Step 1: Open Two Images That You Want To Blend Together If you need to know more about them, be sure to read through our Understanding Layer Masks tutorial in the Photoshop Basics section of the website. I'll be using Photoshop Elements 5 for this tutorial.īefore we begin, I should point out that we're not going to be covering the details of how layer masks work. We're going to look at a simple example of how to blend two photos together in Photoshop Elements, just to see how easy it is to share an adjustment layer's mask with a normal layer. Well, what if we could 'borrow' a layer mask from an adjustment layer somehow, or maybe 'share' its layer mask with a normal layer? It sounds crazy, I know, but is there some way to do that? An adjustment layer always comes with its own built-in layer mask, which is one of the reasons why they're so useful. The truth is, Photoshop Elements does support layer masks, but only with adjustment layers. But with you and me being as clever as we are, we're not going to let a little old 'official answer' stop us! Layer masks are not included as part of Photoshop Elements'. The official answer from Adobe on 'how do I add a layer mask in Elements?' is 'You can't. Many of the more professional-level features of Photoshop are not included in Photoshop Elements, and unfortunately, the layer mask feature is one of them. Of course, the smaller price tag does come with its own cost. You get everything the average person would need to do extraordinary things with their digital photos at a fraction of the cost of the full-blown, professional version of Photoshop!ĭownload this tutorial as a print-ready PDF! It is, without a doubt, the best deal going in photo editing, and it's what I like to call 'Photoshop for normal people'. In a perfect world, Photoshop Elements would come bundled with every new consumer-level digital camera.

'Hi, I'm trying to work through one of your tutorials but it's telling me to click on the layer mask icon in the Layers palette and, well, I don't see it! I'm using Photoshop Elements. By far, the most commonly asked question we receive here at Photoshop goes a little something like this:

Adobe photoshop elements 5.0 tutorials