Place inside

[pcdlibrary]

Can I place a graphic (photo) inside a shape?

[Greyfox]

2 hours ago, pcdlibrary said:

Can I place a graphic (photo) inside a shape?

Yes

Draw shape
Select shape, right click, select convert to picture frame.
From context tool bar (picture frame) select replace image

.

[GarryP]

In addition to the advice above there are other methods which you could use.
Since you have tagged the thread with Publisher I will assume that’s what you are using.
My attached video shows five techniques - there may be others - the last two having the same result but done differently (slight error on the last one where I do things the wrong way round the first time but I couldn't be bothered to re-do the video).

[jmwellborn]

@GarryP  I really think you should also post this as a mini-tutorial in the Tutorials section of these forums!   Had I been able to find this video two years ago it would have saved reams of paper on which I printed various and sundry explanations derived from screenshots.  It is nice that you included @Greyfox’s method too, so everything is in one place.  Thank you both!   All five methods are very elegant when one learns how!👏

[pcdlibrary]

OK. Thanks.

[jmwellborn]

@GarryP  There is actually an additional way to do this.  Draw or place a shape, fill with any color.  File>Place an image on top of the shape.   Do not click on anything in the layers panel.  With the image layer only selected, go to ARRANGE>Move Inside.  ("Affinity for Dummies" by Wellborn.)🤪

[pcdlibrary]

Sorry; this does not seem to work.

test_image_placement.afpub

[Greyfox]

3 hours ago, pcdlibrary said:

Sorry; this does not seem to work.

I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to achieve, but this puts the image into the shapes.

test_image_placement-m.afpub

If not that, then perhaps this

test_image_placement-m2.afpub

 

If the latter one is what you are trying to achieve, then it isn't a case of placing a graphic inside of a shape, but rather on top of one, and you need to remove or mask out the background from the graphic.

[carl123]

5 hours ago, pcdlibrary said:

Sorry; this does not seem to work.

Your images need to be larger than the shape to be clipped by the shape

 

test_image_placement-1.afpub

[GarryP]

@jmwellborn Thanks for adding the extra method; I don’t think I’ve used that one myself.
If we can come up with a ‘definitive’ list of all the ways to put something inside something else then I’ll think about doing a slightly better video showing all of them and add it to the tutorials.

[jmwellborn]

@GarryP  That would be really helpful!   Two more situations come immediately to mind.  First, adding a different image to each letter in a word, and second, inserting images or bitmaps inside outline text.  I am sure people will be really happy with your proposed video.   Hope you can find the time!!😱

[pcdlibrary]

10 hours ago, carl123 said:

Your images need to be larger than the shape to be clipped by the shape

 

test_image_placement-1.afpub 7.53 MB · 1 download

Still can't get this method to work. Some step(s) must be missing. However, not really needed, as other methods work for me.

test_image_placement.afpub

[jmwellborn]

@pcdlibrary I have tried both your documents.   The problem I see is exactly what @carl123 has suggested to you.  The lion image has too much white background to fill in your shape with just lion.  The first sample below is using the shape layer (star) on top of the image layer (lion), then right-clicking on the shape layer in the layers panel and choosing Mask To Below.  As you see, because the lion image doesn't have enough lion (minus background) to fill the very small star with all lion at the small size of your star, you get some green areas.  The second sample is done by placing the star shape first, then the lion image on top of it.  Then with just the lion image highlighted, go to LAYER>Arrange>Move Inside.  The lion does move inside the star, but again the problem is that there is too much white in the lion image.  Perhaps you might find another image (or just the lion's head?) that will actually better fill the star?   Below is an example of Arrange>Move Inside.  Hope this will help!

 

 

[jmwellborn]

@pcdlibrary  Here is another way to get your lion into the star, if you also have Affinity Photo.   Ver'r'r'ry time-consuming but it does work.   First, I Exported the lion image as a JPG.  I then created a new file with a transparent background, and placed the JPG of the Lion.   I then selected the Background Eraser Brush set it to a basic round brush with a very large pixel size and worked as closely to the lion as I could to erase all white pixels.  I then switched to the Eraser Brush, used the same basic round brush but gradually decreased the size as I got closer to the lion.  I finally was down to about 1 pixel as I worked around his mane and tail.   For the grass I eventually switched the Eraser Brush from a basic round brush to a textured brush depicting grass and erased the edges of the grass with that to create a rough edge.  (Could use a great deal of sprucing up!)  I then Exported the image as a PNG with Selection Only.   

I created a second new document, drew a rectangle and filled it with any color.   I then placed the lion PNG over the rectangle, and resized the rectangle so that it was entirely outside the lion.  At that point, I changed the Fill of the rectangle to a color that wouldn't clash with the lion (you would want to chose something you like).  I noted the Fill colors (in my case it was RGB 230, 230, 229) to use later with the star.  I then grouped the lion layer and the rectangle layer, and exported as a JPG.

I created a third new document, placed the star, and filled it with the same colors as the background of the lion.  I then placed the lion w/background JPG on top of the star, being sure that the image included as much of the lion as possible (could have moved him over and down a bit to the left, I see).  I then went to ARRANGE>Move Inside and there was the lion with his background edges blended completely with the star. 

Apologies for rather rough and ready eraser work!

lion w:o background.afphoto

step 2 lion with new background.afphoto

lion in a star.afphoto

[pcdlibrary]

3 hours ago, jmwellborn said:

@pcdlibrary  Here is another way to get your lion into the star, if you also have Affinity Photo.   Ver'r'r'ry time-consuming but it does work.   First, I Exported the lion image as a JPG.  I then created a new file with a transparent background, and placed the JPG of the Lion.   I then selected the Background Eraser Brush set it to a basic round brush with a very large pixel size and worked as closely to the lion as I could to erase all white pixels.  I then switched to the Eraser Brush, used the same basic round brush but gradually decreased the size as I got closer to the lion.  I finally was down to about 1 pixel as I worked around his mane and tail.   For the grass I eventually switched the Eraser Brush from a basic round brush to a textured brush depicting grass and erased the edges of the grass with that to create a rough edge.  (Could use a great deal of sprucing up!)  I then Exported the image as a PNG with Selection Only.   

I created a second new document, drew a rectangle and filled it with any color.   I then placed the lion PNG over the rectangle, and resized the rectangle so that it was entirely outside the lion.  At that point, I changed the Fill of the rectangle to a color that wouldn't clash with the lion (you would want to chose something you like).  I noted the Fill colors (in my case it was RGB 230, 230, 229) to use later with the star.  I then grouped the lion layer and the rectangle layer, and exported as a JPG.

I created a third new document, placed the star, and filled it with the same colors as the background of the lion.  I then placed the lion w/background JPG on top of the star, being sure that the image included as much of the lion as possible (could have moved him over and down a bit to the left, I see).  I then went to ARRANGE>Move Inside and there was the lion with his background edges blended completely with the star. 

Apologies for rather rough and ready eraser work!

lion w:o background.afphoto

step 2 lion with new background.afphoto

lion in a star.afphoto

Thanks for expounding on this. The blank background threw me off from what I expected. I might be able to change the background an easier way in ID or CorelDraw!. Could not ARRANGE>Move Inside with this method; but do not need to use it, as other methods work for me. Have a nice day.