Layer Masks - 2

Layer Masks - 2

Learn more about how to harness the power of Layer Masks in Photoshop.

When to use

Layer Masks are incredibly useful any time that you want to hide or reveal parts of an image.

Instructions

Placing Masked Objects in a Scene

• Begin by selecting your masked 'DO NOT ENTER SIGN' and duplicating it.
• Drag this copy below the masked version of the sign.
• Hold the Control Key and click on the layer mask thumbnail icon to delete the layer mask on the new copy of the photo.
• Now you can move your masked sign to the left of the original sign in the photo to create another instance of it.
• You can also scale the sign up by pressing Command/Ctrl+T and then dragging outwards from any of the four corners of the bounding box to increase the size.
• Move the scene to the far left of the scene so that it gets cropped off. 
• You can duplicate this layer again and resize and reposition another instance on the opposite side. 

Layer Masks and Adjustment Layers

• Delete both of the extra instances of your sign so you are only left with the original image and the solid color layer below.
• Click on the Adjustment Layer Icon and apply a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer.
• Since we want to apply this to our sign, we will need to create a selection around it once again using the same techniques we covered in the previous lesson.
• Using the Magic Wand Tool (W) click in an area of the sky.
• Go to the Select Menu and choose 'Similar' to grab the rest of the sky.
• You should now have marching ants around your selection, but because we no longer have a mask on our photo layer we will need to apply one.
• If we click the Layer Mask Icon with our current selection active, you'll notice that it hides the sign and keeps everything else - this is because we actually need to invert our selection. Let's delete this mask.
• To invert the selection, go to the Select Menu and choose 'Inverse' or use the keyboard shortcut Command/Ctrl+Shift+I on the keyboard.
• Now we can click on the Layer Mask Icon once again and most of the background will be removed.
• Let's use the Lasso Tool to mask out the trees and building so we are only left with the sign.
• Select the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and check off the 'Colorize' box from the Properties Panel.
• Use the 'Hue' slider to change the color tint, and then use the 'Saturation' to increase or decrease the saturation of the color. 
• Once you're happy with the way that the color is looking, hold the Control Key and click on the Layer Mask to delete it.
• Let's now hold the Alt/Option Key and click on the Layer Mask Icon to apply an Inverted Mask to the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer.
• Hold the Command/Ctrl Key and click on the layer mask thumbnail.
• Doing this will activate a selection around the sign.
• Make sure that the Inverted Layer Mask is selected and then fill the selection with solid white. 
• Doing this will make sure that the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer is only affecting the sign that we masked out since we used the same selection.

Reusing Selections

• Now that we have a Layer Mask applied to our photo, we can continue to reuse this selection, or invert it to new Adjustment Layers.
• To demonstrate this, go to the Adjustment Layer Icon and choose 'Color Lookup' from the menu.
• Choose from one of the LUT presets and it will be applied to all of the layers underneath it.
• Hold the Command/Ctrl Key and click on the layer mask thumbnail of the sign layer to activate a selection around the sign.
• Next, make sure the Layer Mask of your Color Lookup Adjustment Layer is selected and fill it with solid black.
• Your Color Lookup Adjustment Layer will now only affect the areas outside of the sign.
• You can now continue to modify your Adjustment Layers and your masks will stay intact.
• From here, make a copy of your 'DO NOT ENTER SIGN' layer and then delete the layer mask.
• Drag this layer to the bottom so that it's just below the masked copy of your sign.
• Hold the Command/Ctrl Key and click on the layer mask thumbnail of the Color Lookup Adjustment Layer to activate the selection.
• Return to the Adjustment Layer Icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette and apply a new instance of the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer.
• Check off the 'Colorize' box and then reduce the 'Lightness' using the bottom slider.
• You can now apply a different color that will only affect the background.

Hints & tips

• Once you have a selection from a Layer Mask, you can hold the Command/Ctrl Key and click on the layer mask thumbnail icon to activate the selection again. This will allow you to reuse your selections or invert them so you can determine which parts of an image you want to apply an effect or adjustment to.
• Using Layer Masks is a great way to isolate parts of a photo, but they can also be used to isolate effects created by Adjustment Layers.