EDITABLE See-Through CUTOUT TEXT in Photoshop – Little-Known Pro Trick | 90-Second Tip
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Your choices stick across every tutorial on this device.
You can build see-through cutout text in Photoshop that stays fully editable with one layer setting most people have never noticed: Knockout.
The letters punch a hole through a white rectangle, so the photo underneath shows through them like a stencil.
Most tutorials build this look with a layer mask. It works, right up until you want to change the word or the font, and then you have to redo the mask.
Knockout skips the mask entirely. The text stays a live type layer, so you can retype it or swap the font at any time and the cutout follows.
This is a beginner-level technique, and it takes about a minute once you know where the setting lives.
The video was recorded in Photoshop CC 2018, and the Knockout option works the same way in the latest version.
Key Takeaways
- Knockout lives in the Layer Style dialog, under Blending Options, in the Advanced Blending section just below Fill Opacity.
- Set Knockout to Shallow and Fill Opacity to 0 percent. The letters turn into a hole instead of a shape.
- On its own, a Shallow knockout punches through every layer below it, including your Gradient Map, all the way down to the Background layer.
- Grouping the text with the rectangle stops the hole at the bottom of the group. The Gradient Map outside the group keeps coloring the photo.
- The text layer is never rasterized, masked, or merged. That is the whole reason it stays editable.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Step 1: Set Up the Layers for Cutout Text
- Why Not Use a Layer Mask?
- Step 2: Open the Layer Style Dialog
- Step 3: Set Knockout to Shallow for See-Through Text
- Step 4: Group the Text and Rectangle Layers
- Step 5: Keep the See-Through Cutout Text in Photoshop Editable
- Frequently Asked Questions
- See-Through Cutout Text in Photoshop, Still Editable
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- Where to find the Knockout option in the Layer Style dialog
- How Shallow Knockout and Fill Opacity work together to cut the letters out
- Why the cutout needs a layer group to keep the Gradient Map color effect
- Which actions keep the text editable, and which ones would lock it
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop CC 2018 or the latest version
- A photo to use as the background
- A Gradient Map adjustment layer, a white rectangle, and a text layer stacked above the photo
Step 1: Set Up the Layers for Cutout Text
Start with the same layer stack as the video. At the bottom sits the background photo.
Above it, a Gradient Map adjustment layer applies a color effect to the whole image. Above that sits a white rectangle, and on top, a text layer.
The order matters. The white rectangle is the card the letters get cut out of, so it sits directly under the text. The Gradient Map sits under both and colors the photo.
Why Not Use a Layer Mask?
You could load the text as a selection and turn it into a Layer Mask on the rectangle, and visually you get the same result.
The problem shows up the moment you want to change something. A mask is a fixed set of pixels, so retype the word or pick a new font and the mask still shows the old letters.
Knockout treats the text layer itself as the hole, and the hole updates every time the text does.
Step 2: Open the Layer Style Dialog
In the Layers panel, double-click the empty space to the right of the text layer’s name. That opens the Layer Style dialog with Blending Options selected.
Aim for the empty space. Double-clicking the name itself renames the layer, and double-clicking the thumbnail of a type layer selects the text instead.
You can also get there through Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options.
Look at the center of the window, in the Advanced Blending section. Right below the Fill Opacity slider is a drop-down labeled Knockout. Most people scroll straight past it, and the whole trick lives in that one menu.
Step 3: Set Knockout to Shallow for See-Through Text
Change Knockout from None to Shallow. Then drag the Fill Opacity slider down to 0 percent.
The letters vanish and the background photo shows through their shapes. That is see-through cutout text in Photoshop, and it took two settings.
There is a catch. The Gradient Map’s color effect is gone inside the letters. A Shallow knockout creates a hole that punches through every layer below the text until it reaches the Background layer, and the Gradient Map is one of those layers.
Note: The video uses the Fill Opacity slider, not the Opacity slider above it. Fill hides the letter pixels while leaving the knockout at full strength.
