Adobe Photoshop CC Masking

Another way to put the word Photoshop into your life is to use Adobe Photoshop CC Masking methods. Earlier in this series we mixed images with other images. Sometimes in our images, we selected parts of images, deleted their backgrounds and then kept the remaining part of the image to use in another image. When we select a part of an image, keep that part and delete the rest, this is called destructive editing. We call it destructive editing because most of the time, we get rid of stuff in the image that we can never get back.

When you use Masking, this is called non-destructive editing. As it may sound, this means you make the edit without destroying any part of an image. This is very handy because next tomorrow, next week, next month or next year, you can bring back any or all of the original image and use it again for some other purpose.

Masking is very much like using the Quick Mask Mode selection method we shared in the selection segment of our video series. The similarity is that we make some selection, and then let the games begin with the Quick Mask mode process. The same is true when using the Adobe Photoshop CC Masking method. Something must be selected (well, that’s not totally true, but it really is a good way to start) and then the games can begin.

In this video we paint with black and/or white to hide and show portions of the image we want to hide or show, just like Quick Mask Mode.

When using the Adobe Photoshop CC Masking method, in the layers palette, you will see an actual “mask” icon. Pay close attention to the video to see how selecting this icon can help you do very cool and groovy things with your mask.