Experience in using basic photoshop layers and masks

I would like to give you a detailed analysis of the basic layer and mask usage tips for photoshop software users.

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Layers and masks are the two commonly used word core tools of photoshop. This tutorial describes the basic knowledge of layers and masks, allowing you to gain a deep understanding of these two tools. In this Photography Tutorial, Thomas will talk about the basic knowledge of layers and masks, as well as the practical use of the layers, element layers, and rendering layers in the later stages of photography. Teach you how to master the two most important tools!

 

I. Layer and mask basics

Each layer is similar to a sheet of transparent plastic. When we stack all layers together, the image below will be displayed in the transparent area of the above layer, and the image below will be covered in the opacity area of the above layer.

 

If the bottom layer is a seaside landscape, the above layer is a fish painted on a transparent background, and the two layers are stacked together, the final effect is a fish swimming in the sea. (The order of layers is very important. If the Sea View layer is above and the fish layer is below, the completely opaque Sea View layer will cover all the fish layers, and no fish will appear in the final effect .)

 

In general, when we open a raw or JPEG file directly in PS, the photo will be automatically created in the "background" layer. The background layer is automatically locked at the bottom layer. Most layer operations, such as sequence change, opacity adjustment, and blending mode change, cannot be performed. You can convert the background layer to a normal layer so that it is no longer restricted. You can double-click the background layer in the layer panel, open the new layer dialog box, and click OK.

 

The significance of a layer is its non-destructive editing that can be adjusted. Final imaging is made up of layers, with each layer responsible for only part of objects. To adjust a part of the photo, you only need to adjust the corresponding layers. For example, if we want to draw a fish on the Seaview background, if we draw it directly on the background layer, the pixels of the fish overwrite the pixels on the background layer. If I want to remove the fish or edit the fish separately, it is impossible.

 

A more modular approach is to create a blank layer.

 

Then draw the fish on the new layer. Since the fish are painted on a new layer, the pixels of the original background layer are not damaged. We can then adjust the two layers without affecting the other layers.

 

For example, I can select a fish layer in the layer panel and change the opacity to 32%. In this way, the fish becomes semi-transparent, and the sea view is directly displayed on the red contour.

 

I can also press Ctrl + T to individually stretch, zoom, rotate, and perform deformation on the fish layer, without affecting the background.

 

Even I can use a mobile tool to move the fish to the sky and turn it into a flying fish "......

 

You can also turn the red fish into yellow fish... and so on, because the fish and the Sea View are on different layers, and they become possible without mutual influence.

 

II. Mask

Click the "layer mask" icon under the layer panel to create a layer mask for the corresponding layer. As the name suggests, as the mask is on the layer where it is located, the black part of the mask will make the corresponding part of the layer become opaque, so as to display the picture of the layer. The white part of the mask makes the corresponding part of the layer completely transparent, so the image of the following layer is displayed. The gray part of the mask shows different translucent layers based on different gray levels. The final image shows the effect of mixing the layers with the following layers. To make the selected layer transparent or translucent, you can also use an eraser to smear the layer. However, the eraser is a destructive tool. It can directly erase the pixels in the layer, and it is impossible to modify them later. The mask is separated from the layer. Editing the mask does not damage the layer. You can re-modify the mask to change the transparent and opaque part of the layer, or even delete the mask so that the layer returns to the fully displayed state.

 

Press and hold the Alt key, and click the mask to switch to the preview chart of the mask. The new mask is completely white by default, that is, the current layer is completely opaque.

 

To edit the mask, make sure that the mask is in the active state (you can click the mask to activate the mask), otherwise it will be a layer rather than a mask. Here I pull a gradient from black to white.

 

Press and hold the Alt key, click the mask, and return to the layer preview state. You can see that the area of the black mask is completely transparent, and the following scenery is displayed. The white area on the right. The red area is completely opaque. The gray masked area in the middle is translucent.

 

The above is the basic knowledge of layers and masks. In the later stages of photography, we will mainly use three layers: element layer, effect layer, and adjustment layer to process the photos with masks.

3. Element layer

The element layer adds some elements such as flowers, birds, figures, and the sky on the basis of the source image, and is widely used in creative and expressive pictures. For example, here I have a bird clip (a PNG image with a transparent background ).

 

I drag the picture to PS with the mouse, and the birds are displayed in the photo as new layers, the flying bird layer is modified, moved, and added with a cool color (Camera Raw filter to reduce the color temperature), which is better integrated with the background.

 

If I think there are too many birds, I can create a mask and use a black brush with an opacity of 100% to erase unwanted birds.

 

Hold down the Shift key and click the mask to hide the mask, so that all the birds will return. (Shift + click again to apply the mask again, which is very convenient for hiding, applying, and adjusting)

 

The masked effect is nothing more than a lonely bird.

IV. Rendering layer

The rendering layer is based on the source image layer, which applies filters such as Blur, sharpening, and sharpness, or detailed extraction, tone comparison, and other special effects in Color Efex Pro 4, change the photo effect. For example, I want to make the sea water smoother. On the top of the page, press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E to print the visible layer (generate a new layer, and the new layer screen will show the effect of all visible layers superimposed on one ). On the new layer, I applied the classic softening filter in Color Efex Pro4 and the Gaussian blur filter in PS, and the entire photo became blurred.

 

But I still want to keep my stone and the sky in the distance clear.

 

So ......

Therefore, you can create a mask and use a black brush to adjust the size, hardness, and opacity of the paint brush. (The key to making the transition area look natural is to use a low-hardness and opacity low brush multiple times slowly brush, rather than a 100% opacity brush .)

 

Draw the following effect on the mask.

 

In this way, the blocks of black stones will be completely clear again, and the gray blocks will be a little misty in the distance, but it will not be as fuzzy as the sea.

 

5. Adjust Layers

The colored order, curve, saturation, and other adjustment options under the "image-adjustment" menu can be used to adjust the shadow and tone of the image. However, these actions are also destructive and unrecoverable, so we need to use adjustment layers.

 

Click the fourth icon under the layers panel to open the "adjust and fill layers" panel. The new natural saturation, exposure, and so on will all exist in the form of new adjustment layers. Then, if we are not satisfied with the effect, we only need to re-adjust these adjustment layers. More importantly, we can use a mask to adjust the layers to limit the effect to a certain area.

 

Here I create a new curve layer and compress the photo.

 

Then, a mask is created to enable the masking function to work on the photo edge.

 

In this way, the Middle Stone is even more prominent because it is not squashed. At the same time, the contrast between light and shade in the photo is more attractive.

 

In this way, the original Sea View Photo adds birds through the element layer, the effect layer increases the degree of softening of sea water, and the adjustment layer uses the curve to press the dark around, more artistic conception.

 

 

Conclusion: (1) the core significance of layers and masks lies in the process of partially modularized photos and the unrecoverable and editable properties. (2) in the later stages of photography, Thomas divided them into three types: element layer, rendering layer, and adjustment layer, which correspond to adding elements, adding special effects, and adjusting brightness color. (3) the mask acts on the layer to change the opacity of each part of the layer.

 

All right, the above information is the detailed basic layers and masks used by photoshop's users, you can see the software users here. I believe that everyone is very clear about the skills and skills. I hope the experiences above will help you with photoshop software users.