Here is an interesting procedure to inset, insert, or superimpose, a photo on another. This is certainly not the best, or easiest way, but it can be quick and handy.
Photo editing programs are the way to do this. There is a better way using Picasa, see my post How do I superimpose a photo on another one?
Windows Live Photo Gallery does not provide for such a task, but when a photo is opened in Paint other images can be easily pasted in.
Take these two photos. The detail image of the water iris is to be added to the scenic pond photo.
We want the inset to be at an angle. So how does one add this twist?
Open the “base” picture in Paint. Open Office Word 2010 and insert the second photo.
The Picture Tools, effective when the inserted photo is clicked, offer a wide range of tools, effects, and options.
To allow moving the inserted photo around on the page, right-click on it, select Wrap Text and in the right menu click Tight.
With the picture selected, there is a “rotate” handle sticking out at the top. You can see it in the illustrations here.
When you move the pointer to the little colored circle a curved arrow will wrap around the tip of the pointer. This tells you that the rotate function is available. Move the pointer left or right to rotate the picture.
When you have the rotation the way you like it, release the mouse button. Press Ctrl+C to copy the rotated image.
Now go to Paint with the base photo. You may need to change the View so you can see all of the photo. Click the Home tab and click Paste – or just press Ctrl+V.
The pasted photo will be in the upper left corner. It likely will not be the size that you like. No problem. Just be careful not to click anywhere in the picture area. Click Resize. In the Resize dialog you can change the size of the inserted photo either by percentage – up or down, or by actual pixel dimensions. The 
illustration here shows the details.
No need to worry about the white area around the titled image just yet. Just get it to the right size first.
Next click on the down-pointing arrowhead below Select. Click on Transparent selection. the white areas will now be transparent.
Move the pointer over the inserted photo. It will change to the four-pointed drag icon and you can drag the photo around to position it exactly where you want it to be.
All this will take less time than you spent reading about it here.
Naturally, you can add more than one inset image using this procedure. When you have completed the process, be sure to save your new photo with “Save as” so you will not overwrite the original photo.
Here is my finished product.
By the way, the properties, or EXIF data, of the base photo will be retained in the composite. Not, of course, any information from the inserted images.
.:.
© 2011 Ludwig Keck
