How to Cheat in Photoshop CS5

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Hiding and showing

A dog jumping through a hoop. Or rather, it isn’t; in the original version, above, the dog layer is in front of the clown layer. By making a layer mask for the dog, we can hide that portion of it that overlaps the front half of the hoop, making it appear to be leaping through it. A simple technique, but one that makes all the difference.

THE EASIEST WAY of removing part of a layer is to delete it. But deletion is irrevocable: you can’t go back later and undelete the lost elements. using a layer mask, however, forces you into no such constraints. areas can be hidden, using hard or soft edges, and then painted back into place ...