Tips For Using Layer Masks In Photoshop For Advanced Photo Editing – Layer masks are one of the most useful tools in Photoshop, allowing the user to make selective adjustments to an image However, masking can be one of the most frustrating aspects of post-production, and one that can make it easier for you. it is also one of the most overlooked Image Apply.
The mask can be very annoying, especially when working with fine details or areas without hard edges. Using Apply Image to Mask gives you more control over where your adjustments are applied because the source of the mask is the pixel data on the layer you chose to apply it to.
Tips For Using Layer Masks In Photoshop For Advanced Photo Editing
Apply Image allows you to select a source layer, such as the background or even a composite version of the entire image, and apply that image to your selected layer mask using the black and white color blending modes. white so that you have a full representation of your favorite layer in a layer mask can be very useful for applying selective adjustments.
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Not only can you view the working layer mask at full size by pressing Option/Alt and clicking on the layer mask, which gives you incredible detail to work with, but you can also make extensive manual adjustments to -layer mask using command: Select the layer mask and press Command +m/Ctrl+m: This will create a curve adjustment for this layer mask only, so you can change the brightness of specific areas of the mask, such as shadows, midtones, or highlights to control which parts of your adjustment are visible and which are hidden depending on the settings How much black or white is in that part of the mask.
This technique can be used with any adjustment layer, so you can affect lightness, hue and saturation, hue, exposure, and more with great precision, on a small scale or globally.
I created a Curves adjustment layer and then used Apply Image to get a grayscale mask for the layer. I used Cmd+m to create a curves adjustment on my layer mask and used those curves adjustments to darken the highlights and shadows until the midtones become white This means that the contrast only increases with the midtones If there are areas that the mask curves cannot cover. I can always go through a few quick brush strokes to make a difference.
You can use a black or white brush or use a curve adjustment directly on the mask with Cmd/Ctrl+m.
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The result of using Cmd/Ctrl+m to reveal or hide the gradient map adjustment effect. Don’t forget that it hides black and reveals white.
Of course, this gradient map is a very large example, but the visual should help you see how other effects can be applied, such as exposure or color adjustments, and carefully control the application of the image to the mask of the adjustment layer different blending modes, for example: Multiply, and use Contrast in the Apply Image dialog box to see how these changes affect your mask and the image as a whole.
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Nicole York is a professional photographer and educator based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When she’s not shooting extraordinary people or teaching budding photographers, she’s writing and reading novels that while every tool can be useful in some situations, there just a few options you need to get the absolute best out of the program.
How Layer Masks Work In Photoshop
Layer masks are a staple of Photoshop From hiding and revealing parts of a layer to making more advanced selections, layer masks can help us a lot Follow along as we break down this amazing 10 important Photoshop tips
If you don’t believe how important layer masks can be, check out our professional tutorial on how to control layers and groups in Photoshop.
Let’s start with the most important question. What are layer masks anyway If you know Photoshop, you probably know about layers and how they can be placed on top of each other to create different effects Layer masks are tools that can be added to any layer that allow us to hide reveal parts of that layer with any precision we choose.
So if you want to hide part of the layer, you need to change the layer mask area from white to black. If you want to show part of the layer, you have to change it from black to white.
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Often you will want to start with a layer that is completely hidden or fully visible, depending on how much you want to integrate it into the overall image By default, clicking the Add Layer Mask icon will create a new, white layer with the layer you add the mask which is fully visible.
But what if this whole layer is hidden You can create a white layer mask, then fill the layer mask with black But if you want to save a few clicks and keystrokes, you can also hold the ALT key by press Add Layer Mask: This will create a new black layer mask, making the entire layer invisible.
It is very common that once you have created a layer mask, you can adjust the scope and composition of this layer mask.
By default, layers and layer masks are linked, which means that when you move or change one, the same movement or change happens to the other.
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If you want to move or adjust each one individually, click the chain icon between the layer preview and the layer mask preview.
This allows you to move or change a layer or layer mask without affecting anything else. Now you can, for example, move the layer mask to see which part of the image is visible.
You can create layer masks that come in many different shapes and sizes. In fact, every selection you make in Photoshop can be turned into a layer mask that hides or shows the exact details and areas that you want
Creating a layer mask from a selection is not easy Use whatever tool you want to create the selection (we chose the Elliptical Marquee tool in our example), then when that selection is active, click on the layer that you must apply the mask. , then click Layer Mask icon, do it.
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Sometimes you create a layer mask, but for one reason or another it does the opposite of what you intended. You can quickly change the layer mask from black to white and from white to black.
To change the layer mask, select it and press CTRL or CMD + I. This will create the exact opposite of the original mask.
Since layer masks work mostly with black and white (you can also use gray, which creates the same effect as changing the opacity), we can change the default color options in -Photoshop with a simple keyboard shortcut. By pressing D, you can return the foreground and background colors to their defaults, black in the background and white in the foreground.
Then, with the layer mask selected, you can press CTRL or CMD + DEL to later fill the mask with the foreground color (white by default).
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Do you want to fill in? Select the mask again and press ALT or OPTN + DEL to fill it with the background color (black is the default).
As important as layer masks are, Photoshop does not have a default keyboard shortcut for creating them. Fortunately, we can create our own custom keyboard shortcuts that allow us to work with these tools more efficiently and select the keyboard shortcut at the bottom of the list part.
A keyboard shortcut and a Find menu dialog will open and open the Layer Commands dropdown and then find the Layer Mask section. Here we can assign shortcuts to commands such as Hide All or Show All (which are for creating ‘black or white layer mask respectively). .
We have our own shortcut that will show all when you press CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + M (PC) or CMD + OPTN + SHIFT + M (Mac).
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