Make image less busy or less evident

[kbrownk]

I am trying to overlap two images but one is really dominating visually and is also really busy. I'd like to 'fog out' the dominating picture without losing a lot of information from it. I think making the colors less vivid would help enhance the colors of the other image, but maybe there's more I can do? The images are biological and I am working on a potential scientific journal cover page, so I can't just remove things or distort to the point where it is cartoonish. I know nothing about image processing, so I feel like I'm probably complete unaware of simple methods that could do amazing things I was unaware of above and beyond just toning down contrast or saturation.

Thanks for any ideas and help,

kbrownk

[Ego Eram Reputo]

Try lowering the opacity of the dominant layer (assuming you have the two images loaded into separate layers):

1. Select the layer so it is active in the Layers window.

2. Press F4

3. Shift the opacity slider left to increase the apparent transparency of the layer.

There are other methods, including dragging a semi-transparent gradient across the layer to fade out some areas. Try the one above first and if that doesn't do the job well enough, try the Gradient Tool method. Info: http://www.getpaint....adientTool.html

This tutorial might also be of interest: http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/19517-beginner-image-merging-image-heavy/

[kbrownk]

Try lowering the opacity of the dominant layer (assuming you have the two images loaded into separate layers):

1. Select the layer so it is active in the Layers window.

2. Press F4

3. Shift the opacity slider left to increase the apparent transparency of the layer.

There are other methods, including dragging a semi-transparent gradient across the layer to fade out some areas. Try the one above first and if that doesn't do the job well enough, try the Gradient Tool method. Info: http://www.getpaint....adientTool.html

This tutorial might also be of interest: http://forums.getpai...ng-image-heavy/

I think opacity is exactly what I was looking for and I wouldn't have figured that out. It makes the background colors less vivid but I guess that's the point. Thanks for the help!

-kbrownk

[StarDebut]

I didnt know there was a gradient tool for paint.net I am over the moon now. WOO!

this means i can do mirrors but still using a transparant background via PNG.

I was having to save the image with a background the same color as the html doc bg color.

I was doing a ... create new layer, fill, cut to transparant, and then blurring and refitting. So hurrah!

Edited March 5, 2011 by StarDebut

[Ego Eram Reputo]

There has been a gradient tool in Paint.NET for ages