How to use Superimpose

Hello people from planet earth! Welcome to my first edit blogpost! It will be in English since this could be helpful for everyone, but if you want something translated in Dutch you can send me a message and I'll explain everything.

In this first lesson I'll teach you how to use my favourite editing app Superimpose. This may be a little boring to read but it will be helpful in the next posts since I can link back to this page to help you in more detail.

Okay so let's get started!

Superimpose

Superimpose is the main editing app I use. It costs right now €2,20 which is very cheap. Rather this than paying 1000 euro each year for Photoshop, right? I started working with this app back in my Wattpad days when I made custom covers. (If you're curious about my old edits you can find them at the end of the blogpost, a little laugh after you finished reading.)

I stopped using Wattpad in 2016 so my editing days were gone, but thanks to Bookstagram I found a new reason to use it!

At the beginning the app can look a little intimidating but worry not! I will tell you everything to understand the app!

This is what you see when you open the app (1). The first thing you do is pick a background photo. You can do this when pressing the top left button. The screen now says Import Background and you can choose a photo from your phone/tablet or a blank colour (2). For my example I chose this photo (3).

Next you choose your Foreground, this photo you will edit the most. It's the top layer. You can select this the same way as the Background (4). After you have chosen the Back and Foreground it will look like this (5). From this moment you can access the other options on the app. So, first add your photos, then you can edit.

At the bottom you can see a menu with four buttons: Home, Transform, Mask and Filter. Every bottom has a other function and I'll teach you what they do.

Home.

This is the page where you started and chose your photos. This page has not a lot of options but these are the most important:

· You can make the whole photo bigger and smaller just like on your photos app.

· You can save your work by clicking on the second button on the left at the top. You can save your photos on your phone by clicking photos or you can share your photo or you can open it with another app.

· On the same page as saving your photos, you can add a shadow on your Foreground. You can only add a shadow as your last step in editing.

· On the second to right button at the top is a trashcan which deletes your edit.

· Lastly there's a question mark to find more help and instruction videos.

Transform

As you can see, there are now new buttons at the top with different options. For now these can be vague but in upcoming tutorials it will make sense.

This tap only has effect on the FOREGROUND, if you want to make the ENITRE photo bigger/smaller, you need to go to the HOME button (this is always my biggest mistake, hence my yelling)

Now let's talk about the new options:

· At the far left there are two arrows that to the same as the arrows in word. One undoes your last action and the other brings it back.

· Next to the arrows is a button where you van merge your photos. People who do digital art already know what this means. You press on the button if your done with your edit and want a new Foreground. The old Foreground is now part of the Background

· To the right are two arrows in which you can mirror your Foreground, or switch your Foreground with your Background, but for me that's only an annoying button.

· The next two buttons put your Foreground in the middle or make your foreground the same size as the background.

· The left button is the most important, here are the blend modes. For now you don't need to know what they do, but I will refer to them a lot during upcoming posts.

Mask

This is my favourite feature on Superimpose, their amazing tools for masking! Masking basically means cutting parts of the Foreground so you can see the Background. Now you can really make the edits.

· The most important buttons are on the bottom right. The left one is the one you will use a lot. If you press on it, a new menu opens. This part is kind of hard to explain but for now choose one symbol and draw over your Foreground. As you can see, parts of the Foreground disappear. All the different symbols do it differently and I don't use all of them personally but the ones I use the most are:

· The rectangular brush (9) erases (masks) rectangles so you will have perfect lines.

· The hard brush (10) masks everything you touch without blending edges

· The magic brush is special since it can sense the lines in the Foreground. When you look at the example you can see that I can erase the yellow background but the flowers stay put.

· At the button right you can see a mask and a +. If you press on it the + turns into a -. When you see the - you can bring the Foreground back, the same way you mask your Foreground.

· Okay, let's go to the top bar. The arrows are back so you can undo your last action or bring it back.

· The next two are not important. The white circle next to them gives a nice blur between your masks. This makes the masks less harsh (will explain more in other posts)

· The button on the far right helps with your masking tools. You can make your brush (from the first point of the Mask explanation ) bigger or smaller or give it more strength.

Filter

This one doesn't need a lot of explanation I think, since you probably know how to filter your photos. There are better filter apps but if you need something to change quickly, you can look here.

· At the top you can choose between filtering your Foreground and Background.

· The filtering options appear when your press the gears at the top right. These options from right to left are:

· Light settings

· Colour changes

· Colour settings

· Premade Filters

· Blur function

· Advance colour changes

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That's it for now! They will hopefully be helpfull in the future. If you need more explanation (or see an English mistake) let me know! I'm always here and on @blackbird.books on Instagram for questions!

Xx Merel

P.S. Here are my Wattpad edits