Layer Mask Tutorial

Getting Started

  • Click on the photos below and make sure they open larger in another window. Save the images to your desktop

Setting up your document

  • Open Photoshop
  • Go to File—>New
  • Change preset is set to US Paper and name the file ‘Layer Mask’
  • Go to Window—>History

Adding the files

  • In the next steps, we are going to move the files into the Lasso Tool document
  • Go to File—>Open
  • Select the three files you just saved to your computer (Puppy, Hill, Sky). You can select multiple files by holding the shift key and selecting each file
  • Click on the Sky file tab (each file will open in a different tab)
  • Go to Select—>All (command a)
  • Go to Edit—> Copy (command c)
  • Click on your Layer Mask document
  • Go to Edit—>Paste (command v)
  • Rename your layers by double clicking on the name of the layer in the Layers Panel.
  • Change the name to Sky
  • Next, we will want to resize the Sky layer
  • Go to Edit—>Free Transform (command t)
  • Hold your shift key to keep the resize in proportion. Click and drag the corners to enlarge the image. If you do not hold your shift key, the image will appear stretched out.
  • Once you are satisfied with the size, press return to release the image. If you do not press return, you will be unable to make any selections
  • Use your Move Tool (v) to move the sky to the top of the page
  • We will add the Grass image next
  • Go to the Grass document
  • Go to Select—>All (command a)
  • Edit—>Copy (command c)
  • Go to your Layer Mask document
  • Go to Edit—>Paste (command v)
  • Rename the layer in the Layers Panel to Grass
  • Go to Edit—>Free Transform (command t) and resize the Grass layer so the edges fit the width. MAKE SURE TO HOLD THE SHIFT KEY DOWN to keep it in proportion.
  • Press return when the layer is resized
  • Use your Move Tool (v) to move the layer to the top of the page
  • Go to the Puppy document
  • Select—>Select All (command a)
  • Edit—>Copy (command c)
  • Go to the Layer Mask document
  • Edit—>Paste (command v)
  • Rename the layer in the Layers Panel to Puppy
  • It’s super important that your layers are in the order as the image below. If they look different, you can click and hold on the name. Drag the layer above or below to reorder it.

Visibility

  • Click on the eye icon next to the Puppy layer name. This will make the layer invisible. We need the layer to be invisible in order to be able to accurately edit the Grass layer.
  • On the Layers Panel, click on the Grass layer. You will know that it is selected when it is highlighted in blue

Layer Mask

  • Go to Layer—>Layer Mask—>Reveal All
  • Your Layers Panel should look like the image below
  • Make sure the layer mask is selected (it will have an outline of a rectangle around it)
  • Make sure the foreground color is set to black and the background color is set to white (press ‘d’ on your keyboard to set it to black and white)
  • Screen Shot 2015-10-07 at 9.11.01 PM
  • Select your Brush Tool (B)
  • Screen Shot 2015-10-07 at 9.10.54 PM
  • Make sure the Mode is ‘Normal’ and the Opacity is set to 100% (this is found on the top horizontal bar)
  • Screen Shot 2015-10-07 at 9.11.28 PM
  • You can also adjust the size of your brush
  • Screen Shot 2015-10-07 at 9.13.20 PM
  • Paint over the part of the image that you want to erase
  • If you make a mistake, press ‘x’ on your keyboard to switch the foreground and the background color. The white will bring the parts of your image back. Press ‘x’ again to switch the background and foreground color when you want to make other parts disappear.

Puppy Layer

  • On your Layers Panel, make the Puppy layer visible
  • Click on the Puppy layer so it is highlighted in blue
  • Go to Layer—>Layer Mask—>Reveal All
  • Screen Shot 2015-10-07 at 9.09.14 PM
  • Use the layer mask and repeat the previous steps for the puppy to take away parts of the image you want to erase. It is important to note that you are not using the Eraser Tool…you are using the Brush Tool (b) to paint away/bring back parts of your image
  • Use Free Transform (command t) to scale and rotate

Saving your file

  • Save your image as a .psd
  • Go to Layer—>Flatten Image
  • Go to File—>Save As—>Format to as a JPEG