Image Masking

As mentioned in the text masking tutorial, masks are an important tool in Photoshop. In this tutorial, we’ll use a layer mask to create a poster-like look.

1. Begin with any good high resolution, close up picture. The bigger the close up, the better the result! I’ll be using this picture, so please download it and use it along with the tutorial. You will be resizing it, so have no fear about the large size.
2. Zoom out to 50 percent, just to have a good look at the picture.
   
3. Go to Image » Adjustments » Threshold and set it to 128.
   
4. If you noticed, the threshold looks a little finer because you’re zoomed out. To maintain the image quality, we will now resize the picture by going to Image » Image Size
   
   Select the Percent option in the dropdown and the pixel dimensions to 50.
   
5. Now we must choose something to mask into the picture. I’m going to use this stock and paste it right on top of the picture. After you’ve placed it where you want, check off the visibility so that it doesn’t show. We’ll come back to it later.
   
6. Take out your magic wand tool and select all of the black areas. Press SHIFT to select multiple areas. Alternately, you can go to Select » Color Range and choose shadows from the dropdown; click OK.
   
7. Check on the visibility for the magazine stock you pasted earlier, and then press the mask button. This will automatically ‘trim’ your stock into the selections that you’ve made.
   
8. You can try this out with different pictures, gradients, stocks, etc. The possibilities are endless!
   

Posted 03/16/2009 - Photoshop Tutorials | 4 comments