Masks - not the Halloween kind!

[mariewilcox]

Uggh, okay, so I have watched/read a few tutorials on how to use masks, but they are a but unclear and I just haven't been able to make them work Does anyone know where there is a clear and concise tutorial on how to make them work? Maybe I am just destined to be mask-illilterate for life LOL

TIA for any info!

[jessica31876]

what program do you use?

[Misty Cato]

When you say mask, do you mean photo masks that you clip a photo or paper to? If so, have you tried this tutorial? If there is a point where you get stuck, so just post back here and I'll try to walk you though it.

[Nettio]

Are you talking about layer masks?

[Penny Springmann]

Marie, I have a video tutorial up on my site. You can find it here: INTRO TO LAYER MASKS
I'm also happy to answer any questions you have.

[mariewilcox]

Sorry, yes, I mean layer masks and I use PSE 9. Thanks ladies!

[Nettio]

I layer masks. I use them for everything. This is based on CS3 which is what I use but I'm assuming they work the same in PSE.

The #1 rule you have to remember with layers masks is this:

Black hides, White reveals.

So if you want to hide part of a layer, add a layer mask and then paint on that layer mask with black.

If you want to unhide/reveal a part of the layer using that layer mask, paint with white.

If you paint using any shade of a grey, you'll get a combination of the two depending on how dark or light the shade of grey is.

An easy scrapbooking example that I use a lot:

Let's say you have a ribbon on your layout that is too long. You can add a layer mask to the ribbon layer, use the Marquee tool to select the part of the ribbon you don't want, (make sure the layer mask is selected in the layer palette) and then Fill (Shift+F5 in CS3, not sure if it's in the same in PSE) in the area you selected with black to hide that part of the ribbon.

Then later if you change your mind and want more of the ribbon showing, you can use the same steps but just Fill with white to reveal that part of the ribbon again.

I do all my scrapbooking this way so if I change my mind about a design, which I do a ton, I can easily undo things.

HTH!

[farrijc]

Originally Posted by Penny Springmann

Marie, I have a video tutorial up on my site. You can find it here: INTRO TO LAYER MASKS
I'm also happy to answer any questions you have.

I watched this and bookmarked your tutorials for future reference... thanks! I am relatively new to digital scrapbooking and have found there are so many tutorials out there that it gets overwhelming. This is definitely something I want to learn, though!