Png Mask For Photoshop Free Download ((BETTER))

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use layer masks in Photoshop. If you're new to Photoshop, layer masks can seem like an advanced topic. But layer masks are easy to use. In fact, a layer mask is as simple as black and white! There are so many practical and creative uses for layer masks that covering them all at once would be impossible. So for this first tutorial in the series, we'll take a more general look at layer masks, covering just the basics of how they work so you can start using them right away! We'll also compare layer masks with similar features in Photoshop, like the Opacity option in the Layers panel, and Photoshop's Eraser Tool, to get a better sense of just how powerful layer masks really are.

I'll be using Photoshop CC but this tutorial is also fully compatible with Photoshop CS6. In fact, the basics of layer masks haven't changed since they were first introduced way back in Photoshop 3.0. However, Photoshop's interface has changed a lot in recent versions. So if you're using Photoshop CS5 or earlier, you may want to follow along instead with our original Understanding Layer Masks tutorial.

Download File

Before we continue, this tutorial assumes that you have at least a basic understanding of layers (not layer masks, but layers themselves). If you're not yet familiar with layers, I highly recommend reading through our Photoshop Layers tutorials, beginning with the first one in the series, Understanding Layers In Photoshop. If you're already good to go with layers and you're ready to learn all about layer masks, then let's get started!

To follow along with this tutorial, you'll need two images. Since our goal here is simply to understand how layer masks work, not to create a finished masterpiece, any two photos will do. Here's the first image I'll be using (dog in bath photo from Adobe Stock):

And now, both images are visible once again. The cat photo is still blocking much of the dog photo from view, but now that we've set up our document, let's learn how we can use a layer mask to blend our two images together:

So, what exactly is a layer mask and what does it do? Quite simply, a layer mask is something we can add to a layer that allows us to control the transparency of that layer. Of course, there are other ways in Photoshop to control a layer's transparency as well. The Opacity option in the Layers panel is one way to adjust transparency. The Eraser Tool is another common way to add transparency to a layer. So what makes layer masks so special?

So far, we've seen that the Opacity option in the Layers panel can only affect entire layers at once, and that the Eraser Tool causes permanent damage to an image. Let's see if a layer mask can give us better results.

Nothing will happen to the images in the document, but if we look again in the Layers panel, we see that the top layer now shows a layer mask thumbnail to the right of its preview thumbnail:

Notice that the layer mask thumbnail is filled with white. Why white? Why not black, or red, or blue? Well, the reason it's not filled with red or blue is because layer masks are grayscale images. A grayscale image is an image that uses only black, white and the various shades of gray in between. It can't display any other colors.

So, since layer masks are grayscale images, that explains why the layer mask isn't filled with red or blue. But why white? Why not black or gray? Well, we use a layer mask to control the transparency level of a layer. Usually, we use it to adjust the transparency of different areas of the layer independently (otherwise we'd just use the Opacity option in the Layers panel that we looked at earlier).

But by default, when we first add a layer mask, Photoshop keeps the entire layer fully visible. It does that by filling the layer mask with white. Why white? It's because the way a layer mask works is that it uses white to represent the areas of the layer that should remain 100% visible in the document. It uses black to represent areas that should be 100% transparent (completely hidden). And, it uses the various shades of gray in between to represent partial transparency, with areas filled with darker shades of gray appearing more transparent than areas filled with lighter shades.

Let's see what happens if we fill the layer mask with black. Notice in the Layers panel that the layer mask thumbnail has a white highlight border around it. That's because the layer and its layer mask are two separate things, and the highlight border around the layer mask thumbnail tells us that the mask, not the layer itself, is currently selected. If you're not seeing the highlight border around the layer mask thumbnail, click on the thumbnail to select it:

Since black on a layer mask represents areas on the layer that are 100% transparent, filling the entire layer mask with black causes the contents of the layer (my cat photo) to be completely hidden from view. This gives us the same result as if we had lowered the Opacity option in the Layers panel down to 0%:

Since gray on a layer mask represents areas of partial transparency on the layer, and we filled the mask specifically with 50% gray, my cat photo now appears 50% transparent in the document, giving us the same result as if we had lowered the Opacity option to 50%:

So far, layer masks haven't seemed like anything special. In fact, as we've seen, filling a layer mask entirely with solid white, black or gray gives us the same result as using the Opacity option in the Layers panel. If that was all that layer masks could do, there would be no need for layer masks since the Opacity option is faster and easier to use.

But layer masks in Photoshop are a lot more powerful than that. In fact, they have more in common with the Eraser Tool than with the Opacity option. Like the Eraser Tool, layer masks allow us to easily show and hide different areas of a layer independently.

But here's the important difference. While the Eraser Tool permanently deletes areas of an image, layer masks simply hide those areas from view. In other words, the Eraser Tool makes destructive edits to an image; layer masks do it non-destructively. Let's see how it works.

I mentioned earlier that the Eraser Tool is a brush. With layer masks, we don't use the Eraser Tool itself, but we do use a brush. In fact, we use Photoshop's Brush Tool. I'll select it from the Toolbar. You can also select the Brush Tool by pressing the letter B on your keyboard:

Since we want to use the Brush Tool to hide areas of the layer we paint over, and we know that on a layer mask, black represents areas that are hidden, we'll need to paint with black. Photoshop uses our current Foreground color as the brush color. But by default, whenever we have a layer mask selected, Photoshop sets the Foreground color to white, not black.

We can see our current Foreground and Background colors in the color swatches near the bottom of the Toolbar. Notice that the Foreground color (the swatch in the upper left) is set to white and that the Background color (the swatch in the lower right) is set to black. These are the default colors when working with layer masks:

Then, with black as my brush color, I'll start painting over roughly the same areas that I did with the Eraser Tool. Because I'm painting on a layer mask, not on the layer itself, we don't see the brush color as we paint. Instead, since I'm painting with black, and black hides areas on a layer mask, the areas I paint over are hidden from view:

At this point, the difference between a layer mask and the Eraser Tool isn't all that obvious. Both of them allowed me to blend my two images together by hiding parts of the top layer, and both gave me similar results. Yet as we saw earlier, the Eraser Tool permanently deleted the areas I erased. Let's look more closely at what's happened with the layer mask.

First, let's look again at our layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel where we see that it's no longer filled with just solid white. Some of it remains white, but we can also see the areas where we painted on it with black:

It's important to understand that the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel is not the actual layer mask itself. The thumbnail is there simply to give us a way to select the layer mask so we can work on it, and to show us a small preview of what the full size layer mask looks like.

To view the actual layer mask in your document, press and hold the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key on your keyboard and click on the layer mask thumbnail:

This temporarily hides our image and replaces it with the layer mask, giving us a better view of what we've done. In my case, the white area on the right is where my cat photo remains 100% visible. The areas I painted over with black are the areas where my cat image is now 100% transparent, allowing the dog photo below the layer to show through.

And, because I painted with a soft-edge brush, we see a feathering effect around the black areas, creating narrow gradients that transition smoothly from black to white. Since we know that gray on a layer mask creates partial transparency, and darker shades of gray appear more transparent than lighter shades, those dark-to-light gradients between the black (100% transparent) and white (100% visible) areas allow my two images to transition smoothly together:

To hide the layer mask and return to your image, once again press and hold Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) on your keyboard and click the layer mask thumbnail:

We can also turn the layer mask off in the document. To turn off the mask, press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard and click on the layer mask thumbnail. A big red X will appear across the thumbnail, letting you know that the mask has been temporarily turned off:

7a63b62549