Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature

Automatically Creating Layer Masks

YOU CAN AUTOMATICALLY CREATE LAYER MASKS BY MAKING A SIMPLE SELECTION

The title to this tutorial definitely doesn’t do it justice, but I couldn’t think of a better name. It’s a way to automatically create layer masks, and the amount of flexibility you get is really neat. So make sure you at least flip the page to see how cool an effect this is.

Step 1: Find a Photo with an Area in It that You’d Like to Replace

Open two photos that you’d like to combine in some way. In this example, I’d like to place the photo of the airplanes inside the man’s sunglasses. There’s a little secret to layer masks that makes this really simple.

©ISTOCKPHOTO/ROGER LECUYER

[View full size image]

©ISTOCKPHOTO/SERDAR YAGCI

[View full ...