Trying to learn masks

[ehume]

I'll be the first to admit this layers stuff is new to me. And masking is new, too. So I am trying to learn, but PSP is not cooperating. Take this flawed picture, for example:

What I tried to do was create a new mask layer that would darken the lit place among the trees. But every time I create a mask I see a checkerboard that obscures the original. It seems that by selecting white as the stroke color for my brush, I can get rid of the mask from the sun, the sky and the non-lit parts of the trees. I can set the brush to gray but the gray parts show up with that checkerboard. What am I not doing, here?

[LeviFiction]

Masks hide or reveal parts of an image by making them either transparent or opaque. They don't lighten or darken images themselves.

Any grey value between 0 and 255 are the different levels of transparency. The more transparent the darker the grey, the more opaque the lighter the gray. Black is fully transparent white is fully opaque. Or as the saying goes: With masks Black conceals and White reveals. The checkerboard you're seeing is the default "transparent background" it's what you see when there is no image behind the layer to show through the transparent areas of your layer.

Adjustment layers have built in masks. By drawing the the mask of an adjustment layer you can determine how strong the effect is around certain areas of the image. Using black will remove the effect of an adjustment layer completely, while white provides the full effect. So using Curves, levels, or brightness and contrast adjustment layers you can control the overall brightness of the image, then using a mask to hide it in places where you don't want it to appear.

[ehume]

Masks hide or reveal parts of an image by making them either transparent or opaque. They don't lighten or darken images themselves.

Any grey value between 0 and 255 are the different levels of transparency. The more transparent the darker the grey, the more opaque the lighter the gray. Black is fully transparent white is fully opaque. Or as the saying goes: With masks Black conceals and White reveals. The checkerboard you're seeing is the default "transparent background" it's what you see when there is no image behind the layer to show through the transparent areas of your layer.

Adjustment layers have built in masks. By drawing the the mask of an adjustment layer you can determine how strong the effect is around certain areas of the image. Using black will remove the effect of an adjustment layer completely, while white provides the full effect. So using Curves, levels, or brightness and contrast adjustment layers you can control the overall brightness of the image, then using a mask to hide it in places where you don't want it to appear.

Thanks for the explanation. I wish I could have extracted this information from the PSP Help website.

[ehume]

That worked. Thanks again.