Original subtitles

so let me ask you a question what is the

purpose of a mask an actual mask

actually to hide the face right thieves

and robbers wear a mask you know why to

hide their faces of course they don't

want to be seen superheroes at least

most of them wear a mask why to hide

their face and of course their identity

similarly in Photoshop the only

objective of a layer mask the only

purpose of a layer mask is to hide the

layer that's it so here we have a

beautiful ballerina on top of that we

have this flow text we want to create

the text layer in such a way that the O

comes from behind her how do we make

that happen we have to hide parts of O

right and we make that happen with the

help of a layer mask and the way you can

create a layer mask is by selecting the

layer for which you want to create the

layer mask and then click on the mask

button right there there you go it

creates something right there at the

moment it is all white the concept of

layer mask is black are the areas which

hide white other areas which show up so

if the layer mask is selected and then

you select the brush right there and you

start painting with black let's paint

with a soft round brush have a look

those areas hide what is happening

inside of the mask that area is black

which means that area is simply not

showing up remember black Heights and

white shows so this area is black that

is why this area is not showing up

however if you paint that back with

white by the way you can press X to

toggle between the foreground and the

background colors and if the foreground

and the background colors are funky to

some other random color right here press

D to reset the foreground and background

colors to black and white now let's

paint that area back in White have a

look it starts showing up which means it

is not permanent it's absolutely

non-destructive and that's a great thing

which means you can change stuff later

so to erase the O from that area take

the brush black as the foreground color

again we pressed X to toggle between the

foreground and the background and just

paint you don't have to be very accurate

we can create a shadow effect like this

and there you go this is a wonderful

effect right here and then you can find

tune it according to your liking

just like this

this looks so darn classy two things to

remember the only purpose of a layer

mask is to hide the layer certain parts

of the layer the whole layer or hide

nothing but the purpose of it is to hide

different areas of the layer and the

second most important concept is black

hides and white shows wherever we

painted black those areas are hidden and

all of the white areas show up have a

look at it by the way how did we see the

mask you can hold the ALT key or the

option key click on the mask to see just

the mask you can hold the ALT key or the

option key back again click on the mask

to see the layer also there is no need

to panic if you hold the alt carry the

option key click on the mask and you

forget where you are just select any

other layer or simply click outside and

you should be fine before we continue

there are lots of fun projects like this

coming up so make sure to download the

practice files also a lot of you guys

were confused I read the comments

just know that this is an absolutely

free course you don't have to sign up

you don't have to do anything just watch

watch the playlist and how can you find

the playlist just go to the pixin

perfect Channel go to playlist and go to

photoshop complete course playlist

you'll find all the lessons there also

you can go to learn photoshopfree.com if

the domain expires just do the YouTube

thing back to the lesson you must be

wondering why use a layer mask in the

first place you can just simply use an

eraser right sorry about that there are

two major reasons we use layer masks

number one it is non-destructive and

number two it works with non-raster

layers let's look into that let's start

for the first reason that is

non-destructive abilities heavy word but

very simple to understand let's say in

this landscape you want to do a very

simple Sky replacement don't worry about

reflection that is too complicated for

right now just a simple Sky replacement

now I do understand Photoshop has a sky

replacement feature right here but we're

gonna do it in a very simple way for it

first of all let's select the sky just

go to select choose sky

it makes a selection very fantastic

isn't it in the later versions of

Photoshop now what if we just simply

delete this guy by pressing the delete

key

now again it won't let you delete it

cleanly because it's a background layer

and background layers cannot be

transparent so first of all let's unlock

this layer by clicking on this button

press the delete key all right now press

Ctrl or command D to deselect because

there was a selection we wanted to

deselect now let's bring in the new Sky

I'm just going to drag it and drop it

right here make sure to download all the

assets so that you can follow along

let's make it larger and of course the

sky needs to be behind the mountains

right so place the sky behind the

mountain layers or the whole landscape

layer press Ctrl or command T and adjust

it right now it looks pretty okay

there is a problem however the problem

