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The great part about layer masks is that you can save the entire set of multiple exposures along with the masks in a single file, which you can edit later. Notice the new mask layer by the red arrow. Here is the same example below with a layer mask – you’ll see the effect is identical. Painting with the color black reveals the layer below, and if you switch the color to white, it will “undo” wherever you’ve painted black so you can clean up any strokes you didn’t want to make (black reveals, white hides the layer below). Then you use the paintbrush on the mask to reveal the bottom photo. To create a layer mask, just layer two photos on top of each other like I did above, then from the menu click “Create Layer Mask –> Reveal All”. Instead of using the eraser brush to reveal the bottom photo, you create a middle layer between the two photos called a “mask layer” and you draw on it with a paintbrush – wherever you paint, the top photo is “erased” revealing the bottom photo. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated.Ī layer mask is just another way of revealing the photo below. However, most people use what’s called a “layer mask” instead of the eraser brush. That’s one way of doing it, and I showed you that first because it’s an easy way to demonstrate layers. In the example above, I used the eraser brush to reveal the layer below. With just that little piece of knowledge, your photography can be completely transformed. That’s all there is to understanding the very basics of how layers work. Here’s an example after I’ve taken a swipe with the eraser brush. If I were to take an eraser brush and swipe it across the top layer, I will erase that top photo and “reveal” the photo below it. After I paste the Brooklyn Bridge photo on top of the Bora Bora photo, you can now see on the right of the screen, where the red arrow points, that the photos are now layered in one document (see image below).
Easy to use free photo layering software#
(There are a variety of ways to layer photos depending on the software you use. To layer them, I’ll copy-and-paste one photo on top of the other in my editing software. Here we see two photos, one of the Brooklyn Bridge and one from Bora Bora. Before we blend exposures, let’s take a quick look at how layers work. So how do we do it? It’s very simple, you layer the photos with different exposures on top of each other and then manually blend them. Both processes can be considered “High Dynamic Range” photography, and both have their place. It can also be a much quicker process than using dedicated HDR software. The difference between automated HDR software and this technique is that HDR software uses a computer algorithm to choose the areas of your photo to blend, while using layers gives you complete control over the final image. Wait you say, isn’t that HDR? In a way it sort of is. You simply take two or more photos of the scene at various exposures and blend the best parts of each exposure to produce a single image where all areas are exposed correctly. This is a sacrifice photographers have been dealing with for decades. As a photographer, you would generally choose to prioritize one over the other. That means the camera has a hard time capturing very bright parts of a scene and very dark parts in a single photo. We know that a camera has limited “dynamic range”. It’s also super-easy!įirst, let’s understand why you need to blend exposures. It’s critical to understand and use this skill. EXPOSURE BLENDINGĮxposure blending is one of the best techniques you can use to improve your photos. That said, the use of layers is very similar in all software. It’s not a software-specific guide and the exact mouse-clicks and menu items may vary slightly among the different photo editing packages available. Please keep in mind this guide is meant to demonstrate the power of layers and why you want to use them. We’ll go through all three categories in this tutorial. Local adjustments to specific parts of an image.While there are countless things you can do with layers, it’s convenient to group them into three main categories: If you follow along with this tutorial and incorporate the techniques, you’ll see a huge difference in the quality of your images.
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The good news is that using layers is extremely easy, and very quick. Layers are so powerful, even the most basic understanding of them can improve your photography tremendously. Using layers in your photo editing software is one of the most important things you can do to create great images.