Page 62 - Adobe Photoshop CC 2020

Edit Layer Mask Properties
The most important thing to understand in this series of exercises is that layer masks
are nondestructive. You can change the mask to change the visible area of the layer,
temporarily hide the mask to show the entire layer, or even delete the mask entirely if
you decide you don’t want or need it. You can also edit a number of mask properties
to further refine the mask and its effect on the masked layer contents.

1. With cd-artwork.psd open, open the Channels panel (Window>Channels).
2. In the Channels panel, click the empty space on the left side of the panel
to make the Sunrise Mask channel visible.
Layer masks are not visible
by default; you have to turn
them on in the Channels
panel to see them. This isn’t
strictly necessary, since you
can edit a mask without
seeing it, but it is easier
(at least when you’re first
learning) to be able to see Making the mask
what you’re doing. channel visible allows
you to see the red
overlay in the image.

3. Double-click the Sunrise Mask channel icon in the Channels panel.

4. Change the Opacity field to 100%, then click OK.
Remember, this change only affects the
transparency of the mask, not the degree
of transparency applied to the layer.
By setting the mask opacity to 100%,
you will be better able to see the results
of your choices in the following steps.

Anything solid red will be hidden and
anything with no red will be visible;
shades of red will be partially transparent.

5. In the Layers panel, click the Sunrise layer mask thumbnail to select it.

Clicking the layer mask
These corner icons thumbnail selects the
indicate that the mask so you can edit it.
base layer is selected.

74 Project 1: Music CD Artwork