Using masks and masking is a very powerful tool in Paint Shop Pro and
understanding how to use them will take your photo editing and
creativity to new levels.
A mask is a layer made from black and white pixels only. So, the mask
can consist of shades of grey from pure white (value 255) through grey
to pure black (value 0). Most times, they are pure white and pure
black.
You append or add a mask above the layer on which it is to operate,
just like you'd add an adjustment layer like you’d do in Adjust >
Hue/Saturation/Lightness.
The black part of the mask prevents any image information showing.
The white part of the mask allows image information to show through.
Before you proceed with this tutorial, you might like to checkout your
understanding of layers.
The Layer Blending Modes and Layer opacity values change the way in
which the pixels in the upper layer control the pixels in the lower
layer. In a similar fashion, Mask Layers change the way in which
the pixels in the upper layer control the pixels in the lower layer.
In this tutorial, we'll look at
What a mask is
Ways of making a mask
How to use a mask
Saving a mask to use later
Other uses for the masks you might have kept
A Graduated Mask
Apart from showing the principle of masking, this masking method lets
you blend one idea into another.
So in an image made from two layers, you'd normally put the mask above
the top layer. The black part of the mask prevents any image
information showing from the top layer, but the image directly below it
in the bottom layer is visible. The white part of the mask shows image
information from the top layer, but the image directly below it in the
bottom layer is not visible.
Things become a little more interesting when the mask has shades of
grey; the effect is just like setting the opacity of a blend mode to a
value less than 100%.
If you click onto the materials palette ...
The materials properties dialogue box opens. Clicking onto the
gradients tab the gradient editor opens the Gradient Editor ...
This is the gradient I generated and then saved as a JPG file for
later. More details of how to do that bit later.
I wanted to show that wool
Was turned into woollen jackets (the photo had already been edited) ...
The two images were placed one above each other and the gradient black
and white mask added above the top image. Notice how there is a
gradual transition of one image into the other because of the gradual
transition in the mask from black through grey to white.
Ways To Make A
Mask
Painting directly onto the mask layer
From a selection chosen by you
From a selection generated by the software
Imported from a third party
Imported from a file generated earlier by you
From scanned or photographed objects
Painting
On A Mask Layer
If you paste an image above another using Edit > Copy
Switch to the other image Edit
> Paste As New Layer
The top layer, the image you've just pasted, hides the bottom layer
completely. Adding a mask, by Layers
> Mask layer > Hide All hides the top layer and reveals
the bottom layer.
Going to the materials palette; choosing white foreground; choosing a
brush; selecting the mask layer in the layers palette; and painting
with your Bamboo or Intuos pen (or mouse), reveals detail from the
upper image layer.
OR
By adding a mask, by Layers > Mask
Layers > Show All hides the bottom layer and reveals the top
layer.
Going to the materials palette; choosing white foreground; choosing a
brush; selecting the mask layer in the layers palette; and painting
with your Bamboo or Intuos pen (or mouse), reveals detail from the
lower image layer.
From the same two images, in this way I painted the mask directly.
and this was the mask I painted by hand with my Wacom tablet ...
From A Selection
The selection tools such as the Magic Wand Tool (this lives in the
Tools Toolbar) enable you to trace the shape of objects in an image
layer so that they might be replaced by items from another image layer.
When you've made your selection
Layers > New Mask Layer >
HideSelection or Layers > New Mask Layer > Show
Selection makes a mask in the shape of the outline you've just
made. It's important to remember to deselect the area once you've made
the mask otherwise your working can become problematical; the simple
method is CTRL-D.
When
you have your mask, it should be sitting above the area you want to
see, or the area you want to hide. In the image below, I used the
middle suited dummy to make a mask. The option to "Hide Selection" was
chosen. The image layer of the suits was above the image layer of the
wool. So the wool shows through the "hole" made in the mask layer.
Should you get your mask the wrong way round, Layers > Invert Mask or adjustment
When using this method, there are some tool controls which need
consideration;
Feathering which controls the hardness/softness of the
edges of the mask;
Tolerance which sets how far the mask is drawn from
the object; and whether the mask is drawn on the inside or outside of
the edge;
Model and match mode are settings which control the way in
which the magic wand decides on the edge of the object.
From
A Selection Generated By Software
Adjust > Brightness and
Contrast > Threshold provides another interesting way of
drawing a mask based on the brightness of objects in an image layer.
The value for the brightness is chosen and then Layers > New Mask Layer > From Image ...
was generated this way
Imported
From A Third Party
There are some really first-rate sites offering ready-made masks as JPG
images. If you choose to use one, load the image then Layers > New Mask Layer > From image and
then Layers>Load/Save mask to
disk
was such a mask and this image
was made using this mask.
Retrieving the mask later is simple,
Layers > Load/Save Mask >
Load Mask from Disk.
From
Earlier Images Or Scanned Objects
Any opaque or semi-translucent material when scanned, or image with
bold areas and not too much fussy detail can make a mask. The image
will need to ...
Be greyscale
Have adjustment made to contrast and brightness
Have possible changes made to it by means of painting in or
out using black, white or grey
Be saved and recalled from disk when you're ready.
How To Use A
Mask
Masks control the extent to which the image in any given layer is
visible. In a two-layer image, with the blend set to normal and
the opacity set to 100%, the mask is usually the top in the stack; what
is directly below the white areas in the top layer is visible; what is
directly below the black areas in the top layer is not visible but what
is in the bottom layer is visible.
With a multiple-layer image, the best plan is to put the image with the
largest area at the bottom, and the image with the smallest area at the
top. It's very much a case of working out what covers what, and
which masks which areas.
When you're painting onto a mask, there's only one way to achieve a
good result, and that's using a WACOM tablet, giving yourself plenty of
time, and saving your work regularly. Using a mouse for this task
could be likened to attempting to paint with a brick.
Other uses for the masks you might have kept
Masks with feathered or fluffy edges, where the black edge becomes grey
before it becomes white, are useful as picture frames in work which is
impressionistic.
Masks with sharply defined edges are useful as displacement maps, but
this is the topic for another tutorial.
