If you know how to use masks in Photoshop, you can make a lot of tasks easier to perform and at the same time produce better results. If you need to make a tricky selection from an image, masks can help. If you want to protect one part of your image, and allow an effect to be applied to another (something like a stencil), a mask is the right tool for the job.

If you want to save a selection, you can save it with a mask, and moreover, you can convert a mask to a selection and vice versa.  Learning how to use masks in combination with layers and selections, will help you reach a new level in digital image processing.

In this lesson you will learn what a mask is and how to create one. You will also learn about quick masks, selections, and layer masks. Finally, you will learn how to move a mask to from one layer to another.