Top effects
Confetti, over the whole picture. The only effect drawn above everything.
Technology · 04
Words behind the subject, subjects out of the frame.
The magazine-cover effect, where a name sits behind someone’s shoulder, comes from separating the photo into ordered layers. Once the subject is its own layer, text can sit in front of the scene but behind the person, and the subject can break out past the frame.
Anatomy of a creation
One photo. Nine layers.
The app keeps each piece separate, and stacks them in the same order for what you see and what you save.
Canvas
Frame and photo
Props behind
Words behind
Behind, on frame
The subject
In front
The frame’s border, again
Words above the frame
Top effects
With 3D Pop the stack changes: the frame’s border moves below the subject, so the person can step out over the frame, and a tenth layer appears for words behind the person but on the frame.
Words above the frame
Captions and stamps that sit over the border itself, such as a date on the frame’s edge. Nothing but top effects is drawn over them.
- In the app
- Select a caption, tap its layer button, choose Place above frame
The frame’s border, again
The border is drawn a second time over the front content, so words and stickers in front stay inside the frame. On Retro, Retro Wide and Film, words on the frame’s chin are drawn just after it.
Words and props in front
Captions, stickers and the front part of face props, over the subject.
- In the app
- Select a caption, tap its layer button, choose Place in front of photo
The subject, cut out
The person or pet, separated from the scene on your device. It needs a clear subject.
Behind, on frame (3D Pop only)
Words that sit on the frame but still behind the person stepping out of it. Offered only while 3D Pop is on.
- In the app
- Select a caption, tap its layer button, choose Behind, on frame
Words behind the subject
Captions over the scene but under the person: the magazine-cover look. They stay inside the frame.
- In the app
- Select a caption, tap its layer button, choose Place behind subject
Props behind the subject
The part of a face prop that belongs behind the head, so the prop wraps around the person.
The frame and the photo
The frame, its shadows, and the photo inside its window. Under the photo sits the photo-area colour, which shows wherever the photo is see-through, as in Cutout.
The canvas
The area around the frame: white, a colour, the photo, a blurred photo, or transparent. Its size stays fixed, or matches the paper you chose.
Terminology guardVisual layers describe what the customer sees. Software architecture layers describe responsibilities in the code. Stored document layers describe persisted creative structure. The three views should not be presented as one-to-one equivalents.
Common questions
How do I put text behind a person in a photo?
Add a caption in the Caption tab and select it, then tap its layer button, which reads Front, and choose Place behind subject. The app places the words above the background scene but underneath the separated subject, which produces the magazine-cover look.
What is 3D Pop?
The separated subject is allowed to cross the frame edge, so a head, hand or paw appears to break out of the frame while the rest of the photo stays inside it.
Why does behind-subject text need a clear subject?
The effect depends on the subject being separated from the background. Without a usable subject there is nothing for the words to sit behind, so the app explains that instead of faking the depth.