2020-02-01 Practical Photoshop

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LEARN PHOTOSHOP CC & LIGHTROOM TODAY!

Issue107 February2020

LANDSCAPES

ADVANCED SELECTIONS | 3D TOOLS | BLEND MODE TRICKS

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Issue107 February2020 http://tiny.cc/h9bbjy

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Issue107 February2020
To download this
LANDSCAPES LANDSCAPES issue's files, type
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COMPOSITING TIPS | SELECTION SKILLS | PERFECT PANORAMAS COMPOSITING TIPS | SELECTION SKILLS | PERFECT PANORAMAS
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Nothing beats a simple, beautiful landscape
scene. But if you yearn to take your landscapes in Also available on:
a different direction, Photoshop provides all the tools http://tiny.cc/4dw9ky
you need. With a few simple skills, you can use your
outdoor photos as starting points for all kinds of http://tiny.cc/rew9ky
wonderful effects, as we reveal this issue.
http://tiny.cc/8ew9ky
James Paterson, Editor • [email protected]

www.digitalcameraworld.com

HIGHLIGHTS: WHAT’S INSIDE…

GET CREATIVE WITH ADD 3D SHAPES COLOR RANGE BLENDING MODE LIGHTROOM

LANDSCAPES TO PHOTOS EXPLAINED EFFECTS SKILLS

Q Seven ways Q Combine objects Q Learn how to Q Combine textures Q Transform a scene
to transform with your scenes make selections with portraits for from day to night
your photos to surreal effect based on color amazing results with tonal tricks

GET CREATIVE

WITH

landscapes

Seven top Photoshop techniques to transform the look of your outdoor photos

This issue we’ll explore a range of or maybe you have a few old landscapes on
creative techniques, tonal twists your hard drive that could be ripe for a re-
and compositing effects for you to try out imagining. Along the way we’ll cover a whole
on your landscape photos. Perhaps you’re host of essential Photoshop skills, from
looking for inspiration for your next project, layers and masks to blur filters and 3D tools...

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT FILES HERE http://bit.ly/pho_107 ON YOUR PC OR MAC

CREATE CUTOUT SCENES

Use simple selection and layer tricks to transform
a landscape into bold blocks of color

Why not reduce a scene
to a series of color
blocks? This works best with
layered landscapes, where
the composition includes an
easily definable foreground,
midground, background and sky
that can all be separated from
one another...

BEFORE
AFTER

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/2rdkrdc

01 SELECT THE FOREGROUND 02 FILL THE SELECTION
Open an image (we used a free image Go to the Layers Panel (Window >
from pixabay.com; search for 833326), then Layers) then click the New Layer icon. Click
go to Select > Select And Mask. Grab the within the foreground to choose a color; we
Quick Selection Tool from the toolbar and used #13004d here. Press Alt+Backspace
paint over the foreground to select it, then to fill the selection with the foreground
increase the Radius as shown to pick out color. Next, click the eye icon in the Layers
the fine details. Set Output: Selection and Panel to hide the layer, then highlight the
click OK to confirm. Background layer.

03 FILL THE OTHER PARTS 04 ADD DEPTH
Go to Select And Mask again then Highlight the midground layer, then
repeat to select the midground, choose make a new layer. Grab the Brush Tool,
another color and fill the area. Repeat for press D then X to choose white, and press 2
the background and the sky. The colors for 20% opacity. Using a large, soft-edged
we used from front to back here were circular brush, paint over the lower part of
#13004d, #204a81, #2b76a2, #a4abd2, the layer to lift it slightly. Repeat to lift the
#a3b9dc, #dab17d. other layers. We painted in a bird too.

BEFORE

AFTER

CHANGE THE FOCUS

Use Photoshop’s blur filters to alter the depth of field in a landscape

The standard approach to landscape
photography is to keep as much of
the scene in focus as possible – but you can
create an interesting look by altering the
depth of field, for a shallow-focus effect.
Open an image (we used pixabay.com
image 4613926). Duplicate the Background
layer. Hide the top layer, right-click the
Background layer and choose Convert to
Smart Object, then go to Filter> Blur Gallery>
Field Blur. Plot three points as shown to
create a sharp area in the middle, with a
softer area above and below. Reveal the top
layer, select the subject and click the Add
Mask icon. Use the Clone Tool to tidy up.

