COLORIZING A MASK
Created May 18, 2004© Copyright Moon's Designs
Property of Moon's Designs
This is my creation, any similarity to other tutorials on the
Internet is unintentional.
Please do not copy or place this tutorial or any graphics to any other
place without written permission directly from me. Thank you.
I have received many requests on how to add color to a mask. What better way to explain this than to write a tutorial ~smiles~ This isn't anything elaborate, however I did want to show you how easy it is to add color to a mask and also will show you how I did the border on the above graphic.
This tutorial is written in and for JASC PSP 8.10 and assumes you have a working knowledge of PSP8. Screenshots are compressed and resized for faster loading. Remember, my tutorials are only guidelines to help you accomplish a certain creation. Please feel free to be inventive and take whatever liberties you would like. I encourage each of you to do your "own thing" and make your creation yours!
Before I show you how to add color to a mask, I want to show you a screenshot how my graphic looks when applying the mask without adding color to it. When saving as a jpg for sharing in email or on the web, remember that any transparent area on the mask will become white and if you have a colored background in your mail or on the web it won't look nearly as nice.
YOU WILL NEED:
JASC's PSP8 (30 day free trial) - You can get it HERE
A graphic ~~ I am using a photograph of one of the roses from my garden.
If you would like to use this photo please right click and save it to
your hard drive.
Step 1:
Open the image that you would like to use. Duplicate your image (Shift+D).
The main reason for making a copy is in case I want to use the image
again and forget to change the name when I save *S* You can close out
your original graphic. If your
image is on a background layer you will want to promote it to a regular
layer. Go Layers-->Promote Background Layer.
Step 2:
Add a new raster layer. Activate your foreground material and choose
a color, gradient or pattern that you would like to use. I used a color
from the rose (#FBB6A7). Activate your floodfill tool. On your tool
options palette go to presets, click on the curved arrow to reset to
default. Floodfill your graphic with the material you have chosen, it
will cover your entire graphic but don't worry about that yet.
Step 3:
Go to layers/load save mask/load mask from disk.
Or click on the load mask from disk icon on your layer palette. You will get your mask dialog box.
Using the drop down arrow, choose your mask. I'm using Mask014.
Naturally you may choose any mask that you like. ~smiles~
Depending on which mask you are using you may need to invert the mask to have the color show. Remember that where a mask is black, it will completely cover the layer and where it is white it will leave the layer uncovered and when you are using a color on your graphic it can be confusing. This is what happens when using the Mask 014 and not choosing invert.
YIKES! The white area left the layer uncovered and filled in the color. This is how I set my load to disk dialog box up.
I chose my mask and created mask from Source luminance. In orientation I had fit to canvas, in options I chose to invert transparency and use image value. Click Load and this is how my colored mask now looks.
Step 4:
If you would like to add a frame or a border to your image, go to Layers/Merge/Merge
All Flatten. There is no need to delete your mask, it will automatically
be done for you when you Merge All Flatten. Add your frame or borders
and you are done.
If you would like to add the border that I made in the top graphic the steps are below.
Step 1:
After merging your image, go to Image/Add Border. I like to add a 1
pixel black border before adding larger borders. In your dialog box
make sure Symmetric is checked, this will add the same pixel border
all the way around your image. Change your size to 1, click on the color
box and choose black.
Click OK.
Step 2:
Go to Image/Add Border. I made a 20 pixel border this time and chose
a green from the graphic. Click OK. Activate your Magic Wand and click
on your border. You will now have your marching ants around your border.
Go to Effects/3D Effects/Inner Bevel. I wanted to give it a cutout effect
so I used the following settings.
Click OK. Go to Selections/Select None. SAVE.
Step 3:
I added a 15 pixel border (Image/Add Border) next choosing a tan color
from my graphic. Choose your border with your Magic Wand and go to Effects/3D
Effects/Inner Bevel and apply the following settings:
Click OK, Selections/Select None and Save. You can now go to your File/Export/JPEG Optimizer and save your image.
I hope this helps you understand how to color a mask.
I sure hope you have enjoyed this tutorial as much as I have creating it for you. If you have any problems, comments or questions please do not hesitate to E-mail me.