is we deleted the sky area from this one

if we wanted something back we cannot

have a look at it there are parts of the

mountains that are gone if I turn it off

you can easily see that have a look

these have become transparent also have

a look at this area that is completely

erased if I turn this on have a look the

mountain is gone we cannot have it back

similarly if you just use the Eraser

tool by selecting right here and erased

the sky let's say we did it this way we

cannot have the mountains back if we

painted extra accidentally or if we want

something back for some reason so that

my friend is the destructive style of

editing it is the style of editing where

we cannot go back after the fact layer

masks allow you to work

non-destructively let's go back to how

it was right this is how it was first of

all let us select the sky how do we do

that go to select Sky you can also use

other tools you can erase it in a layer

mask with a brush that that's all up to

you but this is easy Once the selection

is active if you click on the mask

button it will create a mask of the

selected area so if I click right here

have a look only the selected area shows

up because in The Mask right here the

sky area is White and the other areas

are Black White are the areas which show

up blank are the areas which hide that

is why this is the case but we want it

opposite of it so there are two ways we

can approach this we can select the mask

and then press Ctrl or command I to

invert the mask now the sky is black and

the ground base is white right it

completely opposites the mask the other

approach is a little shortcut let's go

back to how it was here we now have a

selection if we wanted to create an

opposite mask or in other words a

negative mask we would hold the ALT key

or the option key and then click on the

mask button it creates the opposite mask

already so you don't have to do that

extra step now if you bring in the new

sky

let's make it a little larger like this

take it behind the ground the mountains

Ctrl or command D let's take it up like

that

right now we can bring stuff back if you

zoom in have a look these areas are

transparent right I can go into the mask

right here we can take the brush white

as the foreground color and paint these

areas back in bring them back there you

go

so this gives you the flexibility this

gives you the non-destructive abilities

to go back if the mask was not right or

if you want to change something now

before we move on to the next reason why

we use layer masks what was the first

reason

because it is

non-destructive you can go back and

stuff let's start with the second reason

so what was the second reason we talked

about

second reason is simply that it works

with non-araster layers what do I mean

by that so in this image of this classy

lady let's say we want to add some funky

background so let's open up finder or

Explorer we're just going to drag it and

drop in the doodle pattern by the way I

downloaded it from envato elements I

highly recommend it it's amazing it

gives you unlimited access to all of

these assets unlimited downloads of

these things like Photoshop actions

brushes Graphics like these and so much

more sound effects stock photos talk

videos Photoshop plugins and stuff so

check it out there's a sale going on

right now I don't know how long it will

go check the links in the description

did you notice that when we placed it it

placed as a smart object let us delete

that and let me do that again for you

and this time notice so if we go right

here if we click and drag and drop on

the canvas like this this my friend

comes as a smart object and comes

resized why is this so you need to make

a small change in your Photoshop

preferences go to edit and then

preferences on a Mac it would be under

Photoshop and then preferences and

inside of that go to General

and inside of general make sure you

check always create smart objects when

placing also you might want to resize

during place and that is why it was

fitting to the canvas hit ok now of

course we want this design to be behind

the subject for it we need to select the

subject right now if we select any of

these three tools the object selection

the quick selection or the magic wand

tool at the top we will see the option

for select subject but it won't do

anything why because this layer is

selected not the subject layer so select

the subject layer click on select

subject now that we have a selection

remember we want it not on the subject

but everywhere else in other words we

want a negative mask so how do we create

a negative mask we just learned if you

hold the ALT key or the option key and

then click on the mask button now you

have a negative mask now did you get the

second reason why we use layer masks

have a look this my friend is a smart

object and that is why we were going on

and on about smart objects now the thing

with smart objects is it is simply a

preview we talked about it in the lesson

about less and since it is just a

preview if you take the brush and try to

paint it won't let you do it also if you

take the Eraser and try to erase it

won't let you do it so the only way to

hide certain areas from a smart object

or a shape layer or a text layer like we

did in the very first example is using a

