|
I am going to go out on a limb here. Masks are easy and I am going
to prove it. I may be thrown out of the graphics world for making
such a statement, since there seems to be a mystique attached to masks—akin
to a secret handshake. If you know the “secret,” you can
unleash the power of masks. If not, you are left to look over the
mask fence for years.
Secret: Here is what I consider to be the secret of masks.
They are simply a selection. Sometimes they take on sexy forms, and
are always referred to with reverence, but the truth is, they perform
the exact same duty as the little marching ants in a selection boundary.
Oh, and they seem to be backwards, which we will get to in a minute.
Grasp those concepts, practice a little with the techniques I have
included here, and you will have mastered masks.
Note: I will cover how-to methods for masks in more software
programs later in this tutorial, but will use PhotoShop for the basics.
This is part one of a two part tutorial.
Here is a sample of the absolute basics. I created a simple selection
with the rectangle and ellipse tools. The sample at the top left is
the result. I then clicked on the Add Layer Mask icon (shown with
yellow highlight) at the bottom of the Layers window to add a mask.
The selection boundaries disappear when the mask is created –
the mask is now doing the job. Just to drive home this point, see
the examples here. In the first blue sample, you can see the selection
boundaries. I created this sample with no mask, just a regular selection
created as above. I then painted with the airbrush, and as you would
expect, only the area within the selection boundaries accepted the
airbrush color.
In the second sample I have added a layer mask. Again, I painted
with the airbrush, and while there are no selection boundaries showing,
only the area not covered by the mask will accept the airbrush color.
Note where the brush is in the sample – no matter how far outside
the white areas on the mask you click your brush, only the area that
is white in the mask can be affected.
So what's with the backwards selections? Well, when you select an
area, it makes sense that you are choosing where the color will go.
You are "selecting" after all. In computer work, we always
expect what we have selected or activated to be what gets the effect.
Masking is the opposite. Think of when you are painting and you use
masking tape to cover where you do not want the paint to go. Or picture
it like a stencil, with a hole cut where you want the paint to go.
Masks protect the area you do not want to have an effect applied to.
|
