Double Exposure in Photoshop: Blend a Portrait and a Skyline

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A double exposure in Photoshop blends two photos into one image, so a city skyline seems to fill the shape of a person.

The effect comes from a real-world film technique, where photographers exposed the same frame of film twice to blend two images together.

In Photoshop, the Lighten blending mode does most of the work. It compares two layers and keeps whichever pixel is lighter.

On its own, the blending mode gives you very little control. So you’ll use adjustment layers, mainly Exposure and Black and White, to decide exactly which parts of each photo show through.

This tutorial is for beginners who want a clean, non-destructive workflow. Every step can be edited later, and you can swap out either photo at any time.

The video was recorded in September 2017 in Photoshop 2017 (version 18.1). Every tool it uses still works in the current version, and the steps below point out where the interface has changed.

What You Will Learn

• How to blend two photos with the Lighten blending mode
• How to organize the effect into two groups with their own adjustment layers
• How to control the blend with Exposure and Black and White adjustment layers
• How to tone the image with a Gradient Map or bring back some color
• How to finish the effect with the Camera Raw Filter inside a Smart Object

Requirements

Keyboard Shortcuts

Step 1: Open the Portrait and Bring In the City Image

Open your portrait. The video uses a photo of a man on a white background.

A white background makes the effect much easier. If your photo doesn’t have one, Step 3 shows you how to add it.

Next, bring in the second photo. In the video, it’s an Adobe Stock image saved to a Creative Cloud library. Click and drag it from the Libraries panel onto your document, then close the Libraries panel.

To zoom out, hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and scroll down with the mouse wheel. Then click and drag a corner handle to make the city image larger.

Name the two layers so they’re easy to find later. The video names the portrait layer man and the second layer city.

Step 2: Create a Quick Double Exposure in Photoshop

Select the city layer on top. In the Layers panel, change its blending mode to Lighten.

You already have a convincing double exposure. The city fills the dark parts of the portrait, and the white background hides the rest of the city.

This is the easiest way to create the effect, but it doesn’t give you much control. The rest of the tutorial uses the same idea, with adjustment layers that let you fine-tune the blend.

Step 3: Put Your Subject on a White Background (If Needed)

Skip this step if your portrait already has a white background.

1. Create a Solid Color fill layer, make it white, and move it to the very bottom of the layer stack.
2. Select your portrait layer. Use the Quick Selection Tool to make a selection around the person.
3. Click the New Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Your person now sits on a white background. The video only demonstrates this with a rough selection, then deletes the mask and the solid color because its photo already has a white background.

Step 4: Build the Bottom Image Group

Set the city layer back to Normal for now.

Click the New Group icon in the Layers panel. Move the group to the bottom of the layer stack and name it Bottom Image. This group holds the photo that sits at the bottom of the effect.

With the group selected, add two adjustment layers inside it:

• A Black and White adjustment layer
• An Exposure adjustment layer

The video deletes the layer mask on each adjustment layer so it isn’t distracting. That’s optional, and you can leave the masks if you prefer.

Step 5: Duplicate the Group for the Top Image

With the Bottom Image group selected, press CtrlJ (Windows) or CommandJ (macOS) to duplicate it. Rename the copy Top Image.

Now move each photo into its group. Drag the man layer to the bottom of the Bottom Image group. Then drag the city layer to the bottom of the Top Image group.

Make sure each photo is inside its group. When you collapse the groups, you shouldn’t see the photo layers at all.

Step 6: Blend the Double Exposure With Lighten

Select the Top Image group. In the blending mode menu, choose Lighten.

You get the same effect as before, but now each photo has its own adjustment layers.

Use the Move Tool to click and drag the city into place. Position it so the buildings sit where you want them on the person.

Here’s why the groups have these two adjustment layers. The final effect is roughly black and white, so the Black and White adjustment layer makes that easy to create and control. The Exposure adjustment layer controls the luminance values of each photo.

Step 7: Control the Double Exposure With an Exposure Adjustment Layer

The Lighten blending mode tells Photoshop to look at the city layer and the man layer, and keep whichever pixel is lighter.

Select the Exposure adjustment layer in the Top Image group. Drag the Exposure slider all the way down to -20. Every pixel turns black, so none of the city shows. Every pixel in the layer below is brighter.

Now drag the slider to the right. The city turns almost completely white, and white is brighter than anything below it, so it covers the portrait.

Somewhere in between is the blend you want. Drag the slider until the city shows only where you like it.

The Exposure adjustment layer in the Bottom Image group works the same way. Drag its slider to negative values and the white background turns dark, so it starts to disappear and the city shows through.

Step 8: Target Colors With the Black and White Adjustment Layer

The Black and White adjustment layer does more than remove color. It lets you control the brightness of each area based on its original color.

In the video, the man’s jacket was blue. Select the Black and White adjustment layer and drag the Blues slider to the left. The jacket gets darker, so those pixels disappear and the city shows through.

