You can add a mask to a layer and use the mask to hide portions of the layer and reveal the layers below. Masking layers is a useful for combining multiple photos into a single image or for removing a person or an object from a photo.
invert layer mask cs2 serial number
You can edit a layer mask to add or subtract from the masked region. A layer mask is a grayscale image. The areas you paint in black are hidden, the areas you paint in white are visible, and the areas you paint in shades of gray appear in various levels of transparency.
A vector mask creates a sharp-edged shape on a layer and is useful anytime you want to add a design element with clean and defined edges. After you create a layer with a vector mask, you can apply one or more layer styles to it, edit them if needed, and instantly have a usable button, panel, or other web-design element.
The Properties panel provides additional controls to adjust a mask. You can change the opacity of a mask to let more or less of the masked content show through, invert the mask, or refine the mask borders, as with a selection area.
Photoshop converts transparency into an opaque color, hidden by the newly created mask. The opaque color varies greatly, depending upon the filters and other processing previously applied to the layer. This technique is helpful for video and 3D workflows.
You can apply a layer mask to permanently delete the hidden portions of a layer [*]. Layer masks are stored as alpha channels, so applying and deleting layer masks can help reduce file size. You can also delete a layer mask without applying the changes.
Other options are specific to layer masks. The Invert option reverses masked and unmasked areas. The Mask Edge option gives you various controls to modify the mask edges, such as Smooth and Contract/Expand. For information on the Color Range option, see Create and confine adjustment and fill layers.
Layer masks are used to show or hide different parts of a layer, by filling different areas of the mask with either white, black or gray. White areas on a layer mask show those parts of the layer, while black areas on the mask hide them. And gray will partially show or hide areas depending on the shade of gray you use. The darker the shade, the more the layer fades from view.
Knowing how to use layer masks is an essential Photoshop skill. And in this tutorial, you'll learn the advanced tips and tricks for working with layer masks that will help you edit and composite images like a pro!
If you're brand new to layer masks, you'll want to first learn the basics by checking out my Layer Masks for Beginners tutorial. I'm using Photoshop CC but any recent version will work. Let's get started!
But you can also add a layer mask that hides the entire contents of your layer. Just press and hold the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key on your keyboard as you click the Add Layer Mask icon. Instead of white, Photoshop fills the mask with black, hiding the layer's contents from view:
And Photoshop converts the selection into a layer mask. By default, the area inside the selection remains visible (filled with white on the mask), while everything outside the selection is hidden (filled with black):
To view the layer mask itself in the document, press and hold Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) on your keyboard and click on the layer mask thumbnail. This replaces your view of the image with the mask:
To view your layer mask in Quick Mask mode as a red overlay, press the backslash key ( \ ) on your keyboard. Press the backslash key again to return to the normal view:
To disable a layer mask so you can view the entire layer, press and hold your Shift key and click the layer mask thumbnail. A red "X" appears in the thumbnail letting you know that the mask is turned off. Then Shift-click the thumbnail again to turn the mask back on:
By default, a layer and its mask are linked together, so moving one also moves the other. To unlink them so you can move the layer and the mask separately, click the link icon between the two thumbnails:
We've seen that you can switch between the layer and the layer mask from the Layers panel. Click the layer's thumbnail (on the left) to select the contents of the layer, or click the mask's thumbnail (on the right) to select the layer mask.
Next, let's learn how to move or copy a layer mask from one layer to another. I've added a second image to my document and placed it on a layer above the first one. The second image is blocking the original one from view:
To delete just the layer mask itself, right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) on the layer mask thumbnail and choose Delete Layer Mask from the menu:
Finally, let's look at two powerful layer mask options in Photoshop's Properties panel. The first option, Density, lets you fade the effect of your layer mask. And the second, Feather, makes it easy to soften your layer mask edges. Let's see how they work.
To fade the effect of a layer mask, use the Density slider. The more you lower the Density from its default value of 100%, the more the areas that were hidden by the mask will show through:
Here we see that at a Density value of 50%, the rest of the image outside of my selection is now 50% visible. And notice in the layer mask thumbnail that the areas of the mask that were once black are now a much lighter gray:
What I want to do instead is soften the edges of my layer mask to create a vignette effect. And I can do that easily using the Feather option in the Properties panel. To soften the edges, drag the Feather slider to the right. The further you drag, the softer the mask edges appear:
And there we have it! That's over a dozen tips and tricks you can use to unlock the full power of layer masks in Photoshop! Check out our Photoshop Basics section for more tutorials! And don' forget, all of our tutorials are now available to download as PDFs!
Control-click the Highlights channel to create a selection. Then, back in the Layers panel, add a Curves adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves). Photoshop automatically uses the selection as a mask on the adjustment layer. So pulling the midpoint of the curve upwards will only brighten the highlights in the image and leave the midtones and shadows alone.
Use the same technique to create a Shadows Burn layer. Only this time, use the Burn tool to deepen the shadow areas and use the Shadow selection for the layer mask.
Load the Brighter Highlights selection and use it as a Layer Mask on the merged/sharpened layer. This restricts the sharpening effect to only the brighter highlight pixels. Reduce this restriction slightly by adjusting the mask Density to 81%.
