Why are my checkered layer masks in photoshop transparent?

[kevinh75911236]

I am making a luminosity mask and whenever I have my selection and make a checkered layer that layer is semi- transparent and will lead to the whole picture changing when Im just trying to change my selection. I have my foreground black at 0,0,0 and i'm using photoshop cc 2019.

[floramc]

Hi!

it would be nice to see a screenshot of what you are describing, can you please send some? Thanks

[David__B]

Hi Kevin,

I agree with Flora that it would be helpful to have more details and possibly a screen shots to better understand. Based on the information provided, it sounds like an issue with the selection. The selection may be to broad of a selection selecting more than what you want and this may not be evident on the screen. Did you get a warning like "Warning: No pixels are more than 50% selected. The selection edge will not be visible."? Do you see the marching ants around the areas you are trying to adjust? We really need more details about your workflow to offer advice.  If the layer from which you created the selection has transparent pixels or a low opacity this could be an explanation. If you create a mask from the selection it'll be easier to see how it is affecting the whole image.

Please get back with more details if you need recommendations.

Best,

- Dave