In this tutorial, we will create an awesome underwater photo manipulation. I’ll explain some of the more complex techniques I use in the first steps to make it easy for beginners but intermediate and advanced users can also learn a thing or two. I like doing underwater scenes because there is something mysterious about the depths of the oceans where all kinds of strange creatures live but also because I like putting menacing creatures and curious humans together in a scene.

Final Results

Tutorial Resources

• Underwater – WingsOfAhero
• Cathedral – Kippa2001 (Alternatives)
• Dragon – Elevit-Stock
• Diver – ZedsStock
• Fish – DarkAdathea
• Aquatic Plants – DarkAdathea
• Coffer – 1989Juni
• Coins – DarkAdathea (Alternative)
• Cup – DarkAdathea
• Skulls – kungfufrogmma
• Seahorse – Wolverine041269 (Alternative)
• Bubbles Brush – millertimemsu
• Light Brush – redheadstock
• Snow Texture – EmilyEmilybeth

Step 1

Open the file “Underwater”. This will be the base of our scene.

Step 2

Open the file “Cathedral”. Copy all by pressing Ctrl + A and Ctrl + C. Go back to our scene and paste with Ctrl + V. Transform this layer into a Smart Object by right-clicking on it in the Layer Palette and choosing Convert To Smart Object from the drop-down menu. Press Ctrl+T to enter Free Transform and position the cathedral as shown below. Hold the Shift key while dragging the corners when in Free Transform to resize proportionally.

By converting a layer into Smart Object we can resize the layer without actual loss of pixel information. We can also apply various filters that we can edit at a later time.

Step 3

Don’t forget to properly name your layers – organization is key when working with lots of layers.

Change the blending mode of the Cathedral layer to Soft Light and lower the opacity to 43%. As you can see this makes the cathedral blend nicely with the scene.

Step 4

We will use layers masks a lot in this tutorial so a short explanation is in order.

First, you can create layer masks by going to Layer > New Layer Mask > Reveal All.

Second – layer masks allow us to partially or completely hide a section of the layer without deleting the actual pixels of that layer – we are merely “masking” the layer. By painting with a black brush in a layer mask we will hide the painted area. If the brush is at various opacities (smaller than 100%) than we will partially hide that section and achieve a transparency effect that is very good for blending various objects in a scene. White color reveals a section of the layer – so for example, if we fill the layer mask with black (Shift + F5) we will completely hide the layer. Painting with a white brush at various opacities will partially or completely reveal the painted section.