Excerpt from Dynamic Learning - Photoshop CS3
Masking a Smart Filter
Now that you have applied the Radial Blur and Mosaic filters to the bicycler layer, you’ll adjust the visibility of the effect.
1 First of all, notice that you can easily return to your original image at any time. Click on the eye icon ( ) to the left of Smart Filters; this turns the filter effect off. Click the location of the eye icon again to turn the visibility of the filter effect back on.
2 Second, notice that there is a Filter effects mask thumbnail to the right of the eye icon. Click to activate the mask. You will know the mask is selected when you see corner marks appear on the edges.
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Click on the Filter effects mask
thumbnail
to activate it. |
3 Choose the Gradient tool ( ) from the Tools palette.
4 In the options bar, select the Radial Gradient button ( ), and press D. By pressing D, you revert back to the default foreground and background colors of black and white. Make sure that the Mode drop-down menu is set to Normal and that the Opacity is set at 100%. Check the Reverse checkbox. This reverses the order in which the black and white appear in the gradient.
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Setting up the Radial Gradient tool. |
5 With the Gradient tool still selected, click and drag from the center of the bicycler to about halfway to the edge of the bicycler image, then release. The filters are now masked, using the gradient you just created. Notice that where there is black on the mask, the filter is masked, or blocked, from view. Where there is white, the filter is visible.
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Click and drag with the Radial Gradient. |
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Result. |
6 You are finished with the Smart Filter section of this lesson. Find out more about Smart Filters in Lesson 12, “Using Adobe Photoshop Filters.” Choose File > Save. Keep this file open for the next part of this lesson.
Applying a layer mask
In this next section, you’ll create a gradient mask for the entire layer you just created.
1 Click on the bicycler layer in the Layers palette to activate the layer.
2 Click on the Add layer mask button ( ) at the bottom of the Layers palette. A Layer mask thumbnail appears to the right of the bicycler layer.
3 Select the Gradient tool (), then, in the options bar, select the Linear Gradient button
(). Press D to make sure you are back at the default foreground and background colors of black and white. Make sure that the Mode drop-down menu is set to Normal, the Opacity is set at 100%, and the Reverse checkbox is checked.
4 With the Gradient tool selected, click and drag from the left of the bicycler image to the right, stopping at about the middle of the bicycler image. Hold down the Shift key to constrain the gradient you are creating to a straight line. Release the mouse. A gradient mask has been created, and the bicycler layer is now transitioning smoothly into the forest image. You can repeatedly click and drag new gradients until you find one that works best for the image.
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Click and drag a gradient over the image. |
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If you decide that you do not want to use the layer mask, you can delete it by selecting it and clicking on the Delete button ( ) at the bottom of the Layers palette, or you can temporarily turn the effects of the layer mask off and on by Shift+clicking on the layer mask thumbnail. Shift+click again on the layer mask thumbnail to turn it back on. |
5 Choose File > Save, and leave this file open for the next part of this lesson. Find out more about layers in Lesson 9, “Getting to Know Layers,” and Lesson 10, “Taking Layers to the Max.”
Using new selection techniques
There are several new and improved selection techniques that you can take advantage of in Photoshop CS3.
Using the Quick Selection tool
In Photoshop CS3, you can select regions of your image quickly and accurately using the new Quick Selection tool ( ) You can then refine the edge using the new Refine Edge feature.
1 If you do not still have the ps0201_work.psd file open, choose File > Open Recent, and choose ps0201_work.psd from the list of recently opened documents.
2 Choose File > Browse to open Adobe Bridge. Navigate to the ps02lessons folder and double-click on the image named ps0205.psd to open it. A portrait of a bicycler appears.
You will create a layer mask on this image from a selection you will make using the Quick Selection tool.
3 Select the Quick Selection tool () and start painting the section of the man’s helmet, head and shirt. The areas that you paint become part of a selection. As you paint additional regions, they are added to the selection.
4 If you inadvertently paint an area that should not be included, hold down the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Mac OS) and paint over that region again. No modifier key is needed to add to the selection, as that is the default. Continue painting the selection, making sure that you get in the holes of the helmet and don’t leave the ears behind.
5 Make sure that you have removed the area between the helmet strap and the biker’s shirt from the selection. Holding down the Alt/Option key while painting with the Quick Selection tool will deselect that section.
