Bair Art Edition's Tutorial on:
Adjusting Color & Exposure
In Adobe Photoshop
Separating With Layer Masks
For basics on how Layer Masks work, read Masking & Opacity, in the Using Layers module.
Making Masks From a Selection
Anytime you have a selection made, you can make a mask that fits that selection exactly.
We'll be using the Magic Wand in this case, just for fun.
The images look rather poor, because they are screen captures. I clicked in the light area of the background, and then chose Similar:
At this point you can shift-click more areas to include them, or use another selection tool and option(alt)-click in order to deselect areas.
Once I get the area selected that I want, I want to make a layer mask which will be the same as my selection. One problem: you can't create a mask on the background - see how the mask icon is gray, and not accessable:
So what you will do, and what you want to do anyway, is copy the background and then click on the mask icon:
The reason you want to do this is that now you have a layer above the original. It only displays the area's that were selected, and are now revealed in the mask. You can do anything to this layer (dodge, sharpen, blur, etc.), without harming the original, and only a portion of that layer shows through.
Special Adjustment Layer Masks
Now that you have one mask made with that selection, it is very easy to make more. Just command-click (Ctrl-click for PC's) on the layer mask icon itself, and the selection will reappear.
Now we are going to use adjustment layers. I created a Curves layer, and darkened that area:
Now I want to select the opposite areas, and lighten them up. I bring up the selection again (command-click on the mask itself), and then go to Select/ Inverse:
Then I make another curves adjustment layer, this time it is affecting the other parts of the image, and i lighten it up:
That quick and dirty approach only took me 20 seconds to perform, and it could be cleaned up even more by painting in better edges on the masks, but it works, and the results are obvious:
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Before
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After
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Quick Masks
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I won't spend a great deal discussing them, but you should try it out.
Quick masks are a way to literally paint a mask. It is a tool located on the tools palette, as demonstrated on the right. Or the keyboard command is Q.
In this mode, you will be using a paint brush to paint the areas that will be hidden. If you would rather paint the area's that will be revealed, simple select the inverse once you are through.
The mask appears red, and you can set the opacity of the brush to any percentage, and set the brush size/ type as well.
Once you've painted your selection, hit Q again, or select normal mode on the tool palette (the one to the right of the Quick Mask mode).
You will then get a selection based on the inverse of what you painted. Use the techniques above to make it into a mask.
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These are the other sections of this module:
All images ©2003 Bair Art Editions
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- Stephen Bair, Printing Technician
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Phone: 801-484-1028 Fax: 801-467-2729
E-Mail: heath@masterlabdigital.com
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© 2007 Bair Art Editions
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