How to Photoshop UFOs Into a Picture

UFOs have been in the public consciousness for decades. Since the "crash" at Roswell, conspiracy theorists have long held that we have been visited by extraterrestrials on numerous occasions. Nevertheless, most people feel that there are mundane explanations for UFOs. But you can certainly add to the controversy or have a little fun by using Photoshop to add UFOs into a picture you've already taken.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Adobe Photoshop
• Pictures of UFOs
• Pictures

1. Take a picture of an outdoor scene, either urban or rural. Great UFO pictures can be produced in any setting, although they appear to be more "believable" if they're set in rural areas since less people would be around to see them.

2. Find a good picture of a UFO--one that is clear and not too blurry or obscure. It's also a good idea to find a picture that is larger than you need. This allows you to shrink it without losing too much resolution as you reduce its size.

3. Scan or upload your photos into your computer. Put them in a folder you can find easily or simply have them uploaded directly to your desktop.

4. Open Photoshop. This is easily done by accessing it from your Start Menu or by clicking on its icon if you've left it on the desktop.

5. Open the primary picture: the one of the wilderness or cityscape. Keep this one open in the background.

6. Open the picture of the UFO in the same instance of Photoshop.

7. Use the "Lasso" tool to rope the entire UFO image. The Lasso tool is tricky to use since it will sometimes grab surrounding elements you don't want, but you can address that in the next step.

8. Create a new image, but a blank one, using the File -> New command from the Menu Bar.

9. Paste the lassoed UFO image into the blank image.

10. Clean up the UFO image using the various paint and image tools. For example, trim away any extraneous elements using "white" or "transparent" ink to clean it up. When you're done you should only be left with the image of the UFO.

11. Copy the UFO image using Control-C.

12. Paste the UFO image into the background using Control-V.

13. Use the Hand Tool to position the UFO wherever you want it in the final image.

14. Get the latest updates for Photoshop directly from Adobe.com (see Resources below). Adobe maintains Photoshop regularly, and you can find great resources through the website.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a CAD program to build and design your own UFOs from scratch. This helps in two ways. First, it allows you to create a completely unique design for you to add into a picture. Second, it eliminates the possibility of someone noticing that the UFOs you've used for your Photoshop project already exist in another image.
• Try to keep the resolution on the picture relatively low or it will be very easy to detect the fact that you added the UFOs using Photoshop. Having the picture be slightly blurred can help reduce the appearance of the errors in the final product. If the UFOs you are adding into the picture are just for fun, then it might actually be a good thing to make it look sloppy.

Resources

• Buy Photoshop from Adobe.com.