layer mask if we create a simple regular

raster layer and if we take the brush

and we paint something like this of

course we can take an eraser and erase

it why because the Eraser erases the

pixels but with smart objects we are not

dealing with pixels with shape layers we

are not dealing with pixels with text

layers it's Vector based right so the

only way to hide stuff is using a layer

mask now let us make the background a

little realistic double click on the

right hand side of the layer this opens

up the layer style dialog box we want to

take this design away from the dark

areas of the underlying layers or the

layer that lies under it so dark areas

of this layer and how do we do that by

taking the slider of the underlying

layer layers that lie under it from left

to right but again this would be harsh

so we would want to break it down have a

look this is Harsh right here going

completely away from the Shadows we

don't want that so hold the alt clear

the option key click on the slider to

break it apart take it all the way apart

that looks great let's take it even

further like this a little light design

is fine too hit okay once you're

satisfied and there you go now let's say

you want to move this pattern around

make it larger or smaller how would you

do that right now there's a problem

first of all let's name the lead that is

a problem organization is important if

you press Ctrl or command T and if you

try to move it the mask also moves that

is an issue if you try to make it larger

The Mask also becomes larger so how do

we move it in a way so that the mask

stays intact by simply unlinking The

Mask so right now as you can see have a

look at the link icon right there which

means that the mask and the layer is

linked so whatever movement resizing or

rotation you do to the layer The Mask

will also do the same accordingly and

also if the layer is a regular raster

layer not a smart object like this one

but a regular raster layer and let's say

we paint like this we create a mask and

we erase this area right even if you

apply a filter to this one like filter

blur and then gaussian blur

have a look The Mask also blurs right so

to make the mask independent of the

layer we need to unlink it so how do we

unlink it simply click on the link the

same way you unlock a leg click on the

lock it unlocks the layer click on the

link to unlink it to link it back click

right here in the middle it just comes

back in like magic so once they have

broken up by clicking right here you can

press controller command D make it

larger smaller The Mask stays intact you

can move it around have a look you have

all the freedom to do that and right

here as you can see the paint cannot be

that sharp there has to be a little bit

of blur to it right let's go to filter

blur and then gaussian blue let's apply

two that's fine that looks more

realistic or maybe

1.4 possibly hit okay that's nice and

there you have it now one very important

thing when using Photoshop there are no

set of rules and if we try to cram a set

of rules which would be infinite steam

will come running out of our ears

instead once we understand the concept

your approach might be absolutely

fantastically different from mine and

that is absolutely fine and that is the

way it should be now just as we can turn

off and on layers we can also turn off

and on just the masks and here's how to

do it let's say you want to take a look

at how the original Sky looked like

without the mask right here you can hold

the shift key and click on the mask

there you go the mask is turned off and

this is how the image would be without

the mask sometimes we don't want to

delete the mask because we just want to

look at how it would look like if the

mask was not there or you might want to

check something but right now I have

deleted it and I have to do the mask all

over again so that is why Photoshop has

this feature where you can simply turn

off the mask whenever you want just hold

the shift key click on the mask across

will show up which means it's turned off

again just click right here it will turn

on you don't have to hold the shift key

again once it turns off just click on it

or if you have to have it you can hold

the shift key click on it it doesn't

really matter now the layer mask has its

own properties everything has a property

in Photoshop but with layer masks there

are only two you need to worry about

let's say you want to create a vignette

let's create one of my favorite

adjustment layers first time in this

series so click on the adjustment layer

icon and then choose curves now this may

be a little Advanced however if you're

interested you can watch the this

complete master class that takes you

through how to use the curves from start

to finish right here but for right now

just know that if you create a point and

take it down it will make it darker if

you take it up it will make it brighter

the right hand side represent the bright

areas the left hand side represent the

dark areas so if I want to make the dark

areas darker I can create a point right

here drag it down

if I want to make the bright areas

brighter I can create a point right here

and drag it up so bright areas have

become brighter dark areas have become

