What Is Alpha Lock in Photoshop and How to Use It?

What Is Alpha Lock in Photoshop and How to Use It?

Alpha Lock in Photoshop, officially called ‘Lock Transparent Pixels,’ is a layer setting that lets you edit only the existing pixels on a layer. Any painting or adjustments you make will ignore the transparent areas, preventing you from coloring outside…

Matte Painting in Photoshop: 4-Step Workflow (2026)

Photoshop matte painting workflow overview showing a base photo layer, masked sky replacement, Curves color match, and a final haze/noise unification pass

Matte painting is a Photoshop-based visual effects technique where you combine photos, textures, and a bit of painting to create a realistic environment that would be expensive, unsafe, or flat-out impossible to shoot. Think of it this way: you’re making…