companies “earn.” If they complied, content produced on their website was the uploader’s responsibility. If they didn’t, they could be treated as a publisher of illegal content and subsequently sued.

What Is a “Governmental Backdoor?”

You’ll usually see the term “backdoor” in shady or criminal activity. It’s an entry point in a system that skirts around the defenses and allows for unfettered entry.

Backdoors can either be planned in advance or created by hackers. For the former, a company develops devices with a pre-made backdoor that others can use for spying. Huawei came under fire about backdoors in their devices in 2019, which caused friction over the idea of letting Huawei set up 5G in other countries.

Hackers can also set up backdoors for themselves. They infect a system with malware which then “opens up a passageway” for rogue connections to enter through.

In the case of the EARN IT bill, it would ask for businesses to create a backdoor for the government to use. If the government believes that a user posts illegal content, they can use the backdoor to view encrypted information and identify the culprit.

The Current History of the EARN IT Bill

The EARN IT bill you’ll see today is different from the original copy. As such, let’s look at what it initially said and how it has evolved.

The Original EARN IT Bill

When the EARN IT bill first appeared, it didn’t inspire much confidence in privacy advocates. EFF reported on the bill when it came out, noting its dangerous elements.

In the original bill, the government appoints 19 people as a commission for the internet. These people would work with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to draw up a list of “best practices.”

Then, the government would ask businesses to comply with these practices. If they do, the government can then establish a backdoor to read encrypted messages for law enforcement purposes. Because the company allowed the government to look at their user’s messages, it has “earned” the right for protection under section 230.

If the business does not, the government declares that they haven’t earned the right to use section 230. As such, if someone does post illegal content on the website, the site’s owner comes under fire.

The Revised EARN IT Bill

Fortunately, the original bill underwent some changes to make it less stern; however, it still poses a threat to your privacy online.

As EFF reports again, this new bill doesn’t have the “earn it or lose it” aspect of the original draft. Instead, the new bill will weaken section 230 so that if websites host child abuse imagery, law enforcement can take the host to court. It also scraps the 19-person committee and gives their powers to state legislature.

As such, instead of demanding businesses to “comply or die,” each state will have its own laws as to how to tackle child abuse imagery. At the very least, someone can sue a website hosting these images, even if the host didn’t post the pictures themselves.

Arguments For and Against the EARN IT Bill

As you might expect, the bill’s existence has caused major debate. The new revised version has its supporters and critics, who put forward their arguments for and against EARN IT.

Arguments For the EARN IT Bill

Support for EARN IT comes from governmental sources, as well as anti-child abuse organizations. Currently, law enforcement finds it hard to take down abusive images online. They can’t tackle the host, because section 230 protects them; however, they can’t get information on the original poster due to encryption.

These groups hope that EARN IT gives law enforcement more power to get rid of child abuse imagery. If a state allows it, the law can monitor encrypted data directly. At the very least, websites that host abusive content lose protection under section 230, thus prompting web hosts to be diligent about what users post on their websites.

Arguments Against the EARN IT Bill

Critics, however, don’t believe that the ultimate goal for EARN IT is to prevent child abuse imagery online. They believe the government is actually targeting a major thorn in their side: encryption.

Encryption is the government’s worst nightmare. It allows people to say and post whatever they please without governments tracking their every action. As such, privacy advocates watch closely for any potential “encryption buster” bills disguised as something else.

Privacy advocates argue that the EARN IT bill won’t do much to catch criminals. The posters will likely use VPNs and encryption services of their own, which makes it extremely hard to track them. As such, advocates believe the main goal for EARN IT is to weaken encryption and allow the government to see what everyone is posting.

How the EARN IT Bill Will Affect Your Privacy

How this bill will affect you depends on the laws that each state will set. For instance, some will demand that websites have a backdoor for law enforcement. If this happens, the government can monitor your communications as you use the website.

This also affects you even if you’re not in the US. For example, if you visit an American website, there’s a chance that the government can monitor your data. As such, if the EARN IT bill passes, it may force privacy advocates around the world to adopt measures such as the Tor Browser.

Keeping Your Privacy Online

With the new EARN IT bill making its way through government, it poses a threat to those who want privacy on the internet. Even if it does pass, you can still protect yourself using a VPN or the Tor Browser.

If you do decide to take control of your privacy, be sure to read these top tips for using the Tor Browser.

Image Credit: Proxima Studio/Shutterstock

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A Beginner’s Guide to Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

If you stay on top of gaming trends, you’ll have heard of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. It was released in August 2020 to a lot of hype, especially on Twitch.

