> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ JULY 2017[ 66 ]
- The Magic of Overlay
When painting on a layer mask, chang-
ing your brush to Overlay mode can
save you a ton of time. It’s particularly
useful when you have areas of a mask
that should be white but are light gray,
or areas that should be black but are
dark gray.
Let me remind you again of tip #2:
Something is better than nothing.
Rather than attempting to get a perfect
selection of hair directly from Select and
Mask, you can fix them by painting in
Overlay mode if you at least have some
areas of gray. Overlay mode changes
the behavior of the Brush tool (B) so
that white can’t paint over black, and
black can’t paint over white, making it
easier to adjust the gray areas.
To view the mask, hold down
Option (PC: Alt) and click on the mask
thumbnail in the Layers panel. Look for
light gray areas that should be white.
Change the settings of the Brush
tool to Overlay mode and 40–60%
Opacity in the Options Bar. Press D to
set your Foreground color to white and
paint on the mask.
Once again, hold down Option (PC:
Alt) and click on the mask thumbnail
to return to the image view. This will
let you continue painting on the mask
while viewing the context of the sub-
ject on the new background. Paint over
areas where you want to see more
detail in those fine hairs. Don’t paint
too much over the same area, as it can
quickly look artificial.
If you have areas that are dark gray
that should be black, switch the Fore-
ground color to black and paint over
them, once again with the brush set to
Overlay mode.