Lecture 6 - Masking, Compositing, Blending

Layer masking

_____ is a nondestructive way to hide parts of an image or layer without erasing them

Layer masking

They’re great for making image composites, modifying background colors, removing or cutting out objects, and targeting your edits so they affect only certain areas, rather than the entire layer

Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All.

To create a mask that REVEALS the entire layer, click the Add Layer Mask button in the Layers panel, or choose ____ > _____ > _______.

Alt-click, Option-click
Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All

To create a mask that HIDES the entire layer, _____ (Win) or _____ (Mac) the Add Layer Mask button, or choose ____ > _____ > ______

linked, Unlinking

By default, a layer or group is ____ to its layer mask or vector mask, as indicated by the link icon between the thumbnails in the Layers panel. The layer and its mask move together in the image when you move either one with the Move tool . _____ them lets you move them independently and shift the mask’s boundaries separately from the layer

link, between

To unlink a layer from its mask, click the ____ icon in the Layers panel. To reestablish the link between a layer and its mask, click ____ the layer and mask path thumbnails in the Layers panel

Properties, Shift-click

Select the layer containing the layer mask you want to disable or enable, and click the Disable/Enable Mask button in the _____ panel. ____ the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel

Layer > Layer Mask > Disable/Enable
red X

Select the layer containing the layer mask you want to disable or enable, and choose ____ > _____ > ______. A ______ appears over the mask thumbnail in the Layers panel when the mask is disabled, and the layer’s content appears without masking effects

layer mask

You can apply a _____ to permanently delete the hidden portions of a layer

alpha channels

Layer masks are stored as _____, so applying and deleting layer masks can help reduce file size. You can also delete a layer mask without applying the changes

Apply Mask, Delete

To remove the layer mask after applying it permanently to the layer, click the _____ icon at the bottom of the Properties panel. To remove the layer mask without applying it to the layer, click the ____ button at the bottom of the Properties panel, and then click _____

Layer

You can also apply or delete layer masks using the ____ menu

Properties, Density, Feather

Use the _____ panel to adjust the opacity of a selected layer or vector mask. The _____ slider controls mask opacity. ____ lets you soften mask edges

Invert, Mask Edge

The ____ option reverses masked and unmasked areas. The _____ option gives you various controls to modify the mask edges, such as Smooth and Contract/Expand

100%, lower

At ____ density, the mask is opaque and blocks out any underlying area of the layer. As you ____ the density, more of the area under the mask becomes visible

outward

Feathering blurs the edges of the mask to create a softer transition between the masked and unmasked areas. Feathering is applied from the edges of the mask ____, within the range of pixels you set with the slider

Select and Mask

Click _____ in the options bar. You can modify mask edges with the options in the _____ workspace and view the mask against different backgrounds

Gradient

Create a layer mask. Then use the _____ tool to draw a white to black ____ on the layer mask. The ____ adds black, white, and multiple shades of grey to the layer mask

black, white, gray

The ____ part of the gradient hides content on the masked layer. The ____ part of the gradient shows content on the masked layer. And the shades of ____ in between partially hide the masked layer, creating a gradual, soft transition between images

Normal, Darken, Lighten, Contrast, Inversion, Cancelation, Component

Types of Blend Mode

Darken

It effects the overall darkness of the picture

Lighten

The second group affects the overall brightness of the image. It allows lighter areas to show through and makes darker areas drop back

Contrast

The next group affects the lightness and darkness

Inversion, Cancelation

The next group of Photoshop blending tool creates inverted effects

Component

The last group in the list deals with the colors of the image

27

Each of the ___ Layer Blending Modes has an algorithm, a mathematical equation, that utilizes color information to determine how the pixel will blend. Hue, Saturation, Luminosity or a combination of these

Base, Blend, Blend

For Blend Modes to work, you need at least two layers. The layer below is the ___ layer, and the layer on top is the ____ layer. The Blending Mode determines the blend operation applied to the ____ layer

Base, Blend, Result

• _____ – The original color in the image.

• _____– The color applied to the Base layer.

• _____– The color resulting from the blend between the Base and the Blend

• Multiply

• Screen

• Overlay

• Soft Light

Commonly Used Blending Mode

• Color burn

• Linear Burn

• Color dodge

• Linear Dodge (Add)

• Vivid Light

• Linear Light

• Hard Mix

• Difference

The “Special 8” Blend modes that react differently to fill opacity than standard opacity

Shift, plus, minus

To move up or down through the others in the group, hold ___ and tap the ___ or ____ key

• Shift + Alt + M

• Shift + Alt + S

• Shift + Alt + O

• Shift + Alt + C

• Darken blend modes - _____

• Lighten blend modes - _____

• Contrast - _____

• Color blend mode - ______

Normal

_____ is the default Blending Mode for Photoshop layers. Opaque pixels will cover the pixels directly below them without applying any math or algorithm to them

Dissolve

The ____ Blending Mode also does not blend pixels. _____ only reveals the pixels below when the layer’s Opacity or Fill is reduced

Darken

The _____ Blending Mode looks at the luminance values in each RGB channel and selects either the base color or blend color depending on which is darker.

