Masks are Easy!
If you don't fully understand layers, please check out Understanding Layers before doing this tutorial.
There are five important concepts to keep in mind when first learning about masks. (Later when you have worked with them for a while you will find more powerful ways to create and use them.)
- Masks are always black, white and shades of grey.
- Masks should be applied to their own layer.
- Black means all of the underlying layer(s) will show.
- White means none of the underlying layer(s) will show.
- Grey means some of the underlying layer(s) will show. The darker the shade the the the more of the underlying layer(s) will show.
To visualize these concepts let's make a simple mask to start with.
**Please Note: If clickable images do not open properly please try again.
- PSP 7
- This zip file which contains all the images you need for this tutorial. Download it HERE
Let's get started
- Open a new image 250x250 with white background. Open a second image 250x250 with black background.
- Set the foreground color to black (#000000) and the background color to light grey (#c0c0c0) to start. We will be using all of these colors for this exercise.
- Click on the airbrush tools
and use the following settings:
Click to view large image
- Now make 2 diagonal marks one with each color. Change colors and repeat until you have used all the colors. Save both images as .jpg files. Your images should look similar to these:
- Open formask1.jpg found in the zip file. It should look like the image below.
- Add a new layer to the image and flood fill
with ##EFF717. - Go to masks/new/from image. Click "Source luminance" then choose the white image from the drop down menu". Click ok.
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 with the black image.
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