Using A Photo To Mask Itself - Photoshop Tutorial ~ Photoshop Tutorial

Written by Steve Patterson.
In this Photoshop Effects tutorial, were going to learn how to use a photo as a layer mask, essentially using the image to mask itself, something that Photoshop doesnt normally allow us to do. Well be using it to give the image a nice soft glow effect, but if you experiment on your own, youll find lots of creative ways to use this technique.

Heres the photo Ill be using for this tutorial:

And heres the finished result:

Lets get started!

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

As always, the first thing were going to do is duplicate the Background layer so were not touching our original pixel information. To do that, use the quick keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac), and Photoshop will go ahead and give us a copy of our Background layer, which it names Layer 1:

Photoshop's Layers palette showing the Background layer and the duplicate above it.

Press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) to duplicate the Background layer.

Step 2: Add A New Layer Below The Duplicate Background Layer

Were going to add a new layer between the Background layer and Layer 1. Normally Photoshop adds new layers above the currently selected layer in the Layers palette, but we can tell Photoshop to add the new layer below it instead by holding down Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) and then clicking the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Hold down Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) while clicking the New Layer icon.

We now have a new blank layer between the Background layer and Layer 1:

Photoshop's Layers palette showing the new blank layer.

The new blank layer appears between the two other layers.

Step 3: Fill The New Layer With White

Press D on your keyboard to reset your Foreground color to black and your Background color to white. Then, with the new blank layer selected, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Backspace (Win) / Command+Delete (Mac) to fill the layer with the Background color, which in this case is white. You wont see anything happen in the Document Window since Layer 1 is blocking the new layer from view, but if you look in the Layers palette, youll see the layers thumbnail preview area now filled with white:

The new layer's thumbnail preview area is now filled with white.

Press Ctrl+Backspace (Win) / Command+Delete (Mac) to fill the new layer with white.

Step 4: Copy The Image

Click on Layer 1 in the Layers palette to select it. Were going to copy the image onto the clipboard. To do that, first press Ctrl+A (Win) / Command+A (Mac) to select the entire layer. Youll see a selection box around the edges of the Document Window to indicate that the entire area has been selected. Then press Ctrl+C (Win) / Command+C (Mac) to copy the image onto the clipboard:

Selecting and copying the image on 'Layer 1'.

Press Ctrl+A (Win) / Command+A (Mac) to select the image on Layer 1, then press Ctrl+C (Win) / Command+C (Mac) to copy it to the clipboard.

Step 5: Add A Layer Mask

With Layer 1 still selected, click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Clicking the 'Add Layer Mask' icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette to add a mask to Layer 1.

Step 6: Paste The Image Into The Mask

Were going to paste the image we just copied a moment ago into the mask and use it to mask itself. Normally, Photoshop doesnt allow us to paste images directly into layer masks, but we can if we select the mask by holding down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and then clicking on the layer masks thumbnail in the Layers palette to select it:

Selecting the layer mask in the Layers palette.

Hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and click on the layer masks thumbnail to select it.

This will turn your Document Window completely white, and thats because youre now looking at the layer mask itself, not the layer contents (the image). With the mask itself visible, we can now paste the image into it using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V (Win) / Command+V (Mac). The image will appear in black and white in the Document Window:

Press Ctrl+V (Win) / Command+V (Mac) to paste the image into the layer mask.

It appears in black and white because again, were currently looking at the layer mask in the Document Window, not the layer contents, and layer masks use only black, white, and gray. We can also see the image now inside the layer masks thumbnail in the Layers palette:

The image now appears inside the layer mask's thumbnail in the Layers palette.

The image now appears in the layer masks thumbnail in the Layers palette.

Press Ctrl+D (Win) / Command+D (Mac) to deselect the image at this point.

Step 7: Invert The Layer Mask

If you click on Layer 1s thumbnail to select it, youll see the image itself appear once again in the Document Window. The image is now being masked by a copy of itself, and its being masked onto the white-filled layer below it, making it look something like this:

The image in the Document Window with the mask applied.

