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  1. Photoshop User Guide
  2. Introduction to Photoshop
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    5. Photoshop | Common Questions
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  3. Photoshop and other Adobe products and services
    1. Work with Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
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    2. Get to know the workspace
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    4. Create, open, and export documents
    5. Add photos
    6. Work with layers
    7. Draw and paint with brushes
    8. Make selections and add masks
    9. Retouch your composites
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    23. Livestream as you create in Photoshop on the iPad
    24. Correct imperfections with the Healing Brush
    25. Create brushes in Capture and use them in Photoshop
    26. Work with Camera Raw files
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    28. Adjust exposure in your images with Dodge and Burn
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    20. About color
    21. Color and monochrome adjustments using channels
    22. Choose colors in the Color and Swatches panels
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    28. Bit depth and preferences
  10. Layers
    1. Layer basics
    2. Nondestructive editing
    3. Create and manage layers and groups
    4. Select, group, and link layers
    5. Place images into frames
    6. Layer opacity and blending
    7. Mask layers
    8. Apply Smart Filters
    9. Layer comps
    10. Move, stack, and lock layers
    11. Mask layers with vector masks
    12. Manage layers and groups
    13. Layer effects and styles
    14. Edit layer masks
    15. Extract assets
    16. Reveal layers with clipping masks
    17. Generate image assets from layers
    18. Work with Smart Objects
    19. Blending modes
    20. Combine multiple images into a group portrait
    21. Combine images with Auto-Blend Layers
    22. Align and distribute layers
    23. Copy CSS from layers
    24. Load selections from a layer or layer mask's boundaries
    25. Knockout to reveal content from other layers
    26. Layer
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    28. Composite
    29. Background
  11. Selections
    1. Select and Mask workspace
    2. Make quick selections
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    10. Move, copy, and delete selected pixels
    11. Create a temporary quick mask
    12. Save selections and alpha channel masks
    13. Select the image areas in focus
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    16. Selection
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  12. Image adjustments
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    3. Healing brush examples
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    30. Make selective color adjustments
    31. Replace object colors
  13. Adobe Camera Raw
    1. Camera Raw system requirements
    2. What's new in Camera Raw
    3. Introduction to Camera Raw
    4. Create panoramas
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    9. How to make non-destructive edits in Camera Raw
    10. Radial Filter in Camera Raw
    11. Manage Camera Raw settings
    12. Open, process, and save images in Camera Raw
    13. Repair images with the Enhanced Spot Removal tool in Camera Raw
    14. Rotate, crop, and adjust images
    15. Adjust color rendering in Camera Raw
    16. Feature summary | Adobe Camera Raw | 2018 releases
    17. New features summary
    18. Process versions in Camera Raw
    19. Make local adjustments in Camera Raw
  14. Image repair and restoration
    1. Remove objects from your photos with Content-Aware Fill
    2. Content-Aware Patch and Move
    3. Retouch and repair photos
    4. Correct image distortion and noise
    5. Basic troubleshooting steps to fix most issues
  15. Image transformations
    1. Transform objects
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    4. Create and edit panoramic images
    5. Warp images, shapes, and paths
    6. Vanishing Point
    7. Use the Liquify filter
    8. Content-aware scaling
    9. Transform images, shapes, and paths
    10. Warp
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  16. Drawing and painting
    1. Paint symmetrical patterns
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    3. About drawing
    4. Draw and edit shapes
    5. Painting tools
    6. Create and modify brushes
    7. Blending modes
    8. Add color to paths
    9. Edit paths
    10. Paint with the Mixer Brush
    11. Brush presets
    12. Gradients
    13. Gradient interpolation
    14. Fill and stroke selections, layers, and paths
    15. Draw with the Pen tools
    16. Create patterns
    17. Generate a pattern using the Pattern Maker
    18. Manage paths
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    21. Create textured brushes
    22. Add dynamic elements to brushes
    23. Gradient
    24. Paint stylized strokes with the Art History Brush
    25. Paint with a pattern
    26. Sync presets on multiple devices
  17. Text
    1. Add and edit the text
    2. Unified Text Engine
    3. Work with OpenType SVG fonts
    4. Format characters
    5. Format paragraphs
    6. How to create type effects
    7. Edit text
    8. Line and character spacing
    9. Arabic and Hebrew type
    10. Fonts
    11. Troubleshoot fonts
    12. Asian type
    13. Create type
    14. Text Engine error using Type tool in Photoshop | Windows 8
  18. Video and animation
    1. Video editing in Photoshop
    2. Edit video and animation layers
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    5. Paint frames in video layers
    6. Import video files and image sequences
    7. Create frame animations
    8. Creative Cloud 3D Animation (Preview)
    9. Create timeline animations
    10. Create images for video
  19. Filters and effects
    1. Use the Liquify filter
    2. Use the Blur Gallery
    3. Filter basics
    4. Filter effects reference
    5. Add Lighting Effects
    6. Use the Adaptive Wide Angle filter
    7. Use the Oil Paint filter
    8. Layer effects and styles
    9. Apply specific filters
    10. Smudge image areas
  20. Saving and exporting
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    10. Troubleshoot printing problems | Photoshop
  22. Automation
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  23. Color Management
    1. Understanding color management
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    5. Color-managing documents for online viewing
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    8. Proofing colors
  24. Content authenticity
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  25. 3D and technical imaging
    1. Photoshop 3D | Common questions around discontinued 3D features
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    13. Photoshop and MATLAB
    14. Count objects in an image
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    16. 3D texture editing
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    18. 3D panel settings

Learn how to quickly edit layer masks in 5 simple steps

Masking enables you to create anything you can imagine in Photoshop. You can add a mask to a layer and use the mask to hide portions of the layer and reveal the layers below. 

To easily edit and refine existing layer masks, do the following:

  1. In the Layers panel, select the layer containing the mask you want to edit.

  2. Click the Mask thumbnail in the Layers panel.

  3. Select any of the editing or painting tools. The foreground and background colors assume default grayscale values when the mask is active.

  4. Do one of the following:
    • To subtract from the mask and reveal the layer, paint the mask with white.
    • To make the layer partially visible, paint the mask with gray. Darker grays make the level more transparent; lighter grays make it more opaque.
    • To add to the mask and hide the layer or group, paint the mask with black. The layers below become visible.
    edit layer mask
    Paint with white to reveal and with black to hide parts of the active layer.

  5. (Optional) To edit the layer instead of the layer mask, select it by clicking its thumbnail in the Layers panel. A border appears around the layer thumbnail. 

    To paste a copied selection into a layer mask, Alt-click (Win) or Option-click (Mac) the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel to select and display the mask channel. Choose Edit > Paste and then Select > Deselect. The selection is converted to grayscale and added to the mask. Click the layer thumbnail in the Layers panel to deselect the mask channel.

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