Layer Masking 101

Layer Masking

is truly the pinnacle of non-destructive editing and is something you will use all the time.
(click me) (click me)

Click me for sample PSD
Click here to download the free open source software, 7-zip to extract and view the PSD file.

So we have two images that we want to make into one, we have the idea in our head but we need to find a way to turn it into reality; our answer is layer masking of course!

Step 1

Open our fancy picture of the trees and open up the picture of the endless road that I have already pre-selected for you all - don't worry, this will come back to haunt you or maybe not - and simply drag n drop the endless road onto the tree document. But!! We need to rid ourselves of this odd white mass by the road, we can accomplish this very quickly by selecting the magic eraser tool and by either copying the road layer (command/control + J) or by double clicking on the background layer to unlock it... the result should look like this..

. Just be sure you click on the white background and not the road!!

Step 2

Grab the move tool (press V on the keyboard) drag n drop the road onto our tree layer. It should look like this:

We need to copy our background layer (this is a good habit to get into, always copy your background layer incase you mess up... you'll have a recovery point!) Once again, we can copy the tree background layer by clicking on it to select it like so:

notice how it is blue, this is a reference to "selecting" the layer

Press command/control + J or you can manually copy the layer. Do not unlock this layer. It should look like this:

Step 3

So we have this arbitrary road jetting out into oblivion - or so it seems! - but we suddenly get an idea that we think if the coolest thing since sliced buttermilk. What if we made an endless road that seemed as if it was a ghostly road... like an echo of our past. Echo of our past - hmmm, I see black, white, grey, no color, -GREAT SCOTT- B&W effect!!

We want to create a new fill/adjustment layer (the half black/half white circle)

and we want to click on Black & White so we can adjust our slider to our exact specifications.

click OK

Step 4

So now we have this:

however, our vision of a ghostly road it fizzling before our eyes - isn't that a good thing??! This is where blending modes comes in handy... If you know what the blending modes do, you'll be able to create anything you want. Obviously normal, dissolve, darken, and multiply are out of the picture for our ghostly road... (You should have the road layer selected). Color Burn, Linear Burn, all the way until vivid light and linear light. So it's a toss up between the two blending modes... We'll choose linear light because we can do more with it...

Step 5

So we have this ghostly road but we want it to be even more ghostly than is already is, we don't settle for less when we can have more, right? First things first, we need to create a layer mask by clicking on the rectangle with a circle inscribed in it.

the first thing you might notice (or maybe not) is that our background and foreground colors automatically set to black and white as we see above with the small slender picture. We want to be painting with black to expose more of our background and less of our foreground. With the layer mask selected and we're painting with black (hit X to cycle between colors) and we can start by painting (with black) away those pesky sides of that dirt road that make it look like an actual man made dirt road. You should have something that look like this as your result:

(click me) Notice the black lines on the layermask!

Step 6

It's all coming together now and it gets even better as times goes on, however, we come up with this new idea... What if we copy the endless road layer (the one with the layermask)? It would double in intensity of course and we want this! We have this idea that a gradient might give us the appearance that the road would be fading from bold reality to a ghostly illusion.

Copy the endless road layer by pressing command/control + J (or by dragging onto the new layer icon) and you'll notice that the dark interior of the road has become much darker. You should have this:

(much darker!)

We want to grab the gradient tool by pressing "G" on the keyboard or by (command/holding) click(ing) the paint bucket tool or this icon is you see it:

Step 7

While on the endless road copy layer we want these gradient settings: Blending Mode is normal Opacity is 100% Dither is checked Transparency checked

You'll want the gradient to be completely verticle for this so constrain the line by holding shift. The projected path should be taked like so:

X is the starting point, O is the ending point.

You can also play around with different blending modes to achieve your desired ghostly effect too! Change the opacity of the endless roads layers and see what you get! You can also paint on the actual layer itself with black and an opacity of about 15% to further your results.

(click me for final result!)