Photoshop CS Timesaving Techniques For Dummies [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Creating Layer Masks by Using Selections

Layer masks can also be created by using a selection. Of course, you can create the selection by using any of the selection tools available in the Toolbox. However, you have another way to create very precise selections: using the Pen tool.

With the Pen tool, you can create an exact path around the object that you want to select. For instance, take a look at Figure 49-6. I selected the woman’s face and hair with the Pen tool. Because the Pen tool uses Bezier curves with points and direction points, you can shape the path exactly the way that you want it. After that, all you need to do is turn the path into a selection by clicking the Load Path as Selection button at the bottom of the Paths palette.

Figure 49-6: The Pen tool can be used to create precise selections.

Here are the rest of the directions for turning a selection into a layer mask:

Create a selection by using any of the selection tools or the Pen tool.

Figure 49-7 shows the woman’s face selected.




Figure 49-7: Select the area that you want to mask.








Tip

You can feather the selection by choosing Select>Feather. This softens the transition from the selected area to the unselected area.






Choose Layer>Add Layer Mask to open the Add Layer Mask menu.






Choose one of the Add Layer Mask menu items.





Reveal Selection creates a layer mask that fills the selected area with white and the unselected area with black. This hides the unselected area of the layer and leaves the selected area visible.





Hide Selection creates a layer mask that fills the selected area with black and the unselected area with white. This hides the selected area of the layer and leaves the unselected area visible.





Figure 49-8 shows the woman’s face after Layer>Add Layer Mask>Reveal Selection is chosen.




Figure 49-8: After choosing Reveal Selection, only the woman’s face is visible.

KnockOut 2 by Corel is an amazing product. It helps you quickly create complicated masks that include difficult areas — such as hair, eyelashes, and shadows — in a selection. When you install KnockOut 2, it’s automatically loaded onto the Filter menu. To access KnockOut, choose Filter>KnockOut 2>Load Working Layer. The KnockOut 2 program loads, showing the selected layer in the Work Area.

All you need to do to create a selection is to use the Inside Object and Outside Object tools to quickly create rough outlines that indicate to KnockOut where the inside and the outside areas are. (KnockOut also provides Inside Shadow Object and Outside Shadow Object tools to roughly outline shadowed areas to include in the selection.)

From there, choose Edit>Process and KnockOut creates the complex selection for you, as shown in the following figure. (Notice how the strands of hair are selected!)

If you need to create complicated masks, I highly recommend KnockOut 2. You can find it at

www.corel.com; choose Products>All Products.