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Layering to Create Realistic Depth

then I'll show you, Ah, complex image where I found to be very helpful. This is an image I created from scratch and Photoshopped using the shape tool. I drew one shape, which would look something like this, except for it just looked like a literal flat shape. It looked like that you could use something like the pen tool to create a shape like that. Then I added effects to it, and those of fax included a color overlay, which is the only thing that changes the color of the various shapes. This one happened to be read, then a bevel in Boss, which gave it a three dimensional feeling in something called satin just to make it a little different. And there's also a drop shadow I could have applied that's turned off. Then all of these other ones. Each one was simply rotated and the color was changed. That's the choice called color overlay. It's a layer style. I don't expect you to want to recreate this image. What I want to do is show you how I pushed it to another level using layer masks. The...

red shape is the top most shape you can see the entirety of the shape. I want to make it look like it's woven in between the other shapes. And let's see if I can do that. I can't have a layer, be both on top of another layer and blow the same layer at the same time. There's a definite stacking order, so instead I'm gonna hide the red object wherever it should look A Ziff. It's blow something. So add a layer mask so I can paint with black to hide various areas. And then we'll use a trick here. Let's say this yellowish shape. I want it to look as if it's on top right here and that I wanted to look like it goes underneath. Well, that layer in here is, I believe, the layer right here called yellow swoosh. You see it going on and off when I turn this on, There's a trick and Futter shop where you can get a selection out of any layer that looks like an object that has a checkerboard surrounding that. If you hold on the command key control on windows and you click on this little thumb now it means select all the solid stuff. Don't select the checkerboard it all. So when I command click right there, it gave me a selection of everything that was on that particular layer. And now with that selection active, I'm gonna paint on my mask to say hide right in that area. Therefore, it looks like it's underneath here. I wanted to be on top. I come over here and they wanted to look like it's under this purplish one. So I look and find the one that's the purple one. I think it's this one. No, that must be the pink one. There it is. I do the same trick I command click on it to get a selection and therefore, I'm only gonna paint in the area where it selected. I work in the mask I worked on earlier. That's the mask. It hides the red layer, and I'm gonna paint right there, and it hides that red layer. Now, main reason I wanted to show you this images because did you notice the three D effect applied to this changed as I painted? Well, there's a special setting any time you end up using any of these effects like Bevel in Boss and that's what I want to show you if you go to the letters FX in the bottom of your layers panel and you choose the top most option one of the choices in here you get a whole bunch of choices is called layer mask hides effects. That means if I have a layer mask attached to this layer and I hide something, have the effects like bevel in Boss totally ignore that layer mask. Don't let it change what the effect thinks is the shape of that layer. Just make it hide those effects without changing where they apply. And that caused this just to go back to the way it waas by, choose, undo. See the weirdness Where is there? It's not that will only be useful for those that use layer mass a lot, but anyway, I could go through this process. And once you get good at it and you actually understand what's going on, you should be able to, um, come in and hide this wherever you need to. So goes underneath there. Here it goes, on top, and then it goes underneath this next one in. In the end, that red object is on the top layer And if I hide all the other layers, you can see I'm just hiding little bitty pieces of it to make it look as if it goes under other elements, when in reality it's truly on top of them all. I don't expect you to be able to necessarily follow this unless you're used to using shape, layers, layer styles and layer mass in. The main thing to take away from it, though, is if you ever want to make it look like one layer goes underneath, one object in over another, and you just can't arrange your layers in a way that that would actually be the case. Instead, wherever you want that layer to look like it's going under something else and being obscured by it, just use a layer mask, high delayer in that area. And if it has a layer style like bevel in Boston, it gets messed up when you do, then go into the letters FX at the bottom of your screen. Choose blending options and turn on the one feature that is called layer mask hides, effects. All right, that has been layer mass in photo shop. I use them every day, and I love them, and I hope with a little bit of practice, you will, too,

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