GET CREATIVE WITH PAINTS

Give your landscapes a paint splash treatment,
and make use of free brush sets and images

The angular lines, punchy BEFORE
contrast and strong
shapes of this urban landscape
work well, but they’re also a ripe
subject for a creative treatment.
To achieve an effect like this, we
can get stuck in with Photoshop’s
powerful Brush Tool and layer
blending controls. These two
features are great fun, and you’ll
often be surprised and delighted
by the results.

AFTER

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/2R8emby

01 PAINT AND BLEND
After converting the
image to black and white, make
a new layer set to the Color
Dodge Blending Mode, then
grab the Brush Tool and paint
colors to build up a painterly
look. Here we’ve added colored
streaks, following the lines
of the buildings and bridge.
(Holding Shift while clicking
between two points lets
you paint a straight line.)

02 COMBINE WITH IMAGES
You can find lots of
lovely messy paint images
online that can be blended with
your photos to complement
your hand-painting. We used
a pixabay.com image (search
for 1914111). After copying
the image in, we can position
it with Cmd/Ctrl+T to move
and resize it, then blend in
the paint effect using the
Soft Light Blending Mode.

03 USE PHOTOSHOP
BRUSHES

Click the brush picker in the
top-left, then click the cog icon
and choose Get More Brushes.
Download the Spatter and
Watercolor sets. Make a layer
filled with white, then add
a Layer Mask and paint with
black to reveal the image in a
painterly way. After this, make
new layers and paint in extra
splashes and spatters.

BEFORE

AFTER

MAKE COLOR-BOOSTING BLENDS

Transform the mood of a landscape with a simple Blending Mode trick

Here’s a quick tip to add a color wash
over a landscape. Open an image (we
used pixabay.com image 1993645), then
go to the Layers Panel and make a new
layer. Grab the Gradient Tool then choose
a warm blend of colors. (We used the Violet/
Orange preset here.) Set the gradient style
to Linear, then drag a diagonal grad across
the frame. Go to the Layers Panel and change
the Blending Mode from Normal to Overlay
or Soft Light. Adjust the layer Opacity to
control the strength of the effect. If you like,
you can go on to blend more colors. Here
we’ve darkened the sky slightly by painting
orange on a second layer set to Multiply.

CREATE UNEARTHLY OBJECTS

Give a landscape a surreal twist by adding strange 3D shapes to the scene

This is a quirky effect to BEFORE
try on empty scenes like
the desert here. Here we’ve
used the 3D tools in Photoshop
to create a host of otherworldly
floating spheres. You can quickly
add simple 3D forms to give the
landscape a surreal look, inspired
by artist like Salvador Dali. If you
haven’t used Photoshop’s 3D
tools before, this technique is
a gentle introduction to some
of their key features, which you
can take into other projects...

AFTER

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/36c6grr

01 MAKE A 3D SPHERE 02 ADD A SURFACE MATERIAL
Open the image (we used a free Click on Sphere Material in the 3D
pixabay.com image; search for 1170031) Panel, then choose a material preset
then make a new layer. Go to 3D > New for the sphere. We chose the Plastic
Mesh From Layer > Mesh Preset > Sphere. Glossy Red material preset for this
Next, go to 3D > Move Object To Ground image. Once you’ve made your choice,
Plane. Use the axis control to move the you can tweak the settings to customize
sphere upwards slightly. Drag the central the material. We increased the Glow
cube in the axis to change the size. amount to 20% for a shinier look.

03 ADJUST THE LIGHTING 04TWEAK THE VIEW
Click on Environment, then uncheck Click the Render icon to do a test
IBL and set Ground Plane Shadows to 60%. render. (If it takes a while, hit Escape after a
Next, click Infinite Light 1, then drag the minute or so.) Check the shadows are falling
control to change the angle of light. Here in roughly the right places to match the
the sunlight is coming from the top-left, photo. If not, click Current View then use
so we’ve matched the light to it. We’ve the Move Tool to move the view position,
also increased Shadow Softness to 5%. and try again until the shadows look right.

