Tutorials Index

Beagle Smudge
Color Management
Color Spots
Crop Tool
FFT Action
Gradient Artifacts
Gradient Mask
Layer Mask Basics
Out of Bounds
Smooth Skin Action
Sky Replacement
Window Arrange

LAYER MASK BASICS

Foreword:
This tutorial is an introduction to layer masks in Photoshop. It is by no means an explanation for all the different functions and ways to work with a layer mask but a few simple steps to understand the basics.

[1] The original image used for this tutorial is seen below. It has a background layer, which is the original image of the girl. I then opened another image containing the mask and dragged it over to the girl, therefore creating a new layer on top (Layer 1). In the following screenshots, I have renamed that layer to "mask" for easier understanding.

Instead of dragging the image, you could also copy and paste it. Activate (select) the mask image, go to Select/All (Ctrl+A), go to Edit/Copy (Ctrl+C) then activate the other image with the girl and paste it Edit/Paste (Ctrl+V).

Doing it yourself will help much more than only reading, so I suggest you download the source images here and follow along (for personal use only please, thank you).

[2] First of all, I dragged (V) the mask into place and turned it slightly using Free Transform (Ctrl+T). The idea now, is to hide the purple area and reveal the face beneath. Guess what, we are going to use a layer mask.

Click on the icon for the layer mask at the bottom of the layers palette to create a blank layer mask. You should now see a new white square in your layers palette, just on the right side of the mask thumbnail. That is your layer mask.

[3] The basics are simple, paint on the layer mask using black to hide the layer and white to reveal it. Reset your foreground color to default black and white (D) and use the X key to swap between black and white.

Select a soft brush, set your foreground color to black and start painting on the purple parts. Remember, select the layer mask to paint and NOT the layer thumbnail! This is easy to forget but you will see the effect immediately. Once you start painting, the face beneath will be revealed.

[4] To see how the layer mask looks like, you can Alt click on it to reveal the black and white mask. This can be useful if you want to check and make sure that you've got all the bits and pieces. Alt click again to return to the normal view.

[5] The beauty of the layer mask is, that it is non-destructive. You never touch the actual image but simply hide and reveal parts of it. If you accidentally go too far, simply hit X to change your foreground color to white and paint over the bits you want to reveal again.

There is no need to use Ctrl+Z if you went too far, just keep the X button in mind and swap between white and black to either reveal or hide the layer.

[6] When you finished removing all the purple parts, your image will look something like this. As you probably noticed, I've filled the remaining area of the layer mask with black. This is not really necessary, because there is no data in that area but it's easier to understand that way.

If you look at the layer mask, everything in black is now hidden and only the white parts show the data on that layer.

[7] To make it look a bit more realistic, I will hide even more and make it look like the mask goes behind her hair. To do this, use a soft brush at low opacity and start painting on the bits which supposed to be hidden behind her hair.

[8] After finishing the mask, I've added a small drop shadow and this is how it looks like at the end.

[9] The big advantage is that your original images are unharmed and still there. To hide the layer mask, Shift click on it and you will see your original image. Shift click again to switch the mask back on.

This is just the beginning but keep in mind, you can also run filters on your layer mask or work with selections and then fill the layer mask instead of painting. Some useful filters are Gaussian Blur, Minimum, Maximum, Median, Levels and many more.

Use Google to search for "layer mask" or have a look at Lunacore's tutorial.

Thank you to Kent Christiansen & Halloween Costume World
Mask photo courtesy of Halloween Costume World in Massachusetts
Posted: December 14, 2005 (tested with PS CS2)