Mask Tutorial

nebgranny · #1 05-30-2005, 12:41 PM

I am trying to do the Power of Masks tutorial. I am using photoshop
CS2. When I go to adding the mask to the duplicate layer , it just does not work. I hold down alt, and then click on the mask icon. Can someone please help me , and suggestions what I might be doing wrong. Thanks Neb

nebgranny · #2 05-30-2005, 01:18 PM

Never Mind

Flora · #3 05-30-2005, 04:26 PM

Hi Neb,

the only reason I can think of is that is that the duplicate you want to add the Layer Mask to isn't highlighted/activated ... and you can't add Layer Masks to the 'locked' background ....

Hope this helps...

nebgranny · #4 05-31-2005, 05:15 AM

You were exactly right Flora. I went back and took a look at it before your post and caught it. I am so new to CS2 and this whole photoshop program I do not always see these things.

I am not having luck with the tutorial on the picture I am trying to work with, I can successfully work the tutorial on the picture posted with it , however it does not seem to work for me when trying my own troubled photo, seems like I can not get the white paint to come up, it seems to be grey and I got frustrated as you can see by my post earlier ...the Never Mind...LOL I just quit trying. I am not a quitter usually however this newbie stuff is hard. I will post the picture in case you or someone might like to look at it and tell me what I may be doing wrong and if the tutorial will work for it. Thanks for the post..Neb

Flora · #5 05-31-2005, 06:21 AM

Hi again ...

so glad you managed to solve the problem ....

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebgranny

seems like I can not get the white paint to come up, ....it seems to be grey....

Once you have selected the Pen Tool to paint on your Layer Mask, make sure that:

Mode is set to Normal
Opacity and Flow are set to 100%
Airbrush capabilities are not enabled
(see Attachment).

If you are not very familiar with Layer Masks yet you could read this Tutorial first ....

As for the picture you attached, it's much too small to see/work on any detail .. it's only 167X264 pixels for 12.4 Kb in size

.... The size limit here is 100Kb per attachment (about 8 times bigger than the one you posted!!) and a good size for the 100 Kb limit is 600X800 pixels (over 3 times bigger than the one you posted) ....

nebgranny · #6 05-31-2005, 05:13 PM

Hi again Flora;
Seems like I am having problems with the mask coming up black. It comes up white. I may not know enough about the color pallette and may have something set wrong maybe? Geez so much to learn ..Neb

FrannyMae · #7 05-31-2005, 10:05 PM

Hey there! Saw your cry for help so I thought I would give it a go. When you click on the layer mask icon at the bottom of your layers palette it defaults to a mask filled with white, which shows the underlying layer. If you want to hide the underlying layer, hold down the alt key while you click the mask icon and the mask will fill with black. It doesn't matter what your foreground or background colors are set to in this instance...they are automatically set to the default when you add your layer mask.

So, to add a mask that HIDES everything, hold the alt key while you click on the layer mask icon. Or you can go to LAYER>ADD LAYER MASK>HIDE ALL on your menu.

Now that you have your layer mask in place, you can paint on it as required:

To reveal whatever is underneath the layer that you applied the mask to, paint with white on a black filled mask.

In my example I put a picture of a city skyline over a picture of a city street. i added a layer mask filled with black, then painted on the mask to reveal the streen scene below. Hope this helps!

Flora · #8 06-01-2005, 03:09 AM

Hi Neb,

Franny Mae has explained it very well already, but, since I'd already prepared it, I'm posting this mini-tutorial anyway ....

I have a nice picture of two red (hot) peppers... (Attachment 1)
Let's say I want to change the colour of one of the two peppers to yellow using a Layer Mask ....
What I do is the following:

Duplicate my Background Layer and name this duplicate 'Yellow'
Working on the duplicate (Yellow) Layer, (an activated/working Layer is blue and has the 'brush symbol' on the right of the eye).. I use whatever Tool I feel comfortable with to change the Red to Yellow ... Since my working Layer is on top and visible, after the colour change, all I see is yellow peppers. (Attachment 2)

Half way there, but what I wanted was one yellow and one red pepper .... As usual, there are different ways to get where I want to, but, here, I want to use a Layer Mask.