05 MAKE DUPLICATES
Right-click the Sphere
object in the 3D Panel and
choose Duplicate Objects. Grab
the Move Tool and use the axis
control to Move On X, pushing
the duplicate sphere backwards
in the scene. Use the Move On Y
axis to shift it to the side. Make
another duplicate and repeat
the process to position the new
sphere, then continue to build
up the effect.

06 POSITION THE SHADOWS
Click the Render icon
again. Once it’s rendered, go to
the Layers Panel, right-click the
layer and choose Rasterize 3D
from the pop-up menu. If the
shadows don’t quite fall in the
right places for your liking, grab
the Rectangular Marquee Tool,
drag a box over them, then use
the Move Tool to reposition
them until they feel more
accurate with the lighting.

07 MASK THE FOREGROUND
Finally, you can obscure
any parts of the spheres that
are behind the trees. Hide the
top layer and highlight the
Background layer, then grab
the Object Selection Tool and
drag a box over the tree to
select it. Hold Shift and drag
the box over the other tree.
Highlight and reveal the sphere
layer, then hold Alt and click the
Add Mask icon.

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/2niq5pf

AFTER BEFORE

BORDERED BLACK-AND-WHITES

Go for a classy monochrome look in combination
with a white keyline and black border

A simple black border with a white
keyline can give your landscape a
classy finish, especially combined with a
quick and easy black-and-white treatment.
Go to Image > Canvas Size, check Relative,
set Canvas Extension Color: White, then set
Width and Height Units to Pixels. Choose
a small pixel value for your white keyline;
the right figure depends on your image
resolution. 30px works for us here. Click OK
then go back to Image > Canvas Size, set the
color to Black and choose a high value for
Width and Height – 300px works here.
Go to Filter >Camera Raw Filter, then click
the Profile Browser to choose a B&W preset.

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/30bpotn

AFTER BEFORE

USE SYMMETRY

Why not copy and flip parts of your landscape for a fun symmetrical effect?

Here’s a trippy technique to try out on
your landscapes. It works especially
well with reflected scenes.
Duplicate the background layer with Cmd/
Ctrl+J, then press Cmd/Ctrl+T for Transform
mode. Right-click and choose Flip Vertical.
Next, grab the Rectangular Marquee
Tool. Drag a selection over half the image,
through the middle of the tree. Copy to a
new layer with Cmd/Ctrl+J, then press Cmd/
Ctrl+T to transform. Right-click and choose
Flip Horizontal, then position the half on the
other side of the frame.
Open a texture, copy it into the landscape
and set its Blending Mode to Overlay.

BEFORE

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/2tcu6xw

AFTER

MASTER THE COLOR RANGE TOOL

Get to grips with one of the most powerful selection tools in
Photoshop, and learn how to make precise changes to colors

One of the main of color within an image. localized or image-wide, and
reasons to use So if you want to zero in on control the sensitivity of the
Photoshop for image- a blue area, for example, tool to the sampled colors.
editing over Lightroom is you can isolate it in seconds.
its excellent selection tools. In this way, Color Range is Color Range gives your
There is a host on offer, similar to the Magic Wand, selections a precision that is
from simple freehand tools which also works by seeking hard to achieve with other
to clever features that do out similar colors within tools – especially if, like the
almost all the work for you. the frame. But Color Range blacklight portrait here, the
The Color Range command gives you a finer degree of colors you are attempting
falls into the latter category. control: you can include or to isolate and edit are
As the name suggests, it exclude any colors you like, spread piecemeal across the
works by seeking out ranges keep the selection either frame. In this tutorial we’ll
look at the key features.

