Tutorials

Written by WebMaster   |  01/20/2009

Photoshop has this great feature called layer masks. Layer masks are great because you can edit an image without damaging the integrity of the photo. For example, when you edit a photo using the eraser tool, the changes are permanent. You can undo the changes while Photoshop is still open; however, what happens if your program crashes or you close Photoshop? All of your changes are set in stone. With layer masks, you can go back and change what you did at a later date. We will be making a cloth Chinese emblem. This tutorial is fairly comprehensive and will cover the following subjects:

• Adding a new layer mask
• Editing a layer mask
• Making selections from the layer mask
• Using the Quick Mask to make refined selections.
• Saving selections in the Channels panel
• Loading Selections from the Channels panel
• Applying Filters to layer masks
• Applying layer styles to masks

This tutorial will cover the Channels panel, Quick Mask Mode, and Selections. These are included in the tutorial because they are closely related to the layer masks. Layer masks are used also for making selections. Also, layer masks are found in the channels panel also. All of these will be discussed in detail shortly. This tutorial is a bit long; however, it will cover the necessary subjects and boost your Photoshop skills tremendously.

Create a new document.

First we need to make a new Photoshop document. I named this document "layer_mask." Set the size to 640X480, Resolution 72, RGB color mode, and a transparent background. These settings are ideal for the web environment. (See illustration below) When you are done click OK.

Import an image.

Click this link "Download Image" to download the image that we will be working with.We will not be doing any image editing to the image itself. Create a layer. Make sure the layer 2 selected. Drag the image into Photoshop. Select all of the image and copy and paste the image into your "layer_masks" document that you created on layer 2. Your layers panel should look like the illustration below.

Selecting the image.

With the layer 2 selected where you pasted your image, use the magic wand tool (See illustration to the right) and select the white area of the image. Make sure you have the "tolerance" of your magic wand set at 100. The tolerance is found in the options panel at the top of the window. With the tolerance at 100, you will be sure to select everything except the dragon body and flames.

After you select the white area, go to select option at the top of the Photoshop program window and select inverse. (See illustration below) This will select all of the dragon body parts that you want.