I want to create a 'Black Layer Mask' to hide from view my Yellow Layer so, making sure my Yellow Layer is 'active', (meaning I'm actually working on it) I ALT+Click on the 'Add Layer Mask' at the bottom of my Layers' Palette... So, now, I've just added a Black/Hide All Layer mask to my Yellow Layer which is still there, active and should still be visible (the eye on the left is still 'on') but is hidden by the Black Layer Mask ... so, all I see is red peppers. (Attachment 3)

TIP...the one described above is just one way to create a 'Black Layer Mask' .... You can create one also by:

Layer > Add Layer Mask > Hide All.
...or if you have clicked on the 'Add Layer Mask' at the bottom of your Layers' Palette and got the default 'White Layer Mask', you can easily change that by clicking on the White Mask to make sure you are working on it (double white edge around it and the brush sign/icon at the right of the eye has turned into the 'Add Layer Mask' icon) and press CTRL+I to invert it!

Well, now that everything is ready, let me go for my 'one red and one yellow' peppers.

Still working on the Yellow Layer (active) (Attachment 4 - 1), making sure that its Black Layer Mask is active (simply click on the mask to activate it) (Attachment 4 - 2), making also sure that my Foreground colour is white and that my Brush is set to Normal, 100% Opacity, and that the 'Airbrush Capabilities' are disabled, I simply painted white on the red pepper I wanted yellow to uncover/unhide it from my Yellow Layer. (Attachment 4).

...That's all ... Hope this helps a bit more ...

nebgranny · #9 06-01-2005, 11:46 AM

Thank you Fanny and Flora . AH...I do not know how I missed the alt....I guess i have not stated this before but I do have a learning disability so I struggle with new things. Once i grasp them they are there!! But getting them there LOL is the trick. The tutrial does not workon the picture I was trying it on. it does not hide it simply colors the spots grey!! Oh well I will not give up, I do not have a bigger pic as this was cropped from the original. I could post the original scan flora with her init and maybe you couold have a go of it and then crop her face and a little bodu out?? Will post it for you to see. Thanks Neb

tb5821 · #10 06-01-2005, 01:41 PM

This is very rough, but I think it is an improvement

nebgranny · #11 06-01-2005, 08:38 PM

Thank you TB. It was nice of you to work on the picture. I still cannot figure out why that layer mask tutorial will not work on the picture. I suppose there is a reason I am totally dumb with this photoshop thing. Neb

creeduk · #12 06-02-2005, 07:19 AM

When you say it does not work do you mean the mask is not working or the restoration is not working? I suspect that the problem is the work done on the layer that is masked. One thing to also be aware of is most tutorials are written in earlier versions often 7 or newer ones in CS (some would be older like 5 or 6) you have CS2 and CS2 made several big changes in dealing with layers and the selection methods. It would probably help to read/watch some of the information/videos available about CS2 and you will see how they describe the difference in layer selections, there is no need to link any more (just use shift and select each one) and clipping is activated different now, there is no paitbrush and mask symbol in the little column now you look at the changed box highlight (see image) and sets are now called groups. So watch out for these becasue tutorials will not have these methods in. Also when painting masks, I am sure you have noticed you must be careful to actually select the mask area on the layer selection menu.

nebgranny · #13 06-02-2005, 09:57 AM

THATS IT......Thank you !! I just purchased CS2 and really do not know much about any of the other versions at all, however last night I looked a little closer and saw that the pictures on the tutorial and the layers palette in my version were not matching. I knew it was either a setting or the version had changed . I know I really need to look over and listen to the information movies, but the one I did pull up was a pain, it would start then stop and start all over again each time getting a little further into the tutorial , I sure got frustrated with it so never went back to try again. Thanks so much you are so right on! Now to figure out if the tutorial will work and how to use it in CS2. Thanks so very much!! Neb

Flora · #14 06-02-2005, 02:24 PM

Hi Neb,

So glad that thanks to creeduk we both solved the mystery of your Layer Mask!!

I really had no idea that the differences between Photoshop CS and Photoshop CS2 were so big!!!

I also had a quick go at your picture and, taking into consideration the cropped version you posted first, I worked on that bit only ....

I did two versions of it ... in the middle one I simply cleaned it and balanced shadows and highlights ... in the last one I also changed the background...

creeduk · #15 06-03-2005, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flora

Hi Neb,

So glad that thanks to creeduk we both solved the mystery of your Layer Mask!!

I really had no idea that the differences between Photoshop CS and Photoshop CS2 were so big!!!

It was a pleasure to collaborate

Yes there are some big ones now along with more reliance on the new format PSB for large files. The layers are easier but take a little geting used to for us seasoned users. I posted some of my findings here : http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10260