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT FILES HERE http://bit.ly/pho_107 ON YOUR PC OR MAC

3

2
1

1 2 3

LOCALIZED HELPFUL BASIC
COLOR CLUSTERS PRESETS OPTIONS

When this box is ticked, the This dropdown gives you Color Range can be found
selection stays close to a list of preset ranges to under Select > Color Range.
the sampled point, so choose from. As well as basic
only similar colors nearby color choices, you can also Here we’ve used it to
target portions of the tonal alter the body paint and
will be included. The Range range. There’s also a handy background colors in our
slider controls how far Skin Tones preset that can blacklight portrait. A small
be useful for portraits. (Tick black-and-white preview
afield the tool will search. Detect Faces for better inside the dialog indicates
These controls are useful results.) Another helpful which colors are being
if you want to restrict the preset is Out Of Gamut, picked up. You can switch
selection to a single shape. which selects all of the this between Image and
The easiest way to control colors that your chosen Selection, or hold Ctrl/Cmd
what is included is to drag printer or output option to toggle between the two.
the ‘plus’ eyedropper over is unable to reproduce. Selection Preview gives
you other display options.
the image to cover the
areas you want.

5 6
4

4 5 6

FROM SELECTION FUZZINESS EYEDROPPERS
TO MASK
This slider controls how The first eyedropper lets you
Once your selection sensitive the command is sample a single color; it’s
is complete, simply click to the sampled color. A low also useful if you want to
OK to apply. Now you can value restricts the range, reset your sample range.
edit the isolated area using so only those that closely The ‘plus’ eyedropper lets
any Photoshop tools or match the sampled points you sample as many colors
adjustments you like. Here, will be picked up. A high as you like, and the ‘minus’
for example, we’ve added value means the command
Hue/Saturation Adjustment will include a wider array eyedropper excludes colors.
Layers to alter the colors. You can also hold Shift
By adding these layers, the of shades. The great to add or Alt to subtract.
active selection is converted advantage to using Color
into a Layer Mask attached Range over similar tools Often you’ll find it’s easier
to the Hue/Saturation like the Magic Wand is that to drag across the image
layer, which allows us Fuzziness can be altered
to alter the hue of specific after sampling the color, rather than clicking on
parts of the body paint. so you have more control colors. You can either click

over the selection. on the small selection
preview in the dialog, or
within the larger image.

BUILD TEXTURED IMAGES
BY USING BLENDING MODES

James Paterson utilizes one of Photoshop’s most useful
features, and opens the door to all kinds of amazing effects

One of the easiest AFTER BEFORE
ways to get creative
with your photos in WATCH THE VIDEO create our textured portrait.
Photoshop is by combining (These were downloaded
images using Blending http://bit.ly/37d8et5 from pixabay.com: search
Modes. After copying one for images 21799, 2719560
image – or part of it – onto more fun to just experiment and 671630).
another, the elements will with different modes and
appear on separate layers see how they affect your
in Photoshop. Then all you blend of images. Here we’ve
have to do is experiment used an array of images to
with Blending Modes to
combine the two layers, in
a host of different ways.
There are a total of
27 Blending Modes to
choose from; each works
by employing a different
algorithm to the pixels
in your photograph. For
instance, the Multiply
Blending Mode works
by multiplying the RGB
values of each pixel on the
blend layer (the currently
selected layer) with those
of the adjacent pixels on
the layers below.
You can delve into
the Photoshop help pages
to find more information
on the algorithms behind
each Blending Mode. But it’s

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT FILES HERE http://bit.ly/pho_107 ON YOUR PC OR MAC

01 PREPARE
THE PORTRAIT

Open blend_mode_before
from our download into
Photoshop, then go to Filter
> Camera Raw Filter. In
the Profile Browser to the
right, pick Vintage07, then
increase Amount and drag
Temperature and Tint to the
right. Drop Saturation to -60
and Exposure to -0.45. Click
OK to confirm.

02 BLEND A CRACK
TEXTURE

Download images 21799,
2719560 and 671630
from pixabay.com. Open
the 21799 crack image and
use the Move Tool to drag it
into the portrait. Press Cmd/
Ctrl+T to resize if needed. Go
to the Layers Panel, click the
Blending Modes dropdown
(which says ‘Normal’) and
choose Soft Light.

03 PAINT A MASK
We’d recommend that
you lower the layer’s Opacity
to around 50% to tone
down the effect. Next, click
the Add Layer Mask icon in
the Layers Panel then grab
the Brush Tool. Using a soft
circular brush, paint with
black over the face to soften
the cracks, so they’re less
uniform and don’t distract
from the portrait too much.

