Which non-destructive editing feature lets you selectively hide or reveal portions of a layer without deleting pixels?

Which non-destructive editing feature lets you selectively hide or reveal portions of a layer without deleting pixels?

• A. Masking
• B. Adjustment Layers
• C. Smart Objects
• D. Blur

Answer: (A)

Layer masks are the non-destructive way to hide or reveal parts of a layer without deleting pixels. A mask acts like a grayscale control: painting in black hides the masked areas, painting in white reveals them, and grays give partial transparency. The important point is that the actual image data stays intact beneath the mask, so you can tweak or remove the mask at any time to restore the full layer. This makes masking the go-to tool for selective visibility. Adjustment layers change color and tonal values non-destructively but don’t selectively hide portions of a layer by themselves. Smart Objects preserve the original content and transformations but hiding parts isn’t the primary function—though you can mask a Smart Object as well. Blur is a pixel-changing effect; it alters pixels unless used viaSmart Filters on a Smart Object, which still isn’t about hiding portions of a layer.

Layer masks are the non-destructive way to hide or reveal parts of a layer without deleting pixels. A mask acts like a grayscale control: painting in black hides the masked areas, painting in white reveals them, and grays give partial transparency. The important point is that the actual image data stays intact beneath the mask, so you can tweak or remove the mask at any time to restore the full layer. This makes masking the go-to tool for selective visibility.

Adjustment layers change color and tonal values non-destructively but don’t selectively hide portions of a layer by themselves. Smart Objects preserve the original content and transformations but hiding parts isn’t the primary function—though you can mask a Smart Object as well. Blur is a pixel-changing effect; it alters pixels unless used viaSmart Filters on a Smart Object, which still isn’t about hiding portions of a layer.