Click on Layer 1s thumbnail in the Layers palette to display the image in the Document Window once again.

Not exactly what we want, so were going to invert the layer mask, making light areas dark and dark areas light. To do that, first click back on the layer masks thumbnail once again to select it. No need to hold down Alt or Option this time. Then with the layer mask selected, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+I (Win) / Command+I (Mac) to invert the mask. Your image in the Document Window should now look much better:

The image after inverting the layer mask.

Press Ctrl+I (Windows / Command+I (Mac) to invert the layer mask and improve the look of the image.

Step 8: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter To The Layer Mask

The give our image a soft glow effect, all we need to do is blur the layer mask, and for that, well use the Gaussian Blur filter. With the layer mask still selected, go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, select Blur, and then select Gaussian Blur. This will bring up the Gaussian Blur filters dialog box:

Photoshop's Gaussian Blur filter dialog box.

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to bring up the Gaussian Blur dialog box.

Drag the slider bar at the bottom of the dialog box left and right to increase or decrease the Radius value. The higher the Radius value, the more blur thats applied, which creates the glow effect. You can see a preview of the glow effect in the Document Window as youre dragging the slider. Drag the slider until youre happy with the effect. Im using a low resolution image for this tutorial, so for me, a Radius value of about 6 pixels gives me a nice glow. If youre using a high resolution image, youll probably want to use a value of 8 or higher. Click OK when youre done to exit out of the Gaussian Blur dialog box.

Heres my image after applying the Gaussian Blur filter:

The image after applying the Gaussian Blur filter.

Step 9: Merge "Layer 1" And The White-Filled Layer Below It

Press Ctrl+E (Win) / Command+E (Mac) to merge Layer 1 with the white-filled layer below it, which combines both layers onto a single layer. You wont see anything different in the Document Window, but youll see in the Layers palette that the two layers are now one:

The top two layers in the Layers palette have now been merged into one.

Press Ctrl+E (Win) / Command+E (Mac) to merge the top two layers in the Layers palette into one.

Step 10: Duplicate The Merged Layer And Change Its Blend Mode To Multiply

The image is looking too light and washed out at the moment, so were going to fix that. First, with the new merged layer selected in the Layers palette, press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) to duplicate it:

Press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) to duplicate the merged layer.

Then go up to the Blend Mode options in the top left of the Layers palette, click the down-pointing arrow to the right of the word Normal, and change the blend mode of the new layer to Multiply:

Changing the blend mode of the new layer to 'Multiply'.

Change the blend mode of the new layer from Normal to Multiply.

This will darken the image, giving it more contrast and bringing back some of the color that was washed out. If you find your image now looks a bit too dark, simply lower the Opacity of the layer in the top right of the Layers palette. Im going to lower mine to about 75%:

Lower the opacity of the layer if the image now appears too dark.

Heres my image after changing the blend mode to Multiply and lowering the opacity:

The image now appears darker with better contrast and slightly improved color.

Step 11: Boost The Color With A Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer

The image is looking good, except for one thing the colors are a bit dull. We can give them a boost using Hue/Saturation. To do that, click on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Click the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Then choose Hue/Saturation from the list of Adjustment Layers:

Selecting 'Hue/Saturation' from the list of Adjustment Layers

Select Hue/Saturation from the list.

This brings up Photoshops Hue/Saturation dialog box. Im going to increase the Saturation by about 25% by dragging the Saturation slider bar to the right. Keep an eye on your image in the Document Window to see a preview of whats happening with your colors as you drag:

Dragging the Saturation slider in the Hue/Saturation dialog box.

Drag the Saturation slider in the middle of the Hue/Saturation dialog box to the right to boost the colors in the image.

When youre happy with your Saturation value, click OK to exit out of the dialog box, and youre done!

Here, once again, is my original image for comparison:

The original image once again.

And here is my final result:

The final result.

And there we have it! This is just one example of what you can do by using an image as its own layer mask. Experiment on your own by applying different filters to the mask or to the image itself, using different colors or other images for the background, flipping the mask vertically or horizontally, whatever you can think of. Youre bound to find lots of creative uses for it.

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