Background Creation and Composition

This guide covers how to influence an image background using an existing image and how to integrate a new object into your composition.

Creating a Background and User-Controlled Compositing

Step 1: Using an Existing Image for Composition

• Select an image with a background composition you like, such as one below that features a building in the center.

• Add this image as a Control Layer, select the depth map model, and apply the Control Layer filter to identify its 3D elements. 
• Generate with a weight of 0.75 and a Begin/End % of 75% for strong composition control, 0.5 weight and 50% Begin/End % for moderate composition control, or weight of 0.2 and 40% Begin/End % for a much more flexible/loose control on your prompted image generation.
• Below are three examples to show the spectrum of options:

Example output

Strong composition control

Weight: 0.75

Begin/End %: 75%

Moderate composition control

Weight: 0.5

Begin/End %: 50%

Flexible / Loose control

Weight: 0.2

Begin/End %: 40%

Step 2: Integrating a New Object

• You can either create a new Raster Layer and paint new content into the image, or choose an object with a simple background to cut out and bring in. In this case, we have this futuristic car on a white background.

• With the Raster Layer selected, right-click the image, use the “Select Object” feature, add a few points to select the object, and then use “apply” the selection to create a cutout.

• Once you have your object cut out as its own Raster Layer, use the Transform function (Right click > Transform, or Shift+T) to resize and position the cutout in your scene. Then Apply the transformation.

• You can either use the Inpaint Mask layer to select the area you want to generate, or Right-click the Cut-out and Copy Raster Layer To > New Inpaint Mask, to select the new object for editing. 
  • Note: Try testing out different Denoising Strength variables to transform the image by blending in your object.
• When editing the image, you can use press the C key to change the area selected by the Bounding Box. When editing images, the smaller your bounding box, the more detail is added into the selected area.
  • Note: Make sure that your prompt matches what you have selected.

Step 3: Fine-Tuning the Object and Scene

• If you find that you want to significantly transform the image for quality, but that you are losing too much structure, you can add a Control Layer to help guide the generation.
• In the example above, with the cutout Raster Layer selected, right click and Copy to > New Control Layer - Then choose the “Hard Edge Detection (Canny)” model. Apply the Filter, and then adjust the Denoising Strength, Weight and End-Step settings from to experiment with different amounts of transformation, and different levels of control.
• For areas where you just want to vary the scene or environment without control, simply select the area with the Inpaint mask, and increase or decrease the Denoising Strength for more or less variation.