darker as a result we have more contrast

let us reset it by simply clicking on

this button now what we want to do is

create a vignette

so take the point on the right hand side

down like that and to create some

contrast create a point in the middle

and take it down as well again to

understand curves that is the video to

watch for now this much understanding is

fine let's collapse it now make sure the

mask is selected let's press Ctrl or

command 0 to fit it to the screen now

take the brush take a hard round brush

right here let's make the brush a little

larger and just dab in the middle with

black as the foreground color make sure

opacity and flow at the top are at 100

just dab once now here's the great part

you can press controller command D and

move it around make the face in focus

and then let's make it a little larger

if you hold the shift key you can

stretch it a little if you wish to

if you also hold the ALT key it will

stretch from the center you already know

that but this is way too harsh right so

here comes the first property if you

double click on the layer mask you

should see the properties by the way

when you double click for the first time

I think you might get a choice as to

what you want to see select and mask our

properties make sure you choose

properties if that's what you want one

other way to bring up properties is by

selecting the mask and just bring up the

properties just like this again if you

cannot see the properties go to window

and make sure properties is selected

right here checked the first slider

we're going to talk about right now is

feather it simply blurs it we're going

to talk about density later but feather

if you increase it have a look this is

getting more and more blurred

so it simply blurs the mask in a

non-destructive way so that you can

always go back so right now this is

looking fine let's blur it a lot

like this much how much is it 600 right

let's go for 620 all right take a look

it's dragging the attention of the

viewer towards the face now that's not

all watch this with the mask selected if

you press Ctrl or command d

this can be adjust later pretty cool now

you can

resize it move it around it's all up to

you there you go the next property will

be a little fun let's say we want to

color grade it the easiest way to do it

is by using a color lookup adjustment

layer click on the adjustment layer icon

and then choose color lookup right from

here you can choose whatever you want so

you can go for crisp form you can go for

whatever you want let's say we choose

fall colors that looks dreamy now let's

say we only want it on the subject now

of course you can select the subject

apply the mask right here let me show

you the long process and then the

shorter process so if you select the

subject layer and using the same method

of using these tools and at the top

clicking on select subject you can go to

the mask right here and fill that with

black so with black as the foreground

color press alt backspace or option

delete Now deselect by pressing Ctrl or

command D now it is the opposite of what

we wanted so select the mask and then

press Ctrl command I to invert the mask

that is the long way of doing it the

shorter way is before even creating any

adjustment layer if you already have a

selection because adjustment layers

already come with their own masks if you

just make a selection beforehand let's

click on select subject and then if we

created a color lookup adjustment layer

have a look it already comes with that

mask now let's change it to let's say

fall colors this was it right now it's

looking a little odd because it's all on

the subject not on the background we

want a little bit of this on the

background as well how do we make that

happen only if we could decrease the

opacity of the mask and that is the

setting of density if you select the

mask and open up the properties and just

decrease the density see what happens it

is just like opacity for the mask if the

density is at zero it acts like there

was no mask in there in the first place

but as you begin to increase the density

it's like the opacity of the Mask

increases and the effect of the Mask

becomes more and more opaque so I'm

going to keep it at about 50 that looks

nice continuing with this example let us

learn how do we copy a mask usually I

like to add a little grain to my images

the way we do it again we covered this

in previous lessons we press Ctrl shift

n command shift n to bring the new layer

dialog box we choose the blend mode

overlay and choose fill with overlay

neutral color over laser blend mode

which hides anything that is 50 Gray

since this layer is gray it looks hidden

now before we do anything let's go to

filter convert for smart filters hit OK

to convert this layer into a smart

object so that whatever filter we apply

we can change that later now let's go to

filter noise and then add noise

40 is fine for now uniform monochromatic

is good hit okay noise is too fine let's

blur it let's go to filter blur and then

gaussian blur

0.8.6 is fine for this example let's go

for 0.8 it okay now I think the noise is

too much that is the advantage of a

smart object we can go back to noise

settings by double clicking on add noise

right here hit okay let's change it to

about 30.

