Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks

Chapter 2

Work with Layers, Selections, and Masks

Layers, selections, and masks are the key to image editing in Photoshop. You improve or enhance photographs and create designs by adding different types of layers to your original file. You can duplicate a layer or build a complex multilayered image combining layers and layer effects with selections and masks.

A layer is similar to a transparency sheet with or without an image on it. You can edit, transform, or add filters to a layer independently from other layers. You can make one layer alter the look of a layer above or below it. You can combine different types of layers for creative designs. You can flatten all the layers to finalize an image or save a file with the layers for future editing. You can copy, paste, or just drag a layer from one document to another.

Selections enable you to isolate areas in your image and apply different effects or filters without affecting the rest of the image. You can even select areas on one layer and create a new layer with that selection. You can make selections and refine them with many Photoshop tools depending on the type of area that you need to isolate or remove. You can copy, move, paste, and save selections.

A mask is a selection shown as a grayscale image: The white areas are selected; the black areas are not. You can use masks to block out areas of an image or to prevent edits. You can mask with painting tools or even vectors.

#16 Edit an Image with Added Layers and Blending Modes

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#17 Organize the Layers Panel with Names and Colors

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#18 Use Layer Filters to Quickly Find the Layer You Need

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#19 Modify a Photo with an On-Image Adjustment Tool

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#20 Add Layers as Smart Objects for Flexible Changes

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#21 Apply Filters as Smart Filters for Dynamic Adjustments

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#22 Make a Selection with the Quick Selection Tool

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#23 Paint a Quick Mask to Make a Detailed Selection

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#24 Select Just Skin Tones and Adjust Only the Faces

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#25 Adjust a Selection with the Refine Edge Tool

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#26 Blend Two Photos Together with an Automatic Layer Mask

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#27 Use a Gradient Fill Layer to Improve Your Image

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#28 Use Auto-Align and Auto-Blend Layers to Combine Photos

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#29 Create Photographic Designs with Vector Layers

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#16 Edit an image with ADDED LAYERS AND BLENDING MODES

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Layers are one of Photoshop’s most powerful features and essential to editing any image. Layers let you edit nondestructively — that is, work on your images without damaging existing pixels. You can add layers by clicking the New Layer button in the Layers panel or by dragging a layer from another open document; you can also add layers by adding a special type of layer such as a vector layer, type layer, or adjustment layer, or by duplicating another layer. You can even turn on and off the visibility of individual layers to quickly compare your modified image with the original.

By editing a duplicated layer you avoid changing the original, and by applying adjustment layers you not only preserve the original pixels but also keep the overall file size lower. With multiple layers, you can apply different layer blending modes, which control the way the colors in one layer interact with the rest of the colors in the image, without permanently affecting the original image. In addition, you can change the effects of one layer on another by changing the opacity of any layer, or by clicking and dragging layers into different positions in the Layers panel to change their stacking order.

Open an overexposed image.

Note: This task is intended to help you understand layers. In this example, the exposure in an overexposed photo is adjusted with an adjustment layer and a layer blend mode change. You can accomplish the same effect or the reverse effect in various ways.

Click Exposure or another adjustment layer.

Note: You can select any of the adjustment layers for this task, because you are only using the layer and not actually applying the adjustment.

A Photoshop places an adjustment layer above the Background layer and opens the Properties panel.

Click here to close the Properties panel if necessary to see the photo.

Click the drop-down menu and change the blend mode to Multiply.

The exposure appears darker.

Click and drag the adjustment layer over the New Layer button in the Layers panel.

Photoshop duplicates the layer and the exposure appears even darker.

Click Opacity and drag to the left to lower the opacity of the top layer until the photo appears properly exposed.

Note: You can also double-click the adjustment layer button, Exposure () in this example, to reopen the Exposure Properties panel and drag the Exposure slider to adjust the image.

The exposure changes.

Repeat steps 5 and 6 until the exposure appears correct.

Click the eye icon to toggle the visibility of any layer to compare the effect.

TIPS

Did You Know?

Although duplicating the Background layer and changing the blend mode has the same effect as using an adjustment layer, the duplicate Background layer doubles the file size. Adding an adjustment layer with no adjustments and changing the blend mode adds almost nothing to the file size.

Try This!

With a layer selected, cycle through the blend modes to see which works best. Click the Move tool () and while pressing Shift, press the plus sign key to go down the list or the minus sign key to go up the list.

Did You Know?

The blend modes are organized by groups according to what they do. The modes in the first group after Normal and Dissolve all darken the image in some way, whereas the modes in the next group all lighten the image. Each mode in the group starting with Overlay varies the contrast of the image in the layer below. The blend modes in the group starting with Difference exaggerate the differences between the images on the two layers, and the modes in the group starting with Hue change the image based on color properties.

#17 ORGANIZE THE LAYERS PANEL with names and colors

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Although the tasks in this chapter add only a few layers to each image, depending on the complexity of the project, you will often accumulate many more layers in the Layers panel as you work. You can view all the layers at once by scrolling through the list, or you can expand the Layers panel by clicking and dragging the Layers panel tab to separate it from the other panels on the screen. You can also close any panel tab groups you are not using so the Layers panel expands automatically to fill the space. You can name individual layers to help you remember which one applied a specific adjustment to an image. You can also color-code your layers to help you visually organize the Layers panel. Whether you work alone or with a group of designers and share projects, organizing your Layers panel with names and colors streamlines the entire editing process.

Close Tab Groups

Click the panel menu button on any unused tab group.

Click Close Tab Group.

The tabbed group disappears and the other tabbed groups expand to fill the space.

Note: You can optionally repeat steps 1 and 2 for other unused groups.

Note: You can also click and drag a panel out of a group to maintain it on the screen before closing the other tabs in the tabbed group.

Rename Layers

Double-click the name of a layer.

Type a new name in the box.

Repeat for any other layers to give each layer a distinctive name.

Color-Code Layers

Control+click (right-click) a layer.

Click to select a color for the layer.

A The layer’s eye icon box changes color.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 to color-code other layers.

TIPS

Try This!

You can group multiple layers into one layer group by selecting the...