04 BLEND MORE
TEXTURES

Open image 2719560 from
pixabay.com. Copy it into
the portrait and change the
Blending Mode to Soft Light
(or experiment with other
Blending Modes for different
effects). Press Cmd/Ctrl+T
and adjust the sizing and
position of the layer to find
the best blend of colors for
the image.

05 MASK THE TEXT
Open image 671630
of the newspaper text, then
use the Move Tool to drag it
into the main portrait image.
Position the layer via Cmd/
Ctrl+T, set the Blending
Mode to Overlay, and lower
the layer opacity to about
40%. Add a mask and paint
black to hide parts of the
layer, so the text effect is
more broken up.

06ALTER THE CONTRAST
Click the Create
Adjustment Layer icon and
pick Curves from the popup
menu. Drag the bottom part
of the curve line upwards
and the top down slightly to
lower the overall contrast.
Click the RGB dropdown and
choose Blue, then flatten
the diagonal line by lifting
the bottom-left point and
dropping the top-right.

LEARN LIGHTROOM TODAY!

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/2rx5fn

This month, learn how to
transform a scene from day to
night with simple tonal tools

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You can then add words and
FREE IPAD graphics. The app even spits
out a Photoshop, Illustrator or
Fix is a retouching app InDesign document.
for altering portraits and
fixing marks or blemishes BEHANCE
in your photos. Intelligent facial CREATIVE PORTFOLIO
recognition locks onto eyes, lips
noses and chins, making it easy to FREE IPAD, IPHONE
tweak a smile, tuck in a jawline or
enlarge eyes, should you wish. Behance is the online
social space for
creatives to share
and showcase their portfolios,
connect with one another,
and find work. With work
from the best photographers,
digital artists and designers
out there, it’s also a great
place to find inspiration for
a new project. If you’re a
Creative Cloud subscriber you
can set up a Behance page in
minutes. The Behance app
for iOS devices enables you to
manage your page, while the
Creative Portfolio app provides
a polished portfolio.

Manage your photos from capture to output in three stages

The image-editing process begins as 1
soon as you’ve transferred your photos 2
from your memory card to your computer. 3
1 The first stage is to begin sifting
through your pictures to discover which are
the keepers. The image organizer that comes
with Photoshop is ideal for this task. Adobe
Bridge has controls for keywording, rating and
filtering your images, and there are handy tools
for batch renaming files, creating panoramic
stitches, making contact sheets and more.
Launch Adobe Bridge and navigate to a
folder containing new images. Use the cursor
keys to quickly flick through the images and
click below a thumbnail to add a star rating, or
use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+1-5. You
can then filter your photos by the star rating to
group the ones you want to work on.
2 The next step is to open the shots from
Bridge into Adobe Camera Raw. ACR is the best
place to make initial changes to your images
to boost tones and correct any problems with
exposure and so on. It doesn’t enable you
to combine images – you’ll use Photoshop
for that – but it does enable you to make
the kind of edits photographers need.
3 In Photoshop, you can further refine the
image with layers and adjustment layers, which
offer a much more flexible way of working than
ACR. Once you’ve finished, it’s time to share
it with an audience. Go to File>Save, and your
image will be saved as a Photoshop document
(PSD). This keeps all the layers intact, which
means you can go back and retweak the image
at a later date. However, PSD files are large
and can take up lots of hard drive space. If you
want to share your images online or via email or
social media, save them as JPEGs.

Discover how to process your raw files to perfection

The latest version of the raw file rather than in Photoshop, you’ll ensure the
processor included with Photoshop is so best possible image quality, because raw files
powerful that most photos can be processed contain more picture information than bitmap
entirely in the raw processor, with no need for images such as un-layered PSDs and JPEGs.
further editing in Photoshop. And by making Here’s our reference to the features you’ll
your adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw, use the most in the Basic panel.

