Page 60 - CC2019_PS_Look_Inside

Edit Layer Mask Properties

Th e 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 refi ne the mask and its eff ect 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. Th is isn’t strictly
necessary, since you can edit a
mask without seeing it, but it
is easier (at least when you’re
fi rst learning) to be able to see
what you’re doing.
Making the mask
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 fi eld to 100%, then click OK.

Remember, this change only aff ects 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.

72 Project 1: Music CD Artwork