How do I use the Mask?

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Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:45 pm

How do I use the Mask?

Postby kathytarochione » Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:28 pm

I know this sounds stupid, but when I mask out an area, I have no clue what to do, how to save it, what are the special effects it can do. Can't seem to find anything in the forums on Masking and the techniques. Can anyone help?

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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:27 am
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Re: How do I use the Mask?

Postby Penningtons7 » Fri Aug 10, 2012 6:43 am

Masking is pretty simple I will explain some basics here.

Two ways to use masking tools either before or after an effect is chosen.

1Before you choose an effect under edit tool click on select area. This will open a dialogue to select name for new mask. I use Sky and object most. Lets talk sky
A. I select sky then it goes to the brushes tools on left side. Select either lasso or edge finder both have different and usefull puposes. Lasso lets you enclose you selection. Edge finder lets you paint it.
B. With edge fider you can change brush size (outer cirle ) and Detector size inner circle.
C. Use moues to paint the sky so it becomes red (you can choose different ways to show selection. I prefer the dashed lines. Using add to selection will paint the sky red Using erase from will set it back to original .
D. Once you have finished painting the selection (sky) then click confirm and browse. Here you will see effects that are relevant to selection name and noticethey only affect masked area.

2. Use mask after an effect is confirmed to choose area in which effect is either included or excluded. This work nice when doing an all black and white effect and yet wantto keep some color maybe in eyes and lips or prhaps a flower. Tool works just the same as in above.

Shortcuts that are handy here are.

Alt temporarily will switch from add to Selection to Erase or vice versa.

Shift (hold down while moving brush) locks down detector Allowing you to move brush into tight places. This is good to go inbetween leaves and get the sky that peaks through.

BTW you can go to mask mode from the effect gallery if you like also.

This covers the basics and should get you some nice results with masks. Also masking is used when choosing composite mode in underlay or overlay mode.

Experiment have fun Save often you will get the hang of it.

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Re: How do I use the Mask?

Postby admin » Sat Aug 11, 2012 10:09 am

One big tip for using the brush: it works best and fastest if you use it to go round the edge of your area then use the fill tools to fill in the middle. Currently the fill tools pop up on the left, but the next version the full tools will pop up on your image hopefully making them easier to find.

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