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This tutorial teaches you to make a simple collage in Adobe Photoshop using the Brush tool and Add Layer Mask. 

Adding an image into a background image.

1. Open the background image (image #1) and the image to be added to the background image (image #2).

2. Select the whole image #2 by going to the menu Select > All (shortcut Ctrl+A).

3. While selected, do the copy command by Edit > Copy (Ctrl+C).

4. Go back to image #2 window, and then Edit > Paste (Ctrl+V).

5. It Should look like this:

 

Using Add Layer Mask to hide unwanted part of the image.

6. Be sure that the car layer (named "Layer 2") is selected in the Layer Palette. You will know if a layer is selected when it's highlighted.

7. Add a layer mask to the car layer by clicking the Add Layer Mask button.

 

Automatically the car layer mask is selected. See below how a selected layer mask looks like in the Layers palette.

Look at the difference:

Car layer mask selected.


Car layer selected.

 

12. Choose the Brush tool (shortcut "B"). I choose a big soft brush of about 65 pixels diameter.

13. In your Tools palette, set the foreground color to black. (If white is the foreground color, it does the opposite).

 

14. Start painting on the car, on the parts which you want to hide. Now, try changing the foreground color to white and start painting again on that part which you have erased. Notice that the erased part appears again. You can do this technique when you commit mistake in masking.

15. You can reposition the car to where you would like it to be. Be sure the car layer is selected first. Then use your Move tool (shortcut "V") to move it. I moved it to lower right. It now looks somewhat like this:

 

16. Save your work. File > Save As > Collage.psd. In the Save Options, the Layers must be checked.

17. After you have added more images, you can save it as jpeg file.

 

You can add more images and text into your collage by doing the steps above. There are more other techniques you can do by using different tools such as lasso, pen, magic wand, and eraser and gradient tools. But as of now, you have already learned the basic brush tool and the use of Add Layer Mask.

The purpose of Add Layer Mask is you don't delete the "unwanted" portions of the image but you just hide them in case you may need them later. It's a way to save time and effort.