88
1
First, hold C L and click on the layer name to load
the selection. Make a layer mask using Layer > Layer
Mask > Reveal Selection. (Users of Photoshop CS5 and above
can omit the first step, instead choosing Layer > Layer Mask >
From Transparency.) Here’s how the mask looks in the Layers
panel: its crisp edges won’t affect the layer yet, since it’s only
masked what isn’t visible anyway.
4
We can add a soft shadow using the same technique.
First, make a new layer behind the target layer and
fill with black. Hold O A and drag the Layer 1 mask’s
thumbnail onto the Shadow layer to duplicate it, then offset
the whole layer slightly by dragging it down and to the right.
C
UTOUT OBJECTS CAN LOOK TOO
crisp, particularly if they’ve been
silhouetted using the Pen tool. This figure
appears false against the slightly out-of-focus
background: it’s an obvious montage that
wouldn’t fool anyone.
One technique might simply be to feather
the edges of the hand. But that’s an irrevocable
step: anything that has been permanently
deleted will be hard to put back afterwards.
Photoshop can add feathering to Layer
Masks, which allows us to soften a mask’s edge.
First, of course, we need to create a mask for
the layer.
Layer masks 3: smoothing
3
Hiding and showing
SHORTCUTS
MAC WIN BOTH
89
HOT TIP
For users without
Photoshop
CS4, there is a
workaround:
simply use
Gaussian Blur on
the layer mask (not
on the layer itself)
after it’s been
created, or feather
the selection at the
time of creation.
You won’t have the
same editability
later, of course, but
it will give broadly
the same effect.
2
Now open the Masks panel, and drag the Feather
amount. What’s happening here is that the mask, which
was previously wholly outside the pixel area of the image,
is now encroaching upon it as it becomes softer: the layer is
being progressively hidden from the outside in.
5
This is the result: the black layer is visible only where
the mask permits. By feathering the mask, as in step 2
above, we can soften it as much as we like: and unlike simply
feathering a selection, we can change the amount at any time.
3
Here’s the result of softening that mask. The layer now
blends more smoothly into the background, and we lose
that crisp edge. The benefit of this approach is that we can
adjust or remove the feather at any point, to suit the image
requirements.
6
You might expect that lowering the Density value on the
mask layer would produce the effect shown above – a
paler version of the shadow. In fact, it will have the opposite
effect: the hidden background will start to reveal itself. To
make the shadow lighter, lower its layer opacity instead.
How to Cheat in Photoshop CC
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