What is it?
Layer Masking is a photo editing technique used to delete out parts of images. We can use them to create ‘holes’ in images which can then be filled from behind, or to edit out the background of an image to put it into another image.
Why use them?
Layer Masks provide a way to edit out parts of an image in a way that is reversible. If we use the eraser tool, we actually remove parts of an image which means the only way we can get it back is to hit undo and hope Photoshop lets us go back far enough. By using Layer Masks, we can continually go over an area to refine or fine tune an area.
Guide
- To create a layer mask, make sure you have the layers panel open by clicking the Layers button in the bottom right.
- Add an new picture to your image by copying and pasting it into Photoshop. Click on the layer this image is in.
- At the top of the layers panel, click on Add a Mask button (it looks like a rectangle with a circle in it). This will now add a layer mask to the right of your image, and it should be completely white.
- Make sure you have the layer mask selected and not the image (the mask should have a blue border around it). If you have the image selected instead, double click on the mask.
- Using the paint brush tool, paint black onto the areas you want to disappear. Remember you can change the size of the brush and the brush hardness (how blurred the edges are) in the bottom menu.
- Make sure you zoom in to get the final image to look as accurate as possible. If you remove a part you want to keep, change your brush colour to white and re-paint over areas to add it back. Sometimes you will need to do this repeatedly.
- When you are done, hide and unhide the layer to find any spots you may have missed. Often we will find little bits of colour or shades left around our image that we don’t notice until we hide them.
Tips
- If you are finding that as you paint you are seeing black or white appear instead of the image disappearing, you have the image and not the mask selected. Click undo, double click on the mask, and try again.
- If you want to get straight edges, use the selection tool. If you have an area selected, your paint brush will only paint inside of it. Just make sure you click Select>Deselect on the top menu when you are done.
- tool, or any other method of selecting an object before adding a mask, it will hide everything outside of the selection when the mask is added.