Photoshop - Fade a picture into another in more than one direction?

Question

I'm basically trying to fade lots of pictures together into one collage for a DVD case. I'm using the layer mask technique to fade them together but i don't know how to fade it in more than one direction? I.E i want the picture to fade out at the bottom, top and sides so there are no harsh lines and its just a sorta fadey circle (i know this makes no sense! :P)

Any help?

Answer 1

Put your image in a new layer.

Use the "lasso" tool to select a rough outline of the image part you want faded.

In the "select" menu, click on "feather" and then select a number of pixels. (you may have to go trial and error to determine the amount of the image you want faded.

Then, "invert" the selection.

Hit "delete. This will delete everything except what was inside the original selection, but, gradually, from the hard image to the edge of the selection.

Answer 2

Go search YouTube, somebody will have video showing you how to do that. Use program name, and blend photo as search terms.