Photoshop CS Timesaving Techniques For Dummies [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Fading Away

Because layer masks work only in grayscale, the gradients that you use to create the fade out effect have to be in grayscale also. Grayscale includes 256 levels of gray. Black and white are part of the grayscale spectrum in Photoshop because they’re at the extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. (Black is designated as 0, and white is designated as 255.)

Here’s how to create a fade out by using a gradient:

Open the image that you want to use.

For this example, I’m using the statue shown in Figure 50-1.




Figure 50-1: I plan to use a layer mask to fade out this image.








Tip

A layer mask cannot be added to the Background layer. If your image is contained on the Background, convert the Background layer to a regular layer by choosing Layer>New>Layer Via Background.






With the image layer selected in the Layers palette, click the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the palette.

A layer mask appears linked to the image layer.





Click the Create New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette.





Move this new layer below your image layer and fill it with white.

You should now have two layers, and the upper one should have an attached layer mask, as shown in Figure 50-2.




Figure 50-2: You should have two layers in the Layers palette.






Click the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers palette to select it.





Select white as the Foreground color and black as the Background color.

The quick way to do this is to press D, and then press X.





Select the Gradient tool from the Toolbox.





On the Options bar, use the Gradient picker to select the Foreground to Background gradient (the first option in the swatch list).





On the Options bar, select Normal from the Mode drop-down list and set the Opacity to 100%.





In the image window, click and drag from left to right to create the gradient on the layer mask.

When you release the mouse button, the image in the image window fades out to white, as shown in Figure 50-3. Take a look at the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers palette to see the gradient. Notice how the white area on the layer mask corresponds to the area in the image window where you can see the image.





Figure 50-3: The gradient on the layer mask makes the image layer fade out.








Remember

Of course, the gradient doesn’t have to be drawn from left to right. It can be drawn in any direction. Experiment with gradients on a layer mask, remembering that you can use selections to limit the area where the gradient is applied.