Things I have learnt while on the job
I have never used so many masks before in my life
masking and using the right blending can make your life so much easier
- Quick mask mode
- Layer masks
- Vector masks
- Blending modes
Layer Mask hides effect
Under Advanced Options, there are two options - Layer mask hides effect and Vector mask hides effect - this means that if you have a complicated masked layer that is getting some unintended effects, you can just make the layer mask sort of override the effect. Previously I just stuck everything in a group and applied the mask to the group itself. Actually I still stick things into groups and mask them all the time. But an option actually exists! I dunno how I completely glossed over this checkbox in the past...
Some people work in strange ways
Constantly being reminded that different people work in quite different ways.
Overkill perhaps in this case; I rarely use channel mixers in this way but I suppose this way its non-destructive.