saving, and is a great way of ensuring you are happy with the image before you commit to masking it out. This can also help you when sourcing images for a time-sensitive task; knowing that solid black or white backgrounds can be so easily removed for previewing will help you identify the images most appropriate for your use.
Preview of how the elements fit, using only blending modes
Tip 6: Masking Masking out an image is key to almost all compositing workflows, and is often the most time-consuming, tedious part. You have two main areas of masking to choose from when an image needs to be isolated from its surroundings. Manual masking is the preferred method of most top graphics professionals: usually this means using the pen tool, brushing in Quick Mask mode, or using the images channels to create an Alpha Channel Smashing eBook #8│Mastering Photoshop for Web Design, Volume 2 │ 165