Writing - Adobe Photoshop CS6 Essentials - page 141

6. Press D to ensure that the default colors are selected (black in the
foreground and white in the background).

O

7. Click the Create New Fill Or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of
the Layers panel and select Gradient from the menu that appears.
In the Gradient Fill dialog box, open the Gradient drop-down and
select the Foreground To Transparent gradient (second from top left).
Open the Style drop-down and select Radial. Select Reverse so you
have a white gradient in the center that fades to black on the out-
side (see Figure 6.8). Click OK. The letters of the word Egg are white
because they mask the Gradient Fill 1 layer and thus reveal the white
Background layer. The gradient mask is just one example of what you
can do with mask text.

the current selec-
tion becomes a layer
mask when you
create new fill or an
adjustment layer.

FIGURe 6.8 Creating a gradient fill layer using
the letter selection as a mask

8. Press Shift+T twice to cycle through the writing tools until the
Horizontal Type tool is selected. Drag over the middle letter g off the
word Zygote to select it alone. Click the color swatch on the options
bar, select bright red in the color picker that appears, and click OK.
Click the Commit Any Current Edits button.

9. Press Cmd+; to hide the guides and press Cmd+R to toggle off the
rulers. Figure 6.9 shows the result.

10. Save your work as Mask Text.psd and close the file. This file is pro-
vided on the topic's web page for your convenience.