Hi there.

This is going to be a long post - we have a lot to cover. I posted a tutorial earlier this week on Adjustment Layers and then had some requests for a tutorial on how to add layer masks. Layer Masks are amazing tools and there are several ways to use and apply them.

In this tutorial we will cover masking with Paintbrush, masking using the Colour Range selection tool, how to Move, Copy and Invert masks to other Adjustment Layers, how to adjust the Mask's Edge, and finally, using the Gradient Tool to mask.

Let's first start with some background. Layer masks are applied to specific layers and affect what part(s) of a layer (or Adjustment Layer) apply to the image, and to what degree. You can black-out entire parts of a layer, or reduce its effect by greying-out parts of the layer.

We discussed Adjustment Layers in another tutorial, but you are not limited to this kind of layer. One that comes to mind that I use frequently is copying the background layer. To do this, you first need to bring up the Layers window (Window > Layers, or press F7). Whether you only have one layer (your background layer) or several layers, simply right-click on the background layer and click Duplicate Layer...



Then a window will appear where you can rename that...

How to Add Standard Photoshop Adjustment Layers

As promised in my last post, here is a guide of the adjustment layers I use most frequently when editing photos in Photoshop CS2. The following posts will describe the adjustment layers I use, what blending mode I use for each adjustment layer, and how to efficiently add these adjustment layers to your photos while editing - using actions and batch processing.

Benefits of Editing with Adjustment Layers

Most of the editing I do with adjustment layers can be done without layers - that is to say that edits such as Curves and Hue/Saturation can be applied directly to the main image layer itself.

The benefit to using adjustment layers is that no edit is permanent until you flatten the image. You can even save the image with all of its adjustment layers as a Photoshop Document (.psd), and when you reopen it, all the changes you made to the adjustment layers will still be there for you to change back, remove, or alter.

If you were to, for example, edit curves without layers, then go on to change saturation, crop the image, then add vignetting, the only way to go back and change what you did to the curves would be to go back in the history, to when you changed the curve (thus losing all work done since), or start the image editing from scratch.

With adjustment layers, however, so long as...