In this beginner’s guide, we’ll explain what Fall Guys is, give you some tips to help you beat the game, and help you decide if it’s worth playing.

What Is Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout?

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (usually shortened to just Fall Guys) is an online multiplayer game. It takes inspiration from real-life obstacle course game shows, like Wipeout and Takeshi’s Castle.

You play as a bean-like character who tries to survive as long as they can through a series of challenges. The game comes complete with goofy physics, so your character feels a bit dopey to control and bounces around like a ragdoll when hit.

The game has elements of the battle royale genre, as you compete to be the last challenger standing. However, unlike other battle royale games like Fortnite or PUBG, the genre’s influences are pretty light. You don’t try to eliminate specific opponents and take their resources to boost your own chances of winning.

The game launched on August 4, 2020 for Steam and PS4. It’s not currently available on any other platforms.

How Does Fall Guys Work?

When you start Fall Guys, you’ll encounter a brief tutorial explaining how the game works. The controls are simple: aside from moving your character and camera, you can jump (X on PS4 and Space on PC), dive (Square on PS4 and Ctrl on PC) and grab other players (R2 on PS4 and Shift on PC).

From there, select Play on the main screen and you’ll queue up for a match. Each match starts off with 60 characters and slowly whittles the player count down by eliminating people through a series of minigames.

Your goal is to be the last player standing by winning the final minigame. Each match consists of five rounds of games. If you’re eliminated at any point, you can continue watching to see who wins, or exit to begin another attempt at the top spot.

As you play, you’ll earn credits that you can redeem for cosmetic rewards. Winning earns you a special credit called crowns, which you need for certain items in the shop.

A Look at Some Fall Guys Minigames

Fall Guys is all about the challenges—in a way, it’s like a survival version of Mario Party. With over 20 different games (and more on the way, according to the developers), there are too many to cover individually here.

Instead, we’ll explain the different types of games you’ll participate in, illustrate with a few examples, and offer some tips for success along the way.

Racing Games

These are straightforward: everyone competes to be the first one to the goal line. You’ll need to finish close enough to the front of the pack to continue on.

Most of the racing games are large, meaning you’ll see them early on when there are still lots of players left.

Gate Crash

In this game, you’ll need to head for the finish while navigating around a series of doors that open and close regularly. These can really mess you up if you miss the timing, so do your best to anticipate what doors will be open when you reach them. Don’t just head for whichever one is currently down!

Fruit Chute

In this race, you’ll need to avoid the fruit that flies all over the place. During the final stretch, watch for the rolling logs that come right down the middle. They’re easy to miss with all the fruit in the air and can easily take you out.

Survival Games

In Survival modes, you must stay alive during an increasingly dangerous challenge. The round ends after some time passes or a set number of people are eliminated.

Most Survival modes show up when a fair chunk of the competitors have been eliminated.

Jump Club

In this game, you must dodge two spinning poles that rotate around the playing field. Focus on jumping over the green obstacle at the bottom; you can usually survive a light bump against the top pink pole.

Perfect Match

This game places you on a set of floating tiles, which rotate in cycles to show you a fruit underneath them. When the timer expires, you’ll see a fruit and you must jump to a tile with the matching fruit quickly. If you’re wrong, the tile disappears and you’re eliminated.

Do your best to stand on a tile that’s close to as many other fruits as possible. That way, you’ll have options when you know what the safe fruit is.

Team Games

In team games, you’ll split up into groups and work together for a round. Everyone on the last-place team at the end of the round is eliminated. Depending on the size of the team game, they can appear with many players remaining, or just a few.

Team Tail Tag

This mode splits you into four teams. Some players spawn with tails, which you can steal from them using the grab button. Whichever team has the fewest total number of tails at the end loses.

To easily grab a tail, wait for someone to make a mistake (and end up helpless on the ground) before you move in.

Jinxed

Jinxed is similar to “infected” modes seen in other games. One player from each team starts jinxed (you’ll see pink clouds on their body) and must grab opposing players to jinx them too. Whichever team has all of its members jinxed first loses.

Keep in mind that you move more slowly while holding down the grab button, so only use it when you’re close to someone.

Final Games

If you make it to a game marked as Final, congratulations, you’re only one round away from winning a match of Fall Guys. Just don’t lose your cool now, as there’s only one winner in these rounds.