Adobe Photoshop also offers a number of selection tools: Quick Mask, Rectangular marquee, Elliptical marquee, Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso, Magic Wand. The most efficient way to make a selection in Adobe Photoshop is to use Quick Mask mode. Quick Mask mode
To switch from Standard mode to Quick Mask mode, press the button in the lower part of the Toolbox or use a hot key Q. Paint over the areas to be selected with a hard edge Brush (in Quick Mask mode the selected area is highlighted in semi-transparent red) Then switch back to Standard mode by pressing the button in the lower part of the Toolbox and invert the selection using the command Select -> Inverse. It is critical to invert the selection as in Quick Mask mode it is the unpainted area that falls into the selection. Note that if you set Selected Areas in the Quick Mask Options (opened by double clicking on the Quick Mask button), you do not need to invert the selection. Also, you can change the highlight color and its opacity here. Hints on the Quick Mask Options::Open the Options by double clicking on the Quick Mask button. if the "Masked Areas" option is active the areas non marked with red will be selected if the "Selected Areas" option is active the areas marked with red will be selected The Rectangular marquee and Elliptical marquee tools are hidden in the Toolbox under one and the same icon. The icon on the Toolbox displays the last tool used. To open the floating menu right-click on the arrow in the lower right corner of the displayed icon. Rectangular marquee
This tool selects rectangular and square areas. To select a rectangular area you should:Step 1. Activate the Rectangular marquee tool by clicking on the icon , or (if the Rectangular marquee was not the last tool applied) select it from the floating window. Step 2. Bring the mouse cursor to the point of the image where the corner of an imaginary rectangle should be, and press the left mouse button. Step 3. Keeping the left button pressed, move the cursor diagonally to the opposite corner and release the button. To select a square area of the image make a selection keeping the Shift key pressed. Take into account that if you already have a selected area the new selection will be added to the previous one. To avoid it you should press the Shift key only when you start selecting a new area. Elliptical marquee
This tool selects ellipses and circles. To select an elliptical area you should:Step 1. Select the Elliptical marquee tool from the Toolbox by clicking on the icon , or (if the Elliptical marquee was not the last tool applied) select it from the floating window. Step 2. Bring the mouse cursor to the point of the image where the corner of an imaginary rectangle with an inscribed ellipse should be, and press the left button. Step 3. Keeping the left button pressed, move the cursor diagonally to the opposite corner and release the button. To select a circular area of the image make a selection keeping the Shift key pressed. Take into account that if you already have a selected area the new selection will be added to the previous one. To avoid it you should press the Shift key only when you start selecting a new area. If you keep the Alt (Option in Mac) key pressed when selecting an elliptical or a rectangular area, the selection is generated from the center to borders, not from one corner to another. The Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso tools are hidden in the Toolbox under one and the same icon. The icon on the Toolbox displays the last tool selected. To open the floating menu right-click on the arrow in the lower right corner of the displayed icon. Lasso
The tool allows creating freehand selections. To make a freehand selection you should: Step 1. Select the Lasso tool from the Toolbox by left-clicking on the icon , or (if Lasso was not the last tool applied) select it from the floating window. Step 2.Bring the mouse cursor to the object that must be selected and outline it keeping the left button pressed. Polygonal Lasso
The tool makes freehand selections, but its contour is made up of straight segments. To make a selection you should: Step 1.Select the Polygonal Lasso tool from the Toolbox by clicking on the icon , or (if Polygonal Lasso was not the last tool applied) select it from the floating window. Step 2.Bring the cursor to any point near the object to be outlined and press the left mouse button - it'll be the first point of the contour. Step 3.Move the cursor to the next point of the contour not far from the first one and left-click it again. The program will automatically draw a straight line between the two points. Step 4.Keep putting points in this way until the whole object is outlined and close the contour. Magnetic Lasso
This tool makes a freehand selection. When you use Magnetic Lasso you do not need to follow the contour of the object precisely. If the object stands out against the background the border of the selected area will be traced automatically as you move the cursor along the object. To select an area using Magnetic lasso you should: Step 1.Select the Magnetic Lasso tool from the Toolbox by clicking on the icon , or (if Magnetic Lasso was not the last tool applied) select it from the floating window. Step 2.Bring the mouse cursor to the border of the object that should be selected.Step 3.Press the left button and start dragging the cursor along the object. Pay attention to fastening points that appear as you outline the object and when you male a click. If a fastening point is irrelevant you can remove it by pressing the Delete key and return to the previous fastening point to continue outlining the object. Step 4.Close the contour, that is join the first fastening point with the last one by bringing the cursor to the first point or by making a double-click. Magic Wand
This tool selects a consistently colored area. You can set Tolerance in the Options palette of the Magic Wand tool. The higher is the value, the more colors will fall into the selected area. The Tolerance value ranges from 0 to 255. At Tolerance equal to 0 the selected area will be represented only by one color, at Tolerance equal to 255 - all colors of the image will be selected, that is the whole image. To select a consistently colored area, you should: Step 1. Select the Magic Wand tool in the Toolbox by clicking the icon .Step 2. Bring the cursor to the pixel of the image that must be included into the selection and left-click it. As a result an outline appears around the pixel. It includes colors of the image similar to the color of the selected pixel according to the specified Tolerance value. These selection tools are efficient due to the flexibility of their usage: you can add to, subtract from or intersect a selection. To add an area to the previous selection you should press the Shift key before you use a selection tool and, keeping it pressed, make a new selection. To subtract an area from the previous selection you should press the Alt (Option in Mac) key before you use a selection tool and, keeping it pressed, make a new selection. If you press Shift and Alt (Shift and Option in Mac) keys simultaneously you obtain an intersection of the old and new selections. Share with friends & get a discount! Subscribe to News ProductsPhoto ProcessingVideo ProcessingFrame PacksUseful InfoCompatibilityOnline StoreDiscountsSupportContact SupportUpgradeTutorial Photo Processing 2ff7e9595c
Comments