Step 4: Group the Text and Rectangle Layers
Click the text layer, then hold Shift and click the white rectangle layer so both are selected. Press Ctrl G (Windows) or Command G (macOS) to put them in a group.
The color comes straight back inside the letters.
A Shallow knockout only punches through the layers inside its own group. With the text and rectangle grouped together, the hole stops at the bottom of that group. The Gradient Map sits outside it, so it is untouched and keeps coloring the photo.
Knockout is not only for text. The same setting drives the tutorial on how to create and animate a knockout layer in Photoshop, which adds layer styles to the knockout and moves it over time. This post keeps the knockout still and uses it purely to keep type editable.
Tip: If the color effect disappears again later, check the Layers panel. Dragging the text layer out of the group sends the knockout straight back down to the Background layer.
Step 5: Keep the See-Through Cutout Text in Photoshop Editable
Select the Type Tool, click into the letters, and type a new word. The cutout follows the new letters instantly. Change the font in the Options bar and the holes change shape with it.
This works because nothing in the method touched the pixels. The text is still a live type layer. Knockout is a blending option, and blending options are non-destructive, so Photoshop rebuilds the hole every time the layer changes.
Knockout itself does not care whether the layer is type. It keeps working after any of the actions below. The text is what you lose.
| Action | What happens to the cutout |
|---|---|
| Rasterize the type layer | The letters become pixels. The hole stays, but you can no longer retype the word. |
| Convert the type to a shape | You get an editable path, but no more typing and no font changes. |
| Merge or flatten the layers | The type layer is gone, and so is the knockout. |
| Build a layer mask from the text selection | The mask freezes on the old letters. Retyping does nothing. |
Frequently Asked Questions
It is in the Layer Style dialog, under Blending Options, in the Advanced Blending section directly below the Fill Opacity slider. Open the dialog by double-clicking the empty space to the right of a layer’s name in the Layers panel, or go to Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options.
Shallow punches through the layers below until it reaches the bottom of the layer’s own group. Deep punches all the way through to the Background layer no matter how the layers are grouped. The video uses Shallow inside a group so the Gradient Map outside the group survives.
Check the Fill Opacity slider in the same dialog. At 100 percent Fill, the layer’s own pixels cover the hole, so nothing looks different. Drag Fill down to 0 percent and the Knockout shows through.
Yes. The text stays a live type layer, so you can retype the word or change the font with the Type Tool and the cutout updates on its own. It only stops being editable if you rasterize, merge, or flatten the layer.
Yes. Knockout is a blending option, so a shape, a brush stroke, or a photo can punch through the layers below it in the same way. Because layer styles still apply to a knockout layer, you can also add effects to it or animate it.
See-Through Cutout Text in Photoshop, Still Editable
Two settings and one group. Knockout set to Shallow, Fill Opacity at 0, and the text grouped with its rectangle.
The payoff is not the look, which a mask can copy. It is that you can retype the word tomorrow and the cutout rebuilds itself.
For another way to mix type with a photo, see how to place text behind an object in Photoshop.
Watch the full tutorial above to see it in real time, and comment on the video if this was the first time you noticed the Knockout menu.
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Keep going
Next, learn how to use Blend If in Photoshop like a pro, the sliders that sit just below Knockout in the same dialog.
Related Links
Final Image
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Oh my goodness I love your tutorials. I had never come across the knockout feature before, and am thinking how much time I will be saving in future! Thank you so much.
You’re welcome, Kathy!
Love this! first time I saw this and am going to use on my book cover! thanks.
Awesome sauce! I know that’s lame but it’s exactly what I said. Never knew this feature existed. As you said, a real time saver. Thanks for sharing.
Never noticed it. Thanks so much!
Hi Jesús
I’m very new to Photoshop, and your tutorials are some of the best that I have found. since watching you channel over the last few days I’ve learned loads
Thanks so much
Zita
PS I never noticed this option before 🙂