hit ok now for the background I love the

texture but let's say we don't want that

much on the subject how do we do it we

can recreate the subject mask or just

simply copy this one so hold the alt

cure the option key click and drag and

drop this mask right here it is copied

right now it is the opposite on the

background it is less on the subject it

is more so select the mask and then

press Ctrl or command I to invert the

mask and then it can control the density

to your liking so open up the properties

make sure the mask is selected if you

want more noise on the subject decrease

the density

so that the mask slowly and gradually

becomes invisible if you want lesser and

lesser noise increase the density I

think 50 was fine and there you have a

fantastic effect now we just learned how

do we copy a mask but too many copies

can be an issue also with the workflow

and also with results let us take a look

in this example we created some lipstick

and by the way it's from this tutorial

which you can watch later mind you it's

a very old video now here we have

created a lot of Shades this is for the

dark areas again this one this one for

the highlights and again this one for

the overall darkness and it's simple

solid color adjustment layers with the

lips masked in as you can see and all of

them with multiply or screen blend modes

and we applied some blend if it's a very

simple technique and the technique is

besides the point the point is we have

four same masks the way we did it is by

once we have a mask we just held the alt

here the option key

drag it and dropped it right here of

course we want to replace it and we made

copies of the same mask but it can be an

issue have a look around the edge it's

creating that weird highlight and it can

do that sometimes another challenge is

if you want to adjust something in one

mask for example let's say this area was

not looking right so you went into the

mask of this one you took the brush and

you painted accordingly let's say we

painted in Black we erased that area

but now you have to do the same thing in

all four masks that's an issue so

instead of doing all this just group all

of those lists let's say these were

ungrouped by the way to ungroup a group

right click on it and then choose

ungroup layers just select all of them

select the first one hold the shift key

select the last one and then press Ctrl

or command G to group them let's name it

whatever you want lipstick and then

let's open up the group and put one of

the masts on the group that's it and you

can delete the rest of the masks so Drag

The Mask drop it to the trash can delete

do the same

you can also check don't show again did

not show it again but I keep it because

I have to teach now have a look there is

no more weird highlight around the edge

also if you have to change the mask now

you just have one mess to deal with now

let's talk about the concept of double

masking let's say we want to paint some

highlights so we create a solid color

adjustment layer by clicking on the

adjustment layer icon and then choose

solid color all right hit OK for now

turn it off double click right here and

then you can choose any highlight color

from the image to ensure that it's

picking the colors make sure sample all

layers is selected sample size Point

size or 3x3 is fine keep it three by

three it takes a three pixel by 3 pixel

average let's sample this color hit OK

all right let's turn this on now we want

the Highlight on the subject so select

the subject layer select any of these

three tools click on select subject you

know the process you know the drill

select the mask fill it with black alt

backspace option delete controller

command D and then select the mask press

Ctrl or command I you wouldn't have to

do that long of a process if you already

had a selection and then you created a

solid color adjustment layer we just

covered it now the Highlight is

literally all over the subject we only

wanted it on the right hand side y

because the light is coming from the

right hand side so now we have a mask

but the problem is if we go right here

we take the brush and with a soft round

brush we erase it from the areas

we paint black in the areas where we

didn't want the highlight

like this now to make it look like a

highlight you can double click on the

right hand side of the layer hold the

ALT key the option key

click on the slider to break it apart

and take it away from the dark areas of

the underlying layer it's pretty good

hit okay I would also decrease the

opacity that's a nice highlight but the

problem now is this if I wanted to get

the Highlights back in the hand areas I

cannot do that because if I go to the

mask take the brush white as the

foreground color we pressed X to toggle

between the foreground and the

background if we try to paint this area

back in it also paints on the sky have a

look it also faints on the sky so that's

an issue if I try to paint this area

back in see it also planes that area so

my mask is gone I wish I had the mask

for the subject again so I would have to

redo it I would have to redo select

subject create that mask and go through

the entire process instead of doing that

here's what you do once you have the

mask once you have this filled put that

layer and just that one layer in a group

a group can have one layer no issues you

can always be a group of one select that

layer and press Ctrl or command G now

create a negative mask by holding the

ALT key or the option key and click on

the mask button that creates a black

mask now this mask is right here no

issues but here's another mask that you

can work with now you have two masks for

the same layer now if you paint with

white and bring back some of the

highlights right here

it's not an issue because that's a

different mask and you still have this

mask intact only the intersecting areas

of both of this mask is going to show up

now we can zoom in erase this area paint

that back in no issues at all because we

still have this mask so that is the

concept of double masking and I've saved

the most fun project for the end and

that is using image as a mask and you

can create incredible effects with it

yes you can definitely use an image as a

mask let's first create a black

background unlock the layer and click on

the adjustment layer icon and then

choose solid color let us choose black

and hit OK place this behind the bushes

because we're gonna need it now what if

we had a face in a mask form so that

only the highlights of the face show up

so here my friend we have our beautiful

model let's copy this Ctrl or command a

to select all Ctrl or command C to copy

and then let's get back to it and first

let's create a mask by clicking on the

mask button right here now to paste it

properly we need to hold the alt kill

the option key click on the mask to get

to the mask mode and then press Ctrl or

command V

it's pasted but it's too big press Ctrl

or command D to transform you know the

drill

let's make it this way this is fine hit

enter or return Ctrl or command D to

deselect now there are some additional

areas you can take the brush black as

the foreground color and just fill that

in not an issue you can also use the

rectangular Marquee too but I just did

it this way now ready for the Moment of

Truth click anywhere else and there you

have it pretty cool isn't it now this

may be not too bright you know why

because the highlights of the Mask is

not too bright so to fix it we need to

make the highlights of the Mask brighter

select the mask and then press Ctrl or

command M to bring up the curves and to

make the highlights brighter just take

this slider to the left so we're gonna

keep it this way that is good hit okay

by the way okay it's hidden hit okay and

there you go cool wonderful isn't it

it's all in all there are just two

things you need to remember number one

the only objective of a layer mask is to

hide the layer and number two black

hides and white shows that's all thank

you so much for joining me in this video

and again this is a free series just

enjoy watching don't worry about

anything I hope this video helped you

and if it did make sure to give us a

like and also don't forget to subscribe

and not just subscribe ring the bell so

that you my friend don't miss any other

future tips tricks or tutorials I would

like to take this moment to thank all of

these nice and amazing people who are

making these series possible and helping

keep fixing perfect free for everybody

forever I'll see you in the next one

till then stay tuned and make sure that

you keep creating

[Music]

for you