Tutorial: An Easy Introduction to Layer MasksMar 9, 2010 | by Bob Nolin | Read | 1 Comment

Here's looking at you, kid: you can do layer masks!

I’ll admit it: I used to be afraid of layer masks. Totally intimidated. I had just begun to use layers, which was a big hurdle for me. I was not about to tackle layer masks, too. No sir. For one thing, I couldn’t see what purpose they served.

You know what I’m going to say next, though, don’t you? (The title of the post gave it away.) Friends and neighbors, I’m here to tell you layer masks are a good thing. You will learn to love layer masks, trust me. They save you time, they give you unlimited flexibility, they allow to edit non-destructively…with layer masks, you are in control. So put down the eraser tool for a second, and let me show you how useful layer masks can be.

We’ll start with something you’ve worked on many times in Photoshop, I’m sure: an eye. Specifically, the white of the eye, known as the sclera. If you’re retouching a portrait, you’ll no doubt spend some time whitening the eyes in some way. For a formal photographic portrait, you may just dodge a few blood vessels, clean things up a bit. But if you’re getting the portrait ready to be brought into Painter, or you’re doing a more painterly retouch job in Photoshop, you’ll probably use some white paint and an airbrush. This is a fantastic time to use a layer mask, as you’ll see.

By the way: this is not the only way to do this task. As in all things with Photoshop, there’s many ways to do most things. But I learned this method from a wonderful training DVD by Jane Conner-Ziser, and I use it all the time. I’ll give you a link to her training materials at the end.

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