Royal Fumble

This is like Team Tail Tag, except there’s only one tail. To win, you must be the one holding the tail when time expires. If you don’t have it, do your best to analyze the movements of the leader and cut them off. When you do have it, move unpredictably and keep an eye out for opponents jumping at you.

Hex-A-Gone

This finale features several floors made up of hexagonal tiles. Each time someone touches one, it disappears. Your goal is to be the last person who falls to the bottom of the stage.

For victory here, always have a plan for moving to the next tile. And remember that it’s not necessarily bad to drop down to the next floor early, as it gives you more tiles to work with.

Should You Buy Fall Guys?

Now that you know a bit about Fall Guys, is it worth playing?

Overall, the game is fun. It has a cheery aesthetic, fitting music, and is easy to get into (unlike a lot of other battle royale titles). You might have even more fun with it playing with friends than we did playing solo.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is best played in small bursts. Even with more than 20 challenges, we tended to see the same couple of ones pop up regularly. This becomes repetitive, especially with the early race stages that are fairly easy to clear.

The team minigames are definitely the worst part of the game. It feels like your individual performance has little effect on whether your team wins or loses, meaning that you’ll often lose a good run to a team game you had no control over.

Finally, the game also has a full microtransactions store, even though it’s a paid title. You earn credits slowly through playing, but can buy more with real money. The character customization is minor, so it’s not a huge problem, but we still don’t love seeing a free-to-play style setup in a paid game like this.

At the time of writing, Fall Guys is available for $20 on Steam and PS4. If you enjoy casual minigames and don’t mind a bit of repetition, it’s worth a look, especially if you have friends to play with. Hopefully, the game will soon add additional challenges and tweak the team minigames, which will make it easier to recommend.

You're probably all wondering…

What's next for Fall Guys?

Well, we're going to be releasing new levels, new costumes, and new features

I would like to quote a greater being than myself:

"You fool, this isn't even my final form"
– Frieza, Dragonball Z pic.twitter.com/ymiVuzudlC

— Fall Guys ? (@FallGuysGame) August 4, 2020

In August 2020, the game is also free for PS Plus subscribers, so you should at least add it to your library if you’re a member. Once added, it’s yours to keep all the while you stay subscribed to PS Plus.

Buy: Fall Guys for PS4 | Steam ($20)

Is Fall Guys the Next Big Online Multiplayer Game?

We’ve taken a look at Fall Guys so that you know what the game is all about. Hopefully this gives you an idea of whether you’d like to play it. With its addictive nature and free release on PS Plus, this could certainly become the next viral game.

Keep in mind that the multiplayer in Fall Guys is online only. So, if you prefer playing with friends in the same room, check out the best local multiplayer games on PS4.

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How to Delete Your TikTok Account

Are you sick of TikTok? With the recent call to uninstall TikTok for privacy reasons, it’s understandable why you might want to delete your TikTok account.

Whether you want to stop using TikTok over security concerns, or if you’re just getting tired of TikTok trends, it’s easy to delete your account. Here’s how…

How to Delete Your TikTok Account

To delete your TikTok account once and for all, first, open the TikTok app, and hit the Me tab at the bottom right corner of the screen. Then, when you get to your profile, select the three vertical dots at the top-right side of the page.

From here, hit Manage my account to bring up your account settings. At the very bottom of the screen, you’ll see Delete account. Click that option if you’re positive that you want to delete your TikTok account for good.

TikTok will then ask you to verify your account. If you signed up using an email, you’ll have to re-enter your password. Otherwise, you’ll have to verify your account through Facebook or Google.

After verifying your account, you’ll see a confirmation page. TikTok lists what will happen when you delete your account, and if you’re okay with that, hit Delete Account at the bottom of the page.

What to Know Before You Delete Your TikTok Account

Before you delete your TikTok account, it’s a good idea to download your TikTok videos (if you want to keep them). This is because deleting your account means that you’ll no longer have access to any of your videos. You should also keep in mind that you won’t get a refund for any Coins or Gifts purchased through the app.

Unfortunately, TikTok won’t delete your account right away—it will only hide it from other users for 30 days. Once this waiting period is over, TikTok will then permanently erase your account.

In case you change your mind about deleting your TikTok account, you can always reactivate it during that 30-day time period. Simply log into your account like you normally would, and TikTok will give you the option of reactivating your account.

Taking a Break From TikTok

When you delete your TikTok account, you can breathe a sigh of relief. After that 30-day wait time, you’ll finally be free of TikTok!

Do you want to get rid of your other social media accounts as well? Then check out our guide detailing how to delete your social media accounts on the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

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