How to Use Layers and Masks in Photoshop

In this video, Charles Cabrera covers layers and masks for beginners. This video
will get you understanding Layers and Masks in Photoshop.

A layer in Photoshop is like a piece of paper. Put one on top of the other and you can see below transparent areas on the top-most piece of paper. The same is true when viewing Photoshop layers on a computer. Stack multiple layers on top of each other to see what’s below it through transparent areas. You can create multiple layers in Photoshop and make one or many different adjustments on each layer while subsequently viewing previous changes already made below the top-most layer.  

If a layer or part of a layer in Photoshop isn’t already transparent, you can use masking to do so. Masking is a powerful tool used to create transparency on layers in Photoshop and can help combine multiple photos into a single image, focus stack multiple photos into one single image, or even remove objects from a photograph.