PS I Love You: Multiple Exposure Effect

(Photos of Amanda Thomas used with permission.)

My Diana Mini was the most expensive camera I ever owned. The thing is, I was only able to take six rolls of film before the brittle plastic film rewind broke. Though it’s unusable, I still have it on my shelf (cuz it’s so darn cute). Yes, it was fragile, but it could do something my digital camera can’t do — take multiple exposure pictures, sometimes, just by happy accident. :) The double exposure effect can be really charming if you’re lucky. Fortunately, we can mimic the effect in Photoshop by doing something as simple as changing a layer’s Blending Mode.

Special Thanks

I want to thank Amanda Thomas of Here Comes the Sun for giving me permission to demonstrate this PS technique with her lovely Diana Mini photos. Thanks, Amanda! ♥ I can’t help but think of this happy tune every time I visit!

(Amanda’s double exposure originals)

Step 1

Choose two or more photos that you think will work well with the Multiple Exposure effect. In this demo, I’m going to use two of Amanda’s Diana Mini shots. If you want to use more than two photos, begin with two and then repeat these steps.

Step 2

1. Copy photo #1 Edit >> Select All
2. Paste it onto photo #2 Edit >> Paste

Step 3

1. Select the layer of the photo you just pasted.
2. If it’s not the top-most layer, drag it to the top of the Layer Stack.
3. Change the Blending Mode to Screen or Lighten.

Step 4: Optional Step

If the effect turns out too bright, add an adjustment layer to decrease the brightness. You can also adjust the contrast as necessary.

And that’s it — we’re done! :D

Here’s another double exposure example, this time featuring photos from Amanda’s Instagram: photo #1 and photo #2. Blending Mode: Screen, Brightness: -62.

(My Diana Mini snapshots: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)