Crafting new images with photo manipulation in {{photoshop}}.

In commercial work, you might want to get rid of elements in the frame that distract from the subject. “Photo manipulation has always been used,” says Antonio. “Maybe there’s a dustbin in the background or a line on the floor. My clients want the focus to be on their product, rather than on a random thing lying around.” By eliminating unwanted objects with tools like Content‑Aware Fill, subtle image manipulation pulls the viewer’s attention to the focal point.

Plan ahead.

If you’re creating digital art, think about what you’re combining and what themes you’ll be using in your work. Know what you’re going to do before you start in on your work. Sketch concepts, gather reference images and create a shot list before you open Adobe Photoshop online or on desktop. “It’s good to write down ideas when you have them,” says photographer Ronald Ong. “When ideas come up, I sketch them."

Get the perspective right.

Perspective is the first thing you’ll want to line up when combining photos. While it’s possible to alter lighting and colours in Photoshop, altering perspective is much more difficult. Use the Vanishing Point filter or the Free Transform Warp grid to align horizon lines before you add or remove objects.

Match lighting and colour.

After that, match lighting, going from darkest to lightest elements in your composition. “When you’re trying to match lighting, you want to match the darkest colour of your subject to match the darkest colour of your background,” says Valdes-Hevia. “Same with the highlights.”

Making sure colours match is your next step in combining images. Matching shadows and their range of colours, is important. An ordinary viewer might not be able to articulate why shadows look wrong, but they will notice it. “I always adjust the hue and saturation settings,” says Ong. “Make sure shadows blend into the background. Brightness, contrast, shadows, highlights — try to make it blend.” AI‑powered Local Tone Mapping in Photoshop can automate part of this balancing act and speed up colour correction.

Control subjects and elements in camera.

Finding stock images or other existing photos with complementary elements is possible, but sometimes the best photos are the ones you take yourself in a controlled photoshoot. “It often looks better if you take your own pictures because you can plan ahead and match all the lighting and perspective beforehand,” says Valdes-Hevia. Shooting tethered to Lightroom Mobile lets you preview exposure and perspective in real time, saving hours of corrective editing later. Getting shadows and perspective to line up and work together is much easier if you’re the one who created those shadows and perspectives in the first place.

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is the professional’s choice for advanced photo manipulation. It allows you to blend, retouch and create photorealistic compositions with pixel-level accuracy. AI features such as Generative Fill, Remove Background, Content-Aware Fill, and Neural Filters enable faster, more intuitive editing. Photoshop is available on desktop and now online in your browser, making it easier to manipulate photos wherever you are.

Photoshop Express

Ideal for quick edits on mobile, Photoshop Express brings the power of Photoshop to your fingertips. Use it to apply filters, remove blemishes, change backgrounds and make instant enhancements. It’s especially useful for beginners or social media content creators looking for fast, effective image manipulation.

Adobe Lightroom

While Adobe Lightroom is designed primarily for photo retouching and colour correction, it plays an important role in preparing images for manipulation. Use AI features like automatic sky and subject selection, healing tools, and adaptive presets to fine-tune photos before exporting them to Photoshop for more complex compositing.