Layer masks use a non-destructive method to detect or hide parts of a layer by defining pixel shells without affecting the original data.

Layer were first introduced in 1994 in Photoshop version 3.0. They were at the same time a general change in the game, because they allowed the composition and accumulation of the image and the clarity of the image to reach a completely different level. 

A layer mask may seem like a scary monster to a Photoshop novice, but it’s actually quite easy. 

The first method is the following short video

The second method (completely professional): use paper and Photoshop

For this particular image, I wanted to create an antique or antique-like effect, such as the brush list process, which is designed to create a black-and-white image with a brush. This mask can be done in different ways.

First prepare the paper

For this process, you need a sheet of paper and some lemon juice

Brush the lemon juice on the paper and create the mask area

Lemon juice oxidizes in contact with air, but it lasts. To speed up the process, you can place the paper near a heat source such as a tungsten lamp, or if you still want a faster result, you can use a low-temperature oven.

Lemon juice starts to turn brown. When you get to the color and texture you want, remove the paper from the oven, prepare your paper for scanning or taking photos to create an image file like this.

Photoshop technique

Now open Photoshop and open the image you want to create a mask for.

Turn the layer into a mask

Now click on the layer mask icon at the bottom of the layer panel and your background layer will become a zero layer with a white mask next to it.

Press the Alt key on your keyboard and click on the white mask to make it visible and active. This step is very important! If you do not do this step, the image will be active and visible instead of the mask, and the direct effects will sit on the original image.

After doing this, the image will not be deleted, it will just be hidden.

Turn to gray scale

Now it’s time to open your mask image and turn it gray. One easy way to do this is to use the desaturate function in the following path Image> Adjustments> Desaturate or the ctrl + Shift + U control shortcut key

The final image you want to create has white edges around it, so your mask should be the opposite. You can use this feature to do this: Control + I

Put the image on the mask

It’s time to paste the image into the mask with these simple steps:

Select> All Control + A

Edit> Copy (Control + C)

• Now click on the main image where you created the layer mask and press Control + P on the keyboard.

Click on the eye icon to the left of the Layers palette to make the image and mask work together.

Add a white layer

As you can see, the mask creates different levels of image clarity. To see the white transparency, we can create a new white layer to use as a background.

Go to Layer> New> Layer ctrl + Shift N

• Edit> Fill> Contents: White; Mode: Normal; Opacity: 100%

Now just drag the new white layer to the bottom of the layer panel and you will now have a complete view of the final appearance of the image.

Fine effect adjustment

Currently only a few settings are required for fine tuning. In this particular image, I will adjust the size of the mask. Click the mask icon in the layer palette and then click on the chain between the image and the mask icon to separate them.

Then go to Edit> Transform> Scale . Draw the edges of the image to reshape the mask and adjust it to the size of the image

The size of the mask is correct, but it looks like the image needs to be cleaned. We can increase the contrast of the mask to improve the composition of the image.

Go to Image> Adjustments> Levels Set the sliders in the dialog box to create the effect you want.

Finally, you can use the black and white function to convert the old image. Click the image icon in the layer palette to edit the image, not the mask, then go to Image> Adjustments> Black & White ; Adjust the slider in the black box to create the effect you want.

Note: You can also add black and white as an adjustment layer to keep your editing non-destructive. In addition, you can paint with a black brush on the mask, anywhere you want to erase (such as face or face).