Things You'll Need:
- Adobe Photoshop CS4
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Step 1
Open up a photo (any photo or graphic will do). This will be used as your initial layer for this tutorial.
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Step 2
Text TypeIn this use of masking layers example we are going to show how you can hide text behind the photo you just opened up in step 1. Go ahead and press the letter "T" on your keyboard. This will activate the text type tool. As seen in the picture associated with this step, select a text, font size and color that makes sense for your photo so that it is easier to read.
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Step 3
TextNow that you have your text properties set, type something in. This will create a new layer for your text and as you can see it sit on top of your photo.
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Step 4
Mask IconThe next step is to create a mask with your text type layer. You can do this by clicking the icon that looks like a small circle inside a square on the layers tab in your work area. I have circled it in the picture associated with this step.
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Step 5
For this specific tutorial I want to hide the text that sits in front of the lighthouse. To do that I am going to use the brush tool and brush over the text I want to hide. I first make sure I have the text layer selected and specifically the mask layer the I created in the previous step.
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Step 6
With the correct layer select I press the "B" key on my keyboard to activate the brush tool.
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Step 7
BrushYou will notice at the top that your brush options toolbar has appeared. For this example I will choose a softbrush stroke of 65 and leave everything else the same.
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Step 8
Final ResultsThe final step is to make sure the brush color is black. Remember black conceals, white reveals, so when you brush in black you are hiding the text and when you are brushing in white you reveal the text. Now that you have everything properly set up, go ahead and start brushing over your text. You will notice letters will start disappearing.
Comments
tori26 said
on 3/6/2009 Great article, very helpful.