Multiply

This Blending Mode multiplies the luminosity of the base color by the blend color. The resulting color is always a darker color. White produces no change, while the black pixels remain

Color Burn

_____ is the first of Photoshop’s Eight Special Blending Modes that react differently when Opacity is adjusted compared to Fill

Color Burn

The _____ Blending Mode gives you a darker result than Multiply by increasing the contrast between the base and the blend colors resulting in more highly saturated mid-tones and reduced highlights.

Linear Burn

_____ decreases the brightness of the base color based on the value of the blend color. The result is darker than Multiply but less saturated than Color Burn

Linear Burn

_____ also produces the most contrast in darker colors than any of the other Blending Modes in the Darken category

Linear Burn

_____ is the second of the Eight Special Blending Modes, which blends differently when Fill is adjusted compared to Opacity

Darker Color

The _____ Blending Mode is very similar to Darken. This Blending Mode does not blend pixels. It only compares the base and blend colors, and keeps the darkest of the two

Darker Color, Darken

The difference is that ____ looks at the composite of all the RGB channels, whereas _____ looks at each RGB channel individually to come up with a final blend

Lighten

The _____ Blending Mode looks at both the base and blend colors, and it keeps the lightest of the two. If both colors are the same, then no change is applied. As with the Darken Blending Mode, _____ looks at the three RGB channels separately when blending the pixels

Screen

_____ is another of Photoshop’s most popular Blending Modes. The resulting color is always a brighter color. Black produces no change it becomes transparent while the brighter pixels remain

Screen

_____ can produce many different levels of brightening depending on the luminosity values of the blend layer, making _____ a great Blending Mode for brightening images or creating highlights

Color Dodge

_____ is the third of the Eight Special Blending Modes, which blends differently when Fill is adjusted than when Opacity is adjusted

Color Dodge

The ______ Blending Mode gives you a brighter effect than Screen by decreasing the contrast between the base and the blend colors, resulting in saturated mid-tones and blown highlights

Linear Dodge (Add)

______ produces similar but stronger results than Screen or Color Dodge. This Blending Mode looks at the color information in each channel and brightens the base color to reflect the blend color by increasing the brightness. Blending with black produces no change

Linear Dodge (Add)

______ is the fourth of the Eight Special Blending Modes, which blends differently when Fill is adjusted compared to Opacity.

Lighter Color

______ is very similar to Lighten. This Blending Mode does not blend pixels. It only compares the base and blend colors, and it keeps the brightest of the two

Lighter Color, Lighten

The difference is that _____ looks at the composite of all the RGB channels, whereas _____ looks at each RGB channel to come up with a final blend

Overlay

_____ is another of Photoshop’s most Commonly Used Blending Modes. It uses Screen at half strength on colors brighter than 50% gray. And the Multiply at half strength on colors darker than 50% gray. 50% gray itself becomes transparent. Note that “half-strength” does not mean, Opacity at 50%

Soft Light

_____ is very much like Overlay. It applies either a darkening or lightening effect depending on the luminance values, but in a much more subtle way

Hard Light, Overlay

_____ combines the Multiply and Screen using the brightness values of the Blend layer to make its calculations. _____ uses the base layer

Hard Light

The results with _____ tend to be intense, and in many cases, you will have to reduce the Opacity to get better results

Vivid Light

You can think of _____ as an extreme version of Overlay and Soft Light. Anything darker than 50% gray is darkened, and anything lighter than 50% gray is lightened

Vivid Light, Linear Light

The result with _____ is strong, and you will likely have to reduce either the Fill or Opacity

Linear Light

_____ uses a combination Linear Dodge (Add) on lighter pixels and a Linear Burn on darker pixels

Pin Light

______ is an extreme Blending Mode that performs a Darken and Lighten blend simultaneously. It can result in patches or blotches and completely removes all mid- tones

Hard Mix

_____ applies the blend by adding the value of each RGB channel of the blend layer to the corresponding RGB channels in the base layer

Hard Mix

The resulting image loses a lot of detail, and the colors can only be black, white, or any of the six primary colors: red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, or yellow