cherryberry
03-13-2010, 07:46 PM
Blog Tutorial: Tips and Tricks 8/29 (http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/blog/2009/08/tips-and-tricks-828-masking-pt-2/)
Tutorial by Sara
Happy weekend scrappers! Sara here with another tip I hope you’ll find helpful. I’m going to be revisiting the topic of using layer masks. In my first post (http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/../blog/2009/06/tips-and-tricks-613/) I talked about the basics of layer masking, why I’m in love with them, and why I think you should be too. I showed a few examples of how layer masks can be used in scrapping your pages and today I’m going to show you the specifics of one of those techniques.
In this layout I used a layer mask to thread an element on a string.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/layermakstutexample3.jpg
And here’s the step-by-step. First you will want to make sure that the element you want threaded is below your string layer. Your string layer should be on top. In this case, at my starting point, my string is on top of the cardboard element, and in the layers palette. Here’s a closer look at our starting point.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tutbefore.jpg
As you can see the circle is just laying there not threaded on the string and it makes the layout look a little flatter than I want it to. SOooo…to change that I’m going to create a layer mask on my string layer.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut1.jpg
Once you’ve created your mask, you will not want to just “erase” the string willy nilly. That would make for some pretty imprecise or tedious work. Your goal is to erase only the parts of the string that would need to be “hidden” by the circle element in order to look like it’s realistically threaded through it. Good thing there is a super easy way to do that in PS.
Now with your string layer still active you will CTRL-click the cardboard element below it. This will show “marching ants” around the circle element. And in effect, this tells PS what area you do (or don’t if the case may be) want to be masked/erased.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut2.jpg
Now with the string layer active and your little marching ants dancing, you want to select a brush to do the erasing and since we want to “erase” parts of the string, you need to set your foreground color to BLACK.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut3.jpg
Then you can being to erase the string. And the cool part is, thanks to the marching ants, you don’t have to be super precise. Just brush over the area of string you want to “hide”/mask behind the element.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut4.jpg
In order to keep the look of realism I didn’t want to erase all of the string above the circle element. I kept the string on top the right hand side of the element, but I masked it on the left side. And now it looks like the circle is threaded on the string!
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut5.jpg
Fun stuff, huh? http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/../blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
I could have simply used the eraser tool to create the same effect..and this may be what some scrappers are more familiar and comfortable with or only what their program will allow (in which case, by all means just erase away with the eraser tool). But, if you have the capabililty with your program, I prefer masking for any kind of erasing I need to do. As I babbled about at length in my first masking tut (http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/../blog/2009/06/tips-and-tricks-613/)…I love to use a layer mask instead because I can easily fix any mistakes I make in my “erasing” simply by switching my foreground color and brushing back what needs correction. For me, this is a more precise, but easier, way to thread an element or do any kind of erasing.
I hope this was helpful! And I hope you have fun playing with masks in the future!
Happy scrapping!!
Please also see Masking Part 1 (http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6438) and Masking Part 3 (http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6688)
Tutorial by Sara
Happy weekend scrappers! Sara here with another tip I hope you’ll find helpful. I’m going to be revisiting the topic of using layer masks. In my first post (http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/../blog/2009/06/tips-and-tricks-613/) I talked about the basics of layer masking, why I’m in love with them, and why I think you should be too. I showed a few examples of how layer masks can be used in scrapping your pages and today I’m going to show you the specifics of one of those techniques.
In this layout I used a layer mask to thread an element on a string.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/layermakstutexample3.jpg
And here’s the step-by-step. First you will want to make sure that the element you want threaded is below your string layer. Your string layer should be on top. In this case, at my starting point, my string is on top of the cardboard element, and in the layers palette. Here’s a closer look at our starting point.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tutbefore.jpg
As you can see the circle is just laying there not threaded on the string and it makes the layout look a little flatter than I want it to. SOooo…to change that I’m going to create a layer mask on my string layer.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut1.jpg
Once you’ve created your mask, you will not want to just “erase” the string willy nilly. That would make for some pretty imprecise or tedious work. Your goal is to erase only the parts of the string that would need to be “hidden” by the circle element in order to look like it’s realistically threaded through it. Good thing there is a super easy way to do that in PS.
Now with your string layer still active you will CTRL-click the cardboard element below it. This will show “marching ants” around the circle element. And in effect, this tells PS what area you do (or don’t if the case may be) want to be masked/erased.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut2.jpg
Now with the string layer active and your little marching ants dancing, you want to select a brush to do the erasing and since we want to “erase” parts of the string, you need to set your foreground color to BLACK.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut3.jpg
Then you can being to erase the string. And the cool part is, thanks to the marching ants, you don’t have to be super precise. Just brush over the area of string you want to “hide”/mask behind the element.
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut4.jpg
In order to keep the look of realism I didn’t want to erase all of the string above the circle element. I kept the string on top the right hand side of the element, but I masked it on the left side. And now it looks like the circle is threaded on the string!
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/After5Design/tips%20and%20tricks/threadingmask-tut5.jpg
Fun stuff, huh? http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/../blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
I could have simply used the eraser tool to create the same effect..and this may be what some scrappers are more familiar and comfortable with or only what their program will allow (in which case, by all means just erase away with the eraser tool). But, if you have the capabililty with your program, I prefer masking for any kind of erasing I need to do. As I babbled about at length in my first masking tut (http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/../blog/2009/06/tips-and-tricks-613/)…I love to use a layer mask instead because I can easily fix any mistakes I make in my “erasing” simply by switching my foreground color and brushing back what needs correction. For me, this is a more precise, but easier, way to thread an element or do any kind of erasing.
I hope this was helpful! And I hope you have fun playing with masks in the future!
Happy scrapping!!
Please also see Masking Part 1 (http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6438) and Masking Part 3 (http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6688)