How to Use a Gradient Mask in Adobe Photoshop

See Adobe Photoshop: Tips and Tricks for similar articles.

Use a gradient mask in Photoshop to help blend one image into another. The depth and opacity of the blending may be adjusted as well as the blending mode of the layer.

This feature works the same in all recent versions of Adobe Photoshop: CS5, CS6, and Creative Cloud (CC).

  1. Open two images. In this example, the first image is a heron and the second image is a water scene.
  2. In the first file, select the Move Tool, then click and hold on the image and drag it to the second file.Bird ImageWater nScene
  3. Position the heron in the lower right corner of the water scene so that the top edge of the heron image aligns with the far shoreline in the water's background. Then, using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, drag out a rectangle around just the heron image.Heron Positioned
  4. Go to the Layers Panel and click the Add Layer Mask button [Add Layer Mask Button] at the bottom of the panel.
  5. Select the Gradient Tool [Gradient Tool]. Make sure the foreground and background colors are set to white and black.
  6. Position your cursor in the image so that it is level with the tip of the heron's bill. Hold down the Shift key, then click, hold, and drag right to left to the edge of the layer. Release.Blended Image

Related Articles

  1. ChatGPT Explains Photoshop Neural Filters
  2. Kerning, Tracking, and Leading
  3. How to Create a Solid-Color Fill Layer in Adobe Photoshop
  4. How to Change Color in Parts of an Image in Adobe Photoshop
  5. How to Create a 3D Sphere in Adobe Photoshop
  6. How to Apply a Perspective Warp in Adobe Photoshop
  7. How to Use the Black & White Adjustment Layer in Adobe Photoshop
  8. How to Create Image Slices Using Existing Guides in Adobe Photoshop
  9. How to Use a Gradient Mask in Adobe Photoshop (this article)
  10. How to Save an Action Set in Adobe Photoshop
  11. How to Create 3D Extruded Text in Adobe Photoshop
  12. Convert Point Text to Paragraph Text in Photoshop CC
  13. How to Prepare an Image for Print Production in Adobe Photoshop
  14. How to Use the Magic Wand in Adobe Photoshop
  15. How to Apply an Iris Blur Effect in Adobe Photoshop
  16. How to Apply Lighting Effects in Adobe Photoshop
  17. How to Use the Clone Source Panel in Adobe Photoshop
  18. How to Create a 3D Postcard in Adobe Photoshop
  19. How to Create a Custom Warp in Adobe Photoshop
  20. How to Use Variable Fonts in Adobe Photoshop
  21. How to Apply a Tilt-Shift Blur Effect in Adobe Photoshop
  22. How to Use Panels in Adobe Photoshop
  23. How to Use the Curvature Pen Tool in Adobe Photoshop
  24. How to Use Retouching and Restoration in Adobe Photoshop
  25. How to Work with Stroke Smoothing in Adobe Photoshop
  26. How to Use Brush Blending Modes in Adobe Photoshop
  27. How to Insert Action Stops in Adobe Photoshop
  28. How to Copy CSS for Text and Shape Layers in Adobe Photoshop
  29. How to Apply and Copy Layer Styles in Adobe Photoshop
  30. How to Apply Content-Aware Scaling in Adobe Photoshop
  31. How to Use Quick Share in Adobe Photoshop
  32. How to Use Guides and Organization in Adobe Photoshop
  33. How to Place and Align Thumbnails on a Page in Adobe Photoshop
  34. How to Use Blending Modes for Simple Color Correction in Adobe Photoshop