How to Add an Image in Photoshop: 5 Easy Methods

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Try one of these easy ways to add an image in Photoshop

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: April 15, 2025 Fact Checked

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• Open an Image
|
• Copy and Paste
|
• Place an Embedded Image
|
• Place a Linked Image
|
• Drag and Drop
|
• Video

|Show more |Show less

Want to import an existing picture into your Photoshop document? You can easily insert an image into your current project as a new layer, which you can then resize, adjust, and even blend with other layers. This wikiHow article will teach you how to place an image into an Adobe Photoshop document on your computer.

Ways to Insert an Image into Photoshop

• Open an image from your computer in Photoshop.
• Copy and paste an image into a new layer.
• Go to File > Place Embedded to embed an image from your computer.
• Go to File > Place Linked to embed an image from the internet.
• Drag and drop an image into Photoshop.

Steps

Section 1 of 5:

Open an Image

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1. 
   1
   Open Photoshop and click File. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
2. 
   2
   Click Open. This will open a file browser you can use to browse images.
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3. 
   3
   Navigate to and select an image. Use the file browser window to browse files on your computer. Click on an image to select it.
4. 
   4
   Click Open. This will open the image in Photoshop.

   • Alternatively, you can click Open on the opening screen of Photoshop and browse an image and open it.
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Section 2 of 5:

Copy and Paste

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1. 
   1
   Navigate to the image you want to add to Photoshop. This could be an image from the Internet or one you already have on your computer.
2. 
   2
   Copy the image. If you're copying from the web, right-click the image (or, if you’re on a Mac without a right mouse button, Ctrl-click) and choose Copy image. If you're copying an image you already have on your computer, open the image up in your image previewer software, then right-click the image (or Ctrl-click on a Mac) and choose Copy image.

   • Simply copying the image file without opening it first won't copy the image.
3. 
   3
   Create a new image in Photoshop, or open an existing image. You can do this easily by pressing Ctrl+N (Windows)/⌘ Cmd+N (Mac) to make a new image or Ctrl+O (Windows)/⌘ Cmd+O (Mac) to open an image.
4. 
   4
   Paste the copied image into your Photoshop image. You can do this by going to Edit > Paste or by pressing Ctrl+V (Windows)/⌘ Cmd+V (Mac).
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Section 3 of 5:

Place an Embedded Image

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1. 
   1
   Open Photoshop and open an image or Photoshop file. You can either open an existing Photoshop file or image, or create a new Photoshop file.
2. 
   2
   Click File. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
3. 
   3
   Click Place. This will open a file browser window that will allow you to browse for an image.

   • Depending on your version of Photoshop, you may see Place Embedded and Place Linked. For this method, click Place Embedded if you see it.
4. 
   4
   Navigate to select an image. Use the file browser window to browse files on your computer. Click on an image to select it.
5. 
   5
   Click Place. This will place the image in the Photoshop file or image as a new layer.

   • Before you can continue editing your image, you must click the checkmark at the top of the screen to confirm the placement of your image.
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Section 4 of 5:

Place a Linked Image

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1. 
   1
   Open Photoshop and open an image or Photoshop file. You can either open an existing Photoshop file or image, or create a new Photoshop file.
2. 
   2
   Click File. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
3. 
   3
   Click Place. This will open a file browser window that will allow you to browse for an image.

   • Depending on your version of Photoshop, you may see Place Embedded and Place Linked. For this method, click Place Linked if you see it.
4. 
   4
   Paste the URL to an image in the "File name" box. If you don't have the URL copied, go back to the image in your web browser and right-click it (or Ctrl-click, if you’re on a Mac with no right mouse button), then choose Copy image address.

   • The image must end in a valid file format (for example, .jpg, .png, .bmp) for Photoshop to open it.
     • Older versions of Photoshop can't open .webp files.
5. 
   5
   Click Place. This will place the image in the Photoshop file or image as a new layer.

   • Before you can continue editing your image, you must click the checkmark at the top of the screen to confirm the placement of your image.
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Section 5 of 5:

Drag and Drop

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1. 
   1
   Open an image you want to insert into Photoshop. This could be an image on your computer already, or one from the internet.
2. 
   2
   Open Photoshop, if it's not already open. If you want to add the image as a new layer, make sure the image you want to add the layer to is open in Photoshop, as well.
3. 
   3
   Drag and drop the image into Photoshop. Photoshop will create a new layer for the image automatically.
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