Page 63 - Adobe Photoshop 2021

Edit Layer Mask Properties
The most important thing to understand in this series of exercises is that layer masks
are non-destructive. 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 Making the mask
panel to see them. Although channel visible allows
you can edit a mask without you to see the red
seeing it, it is easier (at least overlay in the image.
when you’re first learning)
to be able to see what you’re
doing.

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. If necessary, click the click the empty space
on the left side of the Channels panel to
make the Sunrise Mask channel visible.
There is a minor bug in the software that might cause the mask channel to be hidden
when you change the mask opacity.

6. 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.

Project 1: Music CD Artwork 75