Why does my background image change to the one I'm trying to add to a new layer

Question

There is probably a really obvious solution but I am trying to mask an image for the first time in forever (I've been shooting film and not doing much etiting)

I'm trying to add a different image to an existing one in a new layer and when I do it changes the existing image to the one I'm adding so I end up with two layers of the same image if that makes sense. It's not letting me drag and drop either it will just seperate the image into its own tab.

What am I doing wrong.

Im not sure what version it is but when I hover over the icon it says Adobe Photoshop 2025

Trevor.Dennis · Answer

Without a mask, the top most layer will hide any layers below them in the layer stack.

It's much easier to handle this sort of thing nowadays, as Photoshop is so much better at making selections, and we have been given tools that will do this automatically.

So, with the snowman layer selected, I can click on Remove Background in the Properties Panel.

And Photoshop has masked out the rest of the snowman layer. It's even left those thin twigs for arms. That's impressive.

The rule we use with layer masks is White reveals, black conceals.

If you want to mask manually, then you can add a layer mask by clicking on this icon at the bottom of the Layers Panel.

If there is a selection in place, then the msak will reflect that selection hiding everything that is not selected in the layer.

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