New Mask Layer in PaintShop Pro X8

[Briansdad]

New Mask Layer in PaintShop Pro X8

I once saw a tutorial that used the New Mask Layer feature (Show or Hide, doesn't matter) but have forgotten how to use it. Can't find the tutorial again and can't seem to make the mask do anything. I want to use it to mask areas of an underlying adjustment layer using the eraser tool (or was it a paint brush????) on the New Mask Layer. I vaguely remember that the new mask was indented under the adjustment layer (or was it the other way around?). If anyone can make sense of what I'm asking, I'd appreciate a link to the tutorial or a little direct help.
Bill

[Kathy_9]

Hi Bill,

It's the paint brush you want to use on the mask layer; not the eraser brush. Painting with black conceals what is on the layer below the mask layer and white reveals it.



Hope that helps.

[Briansdad]

Thank you. I'll try it later. BTW, nice Flickr page. I just "followed." Will look more later. Sure there are some "faves" there. Thanks again.
Bill
(wcurran65 on flicker)

[Kathy_9]

You're welcome and thanks for the nice comment on my images.

[hartpaul]

Did a google search on masks and paintshop pro and came across a lot of videos with really annoying parts (stupid introductions, 30 seconds of explanation of why they are doing this video, annoying music, annoying intro scenes , added extras about other effects and features ).
Finally found a tutorial that fairly simply gets to the nitty gritty of doing an effect and then using a mask to control where the effect is applied.
http://www.the-graphics-tablet.com/mask-layers.html

[JoeB]

Finally found a tutorial that fairly simply gets to the nitty gritty of doing an effect and then using a mask to control where the effect is applied.
http://www.the-graphics-tablet.com/mask-layers.html

Great tutorial on using masks, especially as I haven't used masks for this purpose. So I have a question. How is using a mask and painting in or out more efficient (or a better tool) for this task than just making a selection around the part of the image you want to apply an effect to and then applying the effect (or even promoting the selection to a layer and then applying the effect)? Doing the latter also allows you to change the opacity of that layer if you think the effect is too strong and allowing some of the original below it to modify the effect, or even using other blend modes or other effedts on the layer. Just curious.

[photodrawken]

... came across a lot of videos with really annoying parts (stupid introductions, 30 seconds of explanation of why they are doing this video, annoying music, annoying intro scenes , added extras about other effects and features .

Hee hee. I know exactly what you mean. It's not just PSP videos, but just about every program out there has some of those idiotic videos. My favorite one was when the person didn't show the final critical steps in an involved procedure, and spent a couple of minutes explaining that he forgot to show them because his dog was barking and when he got back from checking out why the dog was barking he (the person, not the dog) lost track of what he had recorded and what he hadn't recorded yet.

[photodrawken]

How is using a mask and painting in or out more efficient (or a better tool) for this task than just making a selection around the part of the image you want to apply an effect to and then applying the effect (or even promoting the selection to a layer and then applying the effect)?

Using a mask can be better and more efficient for applying an effect because it simplifies targeting an area, allows "after the fact" fine-tuning the area the effect is applied to, and does not require duplicating image layers (and thus increasing the file size).

It's been a couple of years since I used PSP, so I have to ask the question: Does PSP allow creating layer masks for adjustment layers? If the answer is "No", then the masking shown in that tutorial offers no real benefit to the other methods that you mentioned.

In image editors that support creating layer masks for adjustment layers, you make a "selection" around the area you want to target and create a layer mask for the adjustment layer(s) using that selected area. Obviously, you can come back at any time and fine-tune the mask by painting, etc., and the effect is immediately applied to the corrected area. You can leverage the work you've done creating an accurate "selection" by simply duplicating that layer mask for use on other adjustment layers. On those duplicated layer masks, you can invert the colours to quickly and simply target the areas not originally "selected".

For example, with the image shown in that tutorial, you'd create a Curves adjustment layer to darken the image. Then you'd draw a "selection" around the chalk drawing and create a layer mask using that "selection" for the Curves layer that limited the effect of the Curves layer to just the chalk drawing. You can then create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to de-saturate the image, duplicate the first layer mask, and apply that duplicate layer mask to the Hue/Saturation layer, inverting the colours of the mask. Poof! You've now got a intensely coloured chalk drawing surrounded by a black-and-white photo. All without wasting a single pixel -- you've only got one full-colour raster image and everything else is simple bitmap masks and formulas....

[Briansdad]

This seem right on, Ken. Unfortunately, I'm a visual learner. I get lost in all those word. That's why I gravitate to video tutorials. I'd like to see one do exactly what you said above. (Not a project I expect you to take on. Just Confessing my own limitations.)

[Briansdad]

(I SOLVED MY PROBLEM, DESCRIBED BELOW, BUT LEFT THE QUESTION IN CASE SOMEONE ELSE HAS THIS ISSUE) I like to use the New Mask Layer feature because there I can use a paintbrush at 0 hardness and low opacity to make very subtle changes to the area(s) to be effected by the effects layer. Unfortunately, I still have a problem. I want to add effect, subtly, to area(s), I can only seem to remove effect. This is inconvenient when the area to be adjusted is small. The Options to "Show All" and "Hide All" when selecting a New Mask Layer seem to behave in exactly the say way. In the screen shot below you see the history and result when adding a Show All Mask Layer. When I do the Hide All option, the image looks exactly the same. Both versions used a solid black paint brush. The image shows the full effect in both cases. Changing to white paint, changes nothing viable to me, areas remain over saturated in this example. (The image is for example only - not anything I'm actually working on!)

[photodrawken]

This seem right on, Ken. Unfortunately, I'm a visual learner. I get lost in all those word. That's why I gravitate to video tutorials. I'd like to see one do exactly what you said above. (Not a project I expect you to take on. Just Confessing my own limitations.)

I completely understand. I admit that reading the description can make things seem rather...opaque.

However, when using an image editor that allows creating layer masks for adjustment layers, doing the procedure once reveals that it's really easy.

Like I said, it's been years since I used PSP, so I don't know if it supports using masking the way I described.

[Briansdad]

ISSUE SOLVED: I was creating a new adjustment layer first, wrong. I discovered that I should apply whatever adjustment/effect I want to a duplicate layer of the background and them choose to add a New Mask Layer. Then paint on the mask. All works as it should. Thanks for reading. Bill

[Kathy_9]

Sorry, was just getting back to this thread now but I see you have figured it out.

[Briansdad]

Thanks for your interest.