86
IMAGE: STOCKBYTE
1
A patch of cloud has been placed directly over the top of the grass in this image.
The effect is clearly desperately unconvincing, and even raising the horizon line
by deleting a section of sky would look like a poor montage. To enhance the misty
effect, we’ll blend the sky smoothly into the grass.
3
This sultry pair seem unaware of the fog rolling in behind them – but we need
to make them fit into their environment better. After creating their layer mask,
we first hold CL and click on the icon in the Layers palette, which loads up the
area taken up by the pixels in the layer. Then inverse the selection, using CSi
LSi; fill the new selection (which includes everything except the couple)
with black. You won’t see any change: that comes later.
A
NY OF THE
painting tools can be
used on a layer mask – not
just the Brush. If a tool can be
used in a regular Photoshop
layer, it can be used on the
mask as well.
This greatly extends the
scope of masking, as well as
allowing us to create some
interesting and unusual effects.
Here, we’ll use the Gradient
tool to produce a softly
feathered edge to a bank of
cloud, looking just as if we’d
removed it with a huge Eraser.
More interesting is the
second effect, which uses the
Smudge tool to create the
mask by bringing in the black
around the figures, so that the
grass appears to overlap them
convincingly.
Layer masks 2: soft edges
3
Hiding and showing
SHORTCUTS
MAC WIN BOTH
87
HOT TIP
Experiment with
different brushes
and tools on
layer masks to
see the effect.
Using a brush set
to Dissolve, for
instance, would
be a good way of
masking these
figures if they
were lying on sand
rather than grass.
For less defined
background
surfaces, try using
the Blur tool
instead – set it to
Darken, or it will
have little effect.
2
After creating a layer mask for the cloud layer, choose the Gradient tool and
set it to Foreground to Background, using black and white as the respective
foreground and background colors. Now position the Gradient tool at the bottom of
the clouds and drag vertically, holding the Shift key down as you do so to create a
pure vertical. The result is a smoothly fading mask: the mask itself is shown inset.
4
The layer mask we just created looks like the inset (above right). Because white
is the selected area, the hidden region (black) hides nothing. Now for the
interesting bit: using the Smudge tool, gradually streak up the black mask where the
bodies touch the ground. Each streak will hide a part of them, and the result will look
as if the blades of grass are truly in front of the bodies. The minimal shadow, painted
on a new layer behind them, simply adds to the effect.
How to Cheat in Photoshop CC
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