Drag the slider to the right, and more of the jacket shows.

Skin tones live mostly in the Reds and Yellows. Use those two sliders to control how much of the face blends with the city.

For more on this adjustment layer, see how to make black and white photos in Photoshop.

Step 9: Use Curves or Levels to Control the Exposure

The Lighten blending mode works with luminance. That means any adjustment layer that changes luminosity can control the blend.

The video uses Exposure because it’s one of the easiest. You only drag one slider left or right. A Curves or Levels adjustment layer works too.

You can also stack several adjustment layers and limit one to a small area:

1. Add a Curves adjustment layer to the group and make your adjustment.
2. With the layer mask selected, click the Invert button in the Properties panel. The mask turns black and hides the adjustment.
3. Select the Brush Tool and paint with white to bring the adjustment back only where you want more detail.

Each extra adjustment layer changes the luminosity of one photo, which changes how it blends in Lighten mode.

Step 10: Tone the Double Exposure Effect With a Gradient Map

This is a stylized image, so a color tone helps it. Add a Gradient Map adjustment layer.

In the Properties panel, open the gradient picker and click the gear icon. Choose Photographic Toning and click OK.

Try the presets in the top row. They all work well for this effect. The video uses the first one, and the fourth one is another good choice.

For a two-color version of this toning, see the duotone effect in Photoshop.

Step 11: Add Color to the Double Exposure (Optional)

If you want color in the effect, you have a few options.

First, try hiding one or both Black and White adjustment layers. Keep whichever combination you like best.

Or add color from the city photo:

1. Select the city layer and press CtrlJ (Windows) or CommandJ (macOS) to duplicate it.
2. Drag the copy out of the Top Image group.
3. Change its blending mode to Color.
4. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Zoom out so you can see the image, raise the Radius until the detail is gone, and click OK.

It’s a subtle effect. Double-click the Hand Tool to fit the image on screen and compare the before and after.

Use the color copy, the Gradient Map, or both. That choice is up to you.

Step 12: Mask the City Layers to the Photoshop Canvas

The final touch happens in the Camera Raw Filter, which needs a Smart Object. But first, fix a problem you’d otherwise see.

In the video, the first attempt at a Smart Object showed a larger canvas in Camera Raw, with part of the background and some transparent pixels. That’s because the city layers extend past the edges of the document.

To see this, press Z for the Zoom Tool, then hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click to zoom out. Select the Move Tool, and the bounding box shows how far the city layer goes past the canvas.

Fix it with layer masks:

1. If you made a city copy in Step 11, select it and press CtrlA (Windows) or CommandA (macOS) to select the whole canvas.
2. Click the New Layer Mask icon.
3. Press CtrlA (Windows) or CommandA (macOS) again. Open the Top Image group, select the other city layer, and click the New Layer Mask icon.

Both city layers are the same size and in the same position, so the same selection works for each one. Collapse the group when you’re done.

Step 13: Convert the Double Exposure Into a Smart Object

Click the Bottom Image group, hold Shift, and click the top layer to select everything in between.

Right-click to the right of any selected layer name and choose Convert to Smart Object.

Now go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter. This time you only see the canvas you’re working with. The layer masks define how large the canvas is inside the Smart Object.

Step 14: Stylize the Image With the Camera Raw Filter

Zoom in to 100% so you can see the detail clearly.

The video makes three changes to stylize the image:

• Increase the Sharpening.
• Add some Dehaze so the image pops.
• Add some Grain. The grain also covers the background, which looks good on this image.

You can also adjust the Contrast and Clarity if you like. Click OK, then double-click the Hand Tool to see the whole image.

If the effect is too strong, double-click the small icon to the right of Camera Raw Filter in the Layers panel. Lower the Opacity. At 0%, it’s like having no effect, and at 100% you get the full effect.

Step 15: Edit the Double Exposure Any Time

Because everything lives inside a Smart Object, you can still change any part of the effect.

Double-click the Smart Object thumbnail to open it. For example, drag the city copy to the top of the stack to bring back the color.

Save the Smart Object and close it. Back in your document, the Camera Raw effects apply to the new version too.

For a different take on the effect, try the hands over face double exposure effect, which uses the Darken blending mode.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

You now know how to build a double exposure in Photoshop with the Lighten blending mode and a pair of adjustment layers.

The groups keep each photo separate, so you can fine-tune the blend, add color, or swap images at any time. With a Gradient Map and the Camera Raw Filter, you can give the result a polished, stylized finish.

Watch the full video above, and comment on the video to share what you think of this workflow.

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Related Links

• Duotone Double Exposure Effect in Photoshop (Step by Step)
• Hands Over Face Double Exposure Effect In Photoshop – Copycat #5
• Blending Modes Explained – The Complete Guide to Photoshop Blend Modes
• How To Make BLACK and WHITE Photos In Photoshop – Two Easy Conversion Techniques
• Duotone Effect In Photoshop