Adobe Photoshop Visual QuickStart Guide

7. Layer Masks and Vector Masks

In This Chapter

• About Masks

• Adding Layer Masks

• Editing Layer Masks

• Painting a Layer Mask

• Vector Masks

• Creating a Simple Composition with Masks

• Layer Masks and Adjustment Layers

• Gradient Layer Masks

• Managing Layer Masks

• Masks on Smart Objects

• Luminosity Masks

• Combining Layer Masks and Vector Masks

Whatever the problem, masks are almost certainly part of the solution. You can use them for all kinds of creative and workaday Photoshop tasks, from isolating a subject from its background to creating composites by seamlessly blending images.

What makes masks so essential is that they allow you to work nondestructively. You can change your mind as often as you like without permanently messing up your image. Masking, ...