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Pro tip: Layer masks changed my entire workflow after a bad photoshop crash
Last month I was working on a big project at a coffee shop downtown and my laptop just died mid-edit. I lost all my adjustment layers because I had flattened everything like I always did. That night I sat down and learned how to use layer masks properly for non-destructive edits. Now I never flatten anything until the very end and I feel way safer experimenting. Anybody else used to skip masks and then had a wake up call?
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blair_butler4710d agoTop Commenter
Last year I lost three hours of retouching when my cat jumped on my external drive and yanked the cable out, that's when I finally started using masks too. Now I just keep a million layers and tell myself I'll clean them up later.
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angela_wilson7810d ago
Hear me out though, I actually don't love layer masks for everything. I feel like they slow me down when I'm just trying to rough something in, and sometimes I get lost in all those hidden layers and forget what's even going on. I'd rather just copy to a new layer and erase what I don't need, then merge it down when I'm sure.
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ivancoleman10d ago
You've got it backwards with the copy-and-erase method though. Erasing destroys pixel data permanently, so if you change your mind later you're stuck. Masks hide things without deleting anything, which is way more forgiving. That hidden data stays there until you actually flatten or rasterize the mask. Angela, if masks feel slow, just slap one on and use a big soft brush at low opacity to rough stuff in. Takes the same time as erasing but gives you room to fix mistakes later without redoing work.
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