So I was wipping up some signs a little bit ago for a church VBS program that will be running this week, and I thought I would post a quick and easy (but extremely useful) fade effect in Photoshop.

With a layer selected, hit the mask button ((it’s at the bottom of the layers pane, near the button that creates a new layer)). Now select the gradient tool and make sure your colors are black on white (D). Drag a gradient across any part of your image, and it will create a nice little fade effect.

Expecting it to be more complicated? Sorry, it’s not.

Used well, this tool can be perfect. And remember that by reversing the colors (white on black) you can reverse the effect of the gradient, taking away the fade.