I explain the distinction between inserting an image in Photoshop and opening one in this tutorial. We’ll show that you may choose an image and open it using both the Place command and the Open command. But the command you execute once the image is in Photoshop determines where it ends up. The image will be opened in a separate document. The other makes it simple to combine two photographs into one by allowing you to access the image as a layer in an already existing document! See how they function first.
How to use Photoshop to open a picture
In order to open two photos into Photoshop for this tutorial, I’ll first use the Open command and then a different tool called Place Embedded. I don’t have any open pictures or documents right now.
The Open button
Let’s begin with the Open command, which you can get by selecting Open from the File menu up in the Menu Bar:
The command Place Embedded
However, if we scroll down the list, we’ll see another option under the File menu named Place Embedded before I choose it. And here is the procedure we follow to upload an image to Photoshop:
The Place Embedded command is now grayed out, thus we are unable to pick it. And the reason is because I don’t have any other papers open at the moment. We must have at least one document open before we can insert an image. You’ll soon understand why.
Displaying the first picture
Since Place Embedded is not an option, I will pick Open:
I’ll then go to the folder on my PC where my photographs are stored. I have two jpeg photos in this instance. Both are textures, with the first being a portrait. After selecting the portrait image using my mouse, I’ll click Open.
And Photoshop opens the picture as expected:
The image was really placed within a new document that Photoshop had generated for the purpose of holding the image. The tab just beneath the Options Bar has the following name:
revealing the second picture
I also require the texture picture from my second image. I’ll do it by returning to the File menu:
The Place Embedded command is no longer grayed out this time because I already have one document open, so I could choose it:
But for now, I’ll disregard that and once more select the Open command to compare Open and Place Embedded:
I’ll next choose my texture picture and click “Open”:
The second picture then appears in Photoshop:
Two active pictures, two distinct Photoshop papers
I now have two papers open, one for each image, and you’ll note that the second image opens in a different document. The tabs at the top allow us to move between the papers, but the photographs are entirely independent of one another:
The picture on the Background layer is displayed in each document’s Layers panel. However, there is no way for the photos to interact because they are in different documents:
How to position a photo in Photoshop
When working on individual photographs without requiring them to interact, having them open in different documents is good. Therefore, the Open command is excellent in certain situations.
What if, however, we wanted to merge or combine the two pictures? Then, it is ineffective to have them in distinct papers. We need a solution to open both photos into a single document instead. In light of this, an image placement is necessary. And the Place Embedded command is used to embed a picture in Photoshop.
Putting the second photo away
For the time being, I’ll shut my texture image by clicking the tiny x in its tab:
Keep the first picture open
But keep in mind that we need at least one document open in Photoshop before we can import a picture. I’ll leave my portrait image unfinished.
Putting the second picture in
I’ll then select the File menu to insert the second picture into this document:
But I’ll pick Place Embedded rather than the Open command:
After choosing the texture picture, I’ll click Place:
One Photoshop document, two open images
It also opens in the same document as the first image this time, as opposed to opening in a different one:
Photoshop automatically launches the Free Transform function so that we may resize the picture before inserting it. I’ll drag the handles to make my texture larger as it’s a little smaller than the portrait:
I’ll check the box in the Options Bar, accept it, and then end Free Transform.
Opened layers for placed pictures
Observe how the second image opens on its own layer above the original image in the Layers window.
If I disable the texture picture by clicking the icon for its visibility:
Recurring in the portrait:
Then, if I activate the texture layer once more:
The texture comes back. I was able to open both photos into the same page by using the Place Embedded command rather than the Open command:
Combining the two pictures
I may combine the two photographs because they are in the same document. The blend modes in Photoshop make this the simplest.
Changing the blend mode for a layer
I’ll switch the texture layer’s blend mode from Normal to Soft Light while it is chosen.
The texture and the image below it are combined in this way:
Decreasing layer opacity
I’ll then reduce the opacity of the texture layer from 100% to 60% in order to fade the texture:
Here is the finished product, with a more subdued texture:
There you have it, then! That is the distinction between inserting a picture in Photoshop and opening an image. If you just have one picture and you wish to open many photos in different documents, use the Open command. In order to insert a picture into an already existing document, use Place Embedded.
