Using layer shading to make image gradient effects

Gradient

"I need to put a spring sales ad on the company's website," and your boss assigns you a job, "Can you do it in 1 hours?" ”。 "One hours?" I only need 5 minutes. "You answered. Now all you need is to use the layer masking function to improve your productivity. One of the most important features in Photoshop is a layer mask, which can be used to produce a gradient effect on the image. In this article we'll show you how to use layer masking, and you can also master Photoshop's following features: To open an image using Photoshop Working with Layers Use gradients, brushes, move tools To modify the size of an image or layer Find some pictures you like, so let's start now. A simple gradient First we make a simple gradient, the result of the following figure: First Open your Image: This photo was taken from a digital camera and has a 1920x2560 pixel size. If the size of the image is too large to be placed on the Web page will cause the download speed is slow, so we need to modify the size of the image. Executes the image>image size and then assigns the image to a resize. I shrink the image to 300x400 pixels. To keep the original document we now create a new picture document, execute file>new, build a 200x300 image, press CTRL + A on the original image, click CTRL + A to copy the image to the Clipboard, select the newly created image document, press CTRL + V to paste the image, The image automatically becomes a new layer. At this point you will find that the pasted image is larger than the size of the image document we created, so don't worry, we'll deal with that later. To add a mask to the layer, open the layer's Control Panel and click on the "Mask" icon below: This adds a mask to the layer, and you see a link with a rectangle on the edge of the layer: Masking is just a black-and-white "image", you can use black, white or gray to fill the mask, white area will allow the image to display, while the black area will hide the image, gray area will produce transparent effect. Now we're going to produce a black to white gradient, select the Gradient tool in the toolbox, and you can just press the shortcut key g to select it. Sets the foreground color to black and the background color to white. In the toolbar you can see how the gradient works, make sure the effect is from the foreground to the background color. Click on the layer mask and pull a vertical gradient in the middle of the image to the bottom so you can press the SHIFT key to keep the gradient vertical. The resulting effect is as follows: Now look at this image, you may feel that the tulip is also blocked by the gradient, I want the whole picture to move up some, but also want to keep the current gradient effect does not change, layer mask can let you do this. In the Layer Control Panel, you will see the link icon, which is used to link layer shading and image, click the link icon to cancel the link. Click the image again to make sure that the action you are doing is for the image, and then select the Move tool in the toolbox (or press the shortcut key v directly). Drag the image up to a satisfactory position in the image document. Write some text in the blank space below, OK, such an advertisement is basically finished. One trick: You can fill the background layer with any color, and the background color will show up because the layer is transparent to a part of the image, so the image will look more vivid. Let's take a look at the application of a layer mask, and we'll use a brush and a layer mask to produce the following effect: Open the image and place it in a new layer, adding a layer mask: Select the Brush tool in the Toolbox, or press shortcut key B. In the Brush Toolbox, select a suitable brush: Depicted in a layer mask, hiding some areas. Now we feel that "people" in the image of some large, need to narrow some, first unlink. Press ctrl+t or select free Transform in the Image menu to narrow the picture to the appropriate size. Make some other adjustments and knock on the text: