Adobe Master Class: Advanced Compositing in Adobe Photoshop CC: Bringing the Impossible to Reality with Bret Malley, Second Edition

Chapter 3. Layers and Photoshop Muscle

Covered in This Chapter

• Nondestructive layer properties

• Layer organization, groups, and links

• Masking techniques and strategies

• Clipping masks

• Blending modes

• Smart Object layers and layer styles

Photoshop is all about layers. Blending modes, style effects, clipping, masking, grouping, copying, adjusting—the list of layer features that adds to your creative potential just keeps going. Perhaps the most powerful feature of layers is the ability to add masks to layers, not to mention the clever ways you can use layer masks. The better you understand how layers behave and combine in a composite, the more effectively you can put them to work. As tempting as it may be to dive into the projects of later ...