THE BASIC SATURATION CONTRAST
PANEL IN ACR
Controls the overall color Makes light pixels brighter
TEMPERATURE intensity of the image and dark pixels darker

Use this slider to warm HIGHLIGHTS
or cool an image if the
White Balance tool fails Controls the brightness
to correct a color cast of the lightest pixels

TINT SHADOWS

This slider enables you to Controls the brightness
correct a green or magenta of the darkest pixels
cast, again, if the White
Balance tool fails WHITES

EXPOSURE Sets a point on the tonal
range at which pixels
Controls the overall should be pure white
brightness of the image
CLARITY
BLACKS
Controls the amount
Sets a point on the tonal of midtone contrast
range at which pixels
should be pure black VIBRANCE

Adjusts the intensity of
the less-saturated colors

The six most frequently used Photoshop layers for image
editing, and how to use them to improve almost any photo

Photoshop has many types of layers used may seem a little daunting for beginners,
and adjustment layers available, but but once you’ve got to grips with them, you’ll
there are six that you’ll find you need to use find they play a part in the creative process of
again and again. Learning how they should be almost every image you make.

01 LEVELSThis should be the first layer you add

to an image, because it fundamentally alters
the tonal range of the entire image. Create
a Levels Adjustment Layer, drag the Black
point slider inwards until it touches the left-
hand edge of the histogram, and drag the
White point slider inwards to the right-hand
edge. This remaps the tones of the image to
make more of the available tonal range.

02 CURVESCurvesisoneofthemostpowerful

adjustment layers. An S-shaped curve
brightens the highlights and darkens the
shadows, resulting in extra contrast. Create
a Curves Adjustment Layer and click the
middle of the diagonal line to add a central
control point. Drag down on the lower part
of the line and drag up on the upper part of
the line to improve image contrast.

03 HUE/SATURATION
This adjustment layer is best used
for altering the intensity and brightness
of individual color channels in an image –
greens and blues in landscapes, for instance.
Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer,
click the Master menu and choose the color
channel you’d like to adjust. Small changes
are usually the most effective.

04 HEALING LAYER AFTER BEFORE
Most photos contain unwanted
marks or blemishes. The Spot Healing Brush
tool is effective at removing these. The best
way to apply the healing is on a new blank
layer, so that you can easily tone down or
remove selected healing work later without
having to start from scratch because you
healed directly on the background layer.
To do this, create a new blank layer, choose
the Spot Healing Brush tool from the Tools
panel and tick Sample All Layers on the
Options bar, then continue as normal.

05 DODGE AND BURN
One of the best ways to enhance a
photo is by lightening or darkening selected
areas of the image. This can be done with
the Dodge and Burn tools, but rather than
use them directly on the image, a separate
grey layer gives you greater control. To
create a Dodge and Burn layer, hold down
Alt and click the Create a new layer icon in
the Layers panel. Give the layer a name,
then choose Mode: Overlay. Check Fill with
Overlay-neutral color and click OK. Now use
the Dodge and Burn tools (with Range set to
Midtones) to work on the new layer.

06 SELECTIVE SHARPENING
Once all other adjustments have
been made, you need to sharpen the image
for output. The traditional way is to create a
merged layer at the top of the stack, apply
Unsharp Mask, then paint on the mask to
remove the sharpening from those parts
of the image you want to remain soft.
However, the Sharpen tool enables more
control over the process by enabling you to
build up the effect by brushing repeatedly
with a low opacity brush. Create a new blank
layer, select the Sharpen tool, tick Sample All
Layers and set a Strength of 50% or lower.

14 keyboard shortcuts that will massively improve your
speed and efficiency while working in Photoshop

D X

Reset the foreground and background colors Switch the foreground and background
to black and white color swatches

ALT+[SCROLL WHEEL] [ OR ]

Zoom in or out of the image Resize the brush tip

CMD/CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E SHIFT+[ OR ]

Create a merged copy of all the layers in the Cycle backwards or forwards through the
layer stack layer blend modes

SPACE BAR CMD/CTRL+Z

Temporarily switch the current tool to the Hand Undo the last change made to the document.
tool, for moving around the image while zoomed in Works multiple times

ALT+[EYE ICON] CMD/CTRL+[LAYER MASK]

Switch off the visibility of all other layers in the Load the currently active layer mask as
layer stack, for before-and-after comparisons a new selection

CMD/CTRL+I CMD/CTRL+T

Invert the color of a layer mask to black Activate the Free Transform tool

SHIFT+[LAYER MASK] CMD/CTRL+J

Disable the effects of a layer mask Duplicate the current layer