How To Use A Layer Mask In Photoshop Setting Up The Document To follow along with this tutorial, you’ll need two images. Since our goal here is simply to understand how layer masks work, not to create a finished masterpiece, any two photos will do. Here’s the first image I’ll be using (dog in bath […]
Show And Hide The Layers Panel By default, Photoshop’s Layers panel appears in the panel column along the right of the screen: The Layers panel opens in the lower right of Photoshop’s interface. You can show or hide the Layers panel by pressing the F7 key on your keyboard. Press F7 once to hide the Layers panel. Press F7 […]
Here’s an image I have open in Photoshop. I’ve added some simple text to it – the word “dream”. The image itself, without the text, is available from the Fotolia image library: The original image. If we look in my Layers panel, we see the photo of the girl sitting on the Background layer, and the word “dream” […]
Here’s a document I have open on my screen displaying some wooden blocks: The original document. At the moment, the blocks are scattered all over the place, but what I’d like to do is arrange them in more of a 3×3 grid pattern. If we look in my Layers panel, we see that each block is […]
Here’s an ad layout I have open on my screen for a fictional garden center: An ad layout in Photoshop. If we look in my Layers panel, we see that even though I’ve gone ahead and renamed many of the layers, there’s still quite a few layers to sort through. In fact, I’ve had to […]
Step 1: Select The “Load Files into Stack” Command With Photoshop open on your screen, go up to the File menu, choose Scripts, and then choose Load Files into Stack. “Stack” means your layer stack, referring to how layers are stacked one on top of the other in the document: Going to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack. […]
Let’s look at a simple example to show you what I mean. Here’s an image I’ve opened in Photoshop. I downloaded this one from Adobe Stock but you can easily follow along with any image of your own: The original image. Whenever we open an image, Photoshop automatically places it on the Background layer, as we see […]
Here’s an image of a photo frame that I’ve just opened in Photoshop. I downloaded this image from Adobe Stock: A photo of a frame for a photo. Whenever we open a new image in Photoshop, it opens inside its own document and Photoshop places the image on its own layer named Background, as we can see […]
Here’s the image I currently have open on my screen (woman with flower wreath photo from Shutterstock): An image open in Photoshop CC. Changing The Preview Thumbnail Size If we look in my Layers panel, we see the image sitting on the Background layer. We know it’s on the Background layer because Photoshop provides us with a preview thumbnail of […]
The Layers Panel In Photoshop By default, you’ll find the Layers panel in the lower right of the screen. As I mentioned, I’m using Photoshop CS6 but regardless of which version you’re using, you’ll find the Layers panel in the same general location: The Layers panel is highlighted in the lower right. If the Layers […]
If you’re brand new to layers in Photoshop, you’ve picked a great place to start. For this first look at layers, we’ll focus on what layers are and why we need them. Rather than creating anything fancy, we’ll use some very simple tools to draw some very simple shapes. Then, we’ll learn how we can […]
Learn all about layers in Photoshop with our Photoshop Layers Learning Guide! We’ve rounded up 10 of our layers tutorials into one convenient list and organized them in the best order to read them, so you can build up your skills one step at a time and get up to speed with Photoshop layers as quickly […]
Adobe introduced the Refine Edge command, offering us a first glimpse of how much easier it could be to select hair, fur and other fine details in an image. Here’s the photo I’ll be starting with. Notice all the curly strands of hair sticking out in front of the gray background: The original photo. What I want to do […]
Transform Essential Skills If you just want to read about how Free Transform works, feel free to skip these first few steps and scroll down to the Scaling An Object section. If you want to follow along with me, we’re going to start things off by creating a new document and then adding a custom shape that […]
Here once again is the image I’m working with (girl with puppy photo from Shutterstock): The original image. And here’s what my initial selection looks like after taking things as far as I could with the tools in the Focus Area dialog box. Notice that while I was able to separate the girl and the puppy from […]
Here’s the image I’ll be working with (girl with puppy photo from Shutterstock). Notice that the girl and the puppy are both in focus while the area behind them is blurred out, exactly the sort of image that Photoshop’s new Focus Area selection tool was designed for: The original image. For this first look at Focus […]
Where Do I Find The Pen Tool? Before we start talking about what the Pen Tool is or how to use it, we should look at where to find it in Photoshop first. You’ll find the Pen Tool in the Tools palette, grouped in with the Shape Tools, the Type Tool, and the Path Selection […]
The Color Range command is similar to the Magic Wand Tool in that both are used to select areas based on tonal and color values, but that’s really where the similarities end. The Magic Wand was first introduced way back in the very first version of Photoshop, and while it can still prove useful at times, it […]
Selecting The Quick Selection Tool To select the Quick Selection Tool, click on its icon in Photoshop’s Tools panel, or press the letter W on your keyboard to select it with the shortcut: The Quick Selection Tool is found near the top of the Tools panel. Making Selections Here’s an image I have open in Photoshop: The […]
How To Use The Magic Wand Tool Selecting The Magic Wand If you’re using Photoshop CS2 or earlier, you can select the Magic Wand simply by clicking on its icon in the Tools palette. In Photoshop CS3, Adobe introduced the Quick Selection Tool and nested it in with the Magic Wand, so if you’re using […]
