The Layer Mask Revolution: How I Solved My Biggest Compositing Problem

The Problem That Changed My Workflow I spent six hours on a composite last year—sky replacement, subject isolation, lighting adjustments—only to have my client ask for a single change: make the subject 20% darker. I’d flattened everything. Merged layers. Committed to decisions I couldn’t undo. That failure taught me that compositing isn’t about making perfect decisions; it’s about making reversible decisions. And the foundation of reversible compositing is the layer mask.