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Use Alt/Option to subtract from the selection. |
Saving your selection
It is wise to save a selection, especially if you put a lot of effort into creating it. In this next section, you will save your selection.
1 With the selection of the man’s face still active, choose Select > Save Selection. The Save Selection dialog box appears.
2 Type portrait into the Name text field and press OK. If you accidently deselect your selection, you can now retrieve it by choosing Select > Load Selection and choosing portrait from the Channels drop-down menu.
3 Leave this file open, with the selection active, for the next part of this lesson.
Refining the edge of the selection
Once you have created a selection, you can modify it using the Refine Edge feature. The Refine Edge feature is available in the options bar when you have any selection tool active.
The Refine Edge feature gives you more control over selections after they have been created. Using the Refine Edge dialog box, you can better define a selection’s edges with controls that change the radius, contrast, smoothness, and feather, or contract or expand the selection.
1 You should still have ps0205.psd open with the active selection. If not, please review the previous section.
2 Make sure you have a selection tool selected, such as the Marquee, Lasso, or Quick Selection tool, then press the Refine Edge button in the options bar. The Refine Edge dialog box appears.
3 You can choose from several viewing options across the bottom of the Refine Edge dialog box. Starting with the first one (Standard), click on each preview option to see how your image and its selection are displayed. Depending upon the image and the selection, you may have to change the preview to get the best view of your selection.
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A. Standard. B. Quick Mask. C. On Black. D. On White. E. Mask. |
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As you are investigating your selection, use the Hand ( ) and Zoom tools ( ) that appear in the Refine Edge dialog box. If you prefer, you can use the standard zoom keyboard shortcuts, such as Ctrl++(plus sign) (Windows) and Command++ (plus sign) (Mac OS). Once zoomed in, you can hold down the spacebar and click and drag to pan (or push) around your image. Ctrl+0 (zero) (Windows) or Command+0 (zero) (Mac OS) fits the image back into the window. |
4 Select the On White preview option.
What the Refine Edge options mean |
Here are some brief descriptions of how each option affects your selection.
Radius: Determines the size of the region around the selection where you want the Refine Edge to be applied. You can increase the radius to create a better selection in areas with soft transitions, like hair.
Contrast: Sharpens selection edges and removes fuzzy artifacts.
Smooth: Reduces irregular areas (“hills and valleys”) in the selection.
Feather: Creates a soft-edged transition between the selection and its surrounding pixels.
Contract/Expand: Shrinks or enlarges the selection boundary. This setting is useful for making subtle adjustments to soft-edged selections. |
5 Experiment with different settings, previewing the result in the preview pane. When you are finished experimenting, hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key. The Cancel button turns into a Reset button. Press the Reset button to return to the original Refine Edge dialog settings.
6 For this image, slide the Radius slider to about the 5 mark, or type 5 in the Radius text field. This setting controls the size of the area that Refine Edge affects.
7 Slide the Contrast slider to the right to about the 30 mark, or type 30 into the Contrast text field. This removes the fuzzy artifacts in the selection.
8 Click and drag the Smooth slider to about the 40 mark, or type 40 into the Smooth text field. This setting smooths out any bumpy selection areas that you may have inadvertently created. Leave all the other settings at their defaults and press OK. The entire image appears with the selection region still active.
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Adjust your selection. |
9 Choose File > Save. Keep this file open, with the selection region active, for the next part of this lesson.
Creating a layer mask
If the Layers palette is not visible, choose Window > Layers. Notice that this document has a Background layer, as is the case with most images that are opened in Photoshop. To create a layer mask, you must convert this Background layer to a regular layer. In this part of the exercise, you will turn the Background layer into a regular layer, and then create a layer mask from your selection.
1 With the ps0205.psd file open and the Layers palette visible, hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key and double-click on the text Background (to the right of the layer thumbnail) in the Layers palette. The Background layer is now Layer 0.
2 With your selection still active, press the Add layer mask button (), at the bottom of the Layers palette. The background is transparent (as represented by the checked background). You are viewing only the selected area.
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Creating a layer mask from your selection. |
3 Make sure that you still have your ps0201_work.psd image open. If not, choose File > Open Recent and choose ps0201_work from the list of recent files.
4 Position your images so that you can see both the ps0201_work.psd image and the ps0205.psd image on your screen. Make sure that ps0205.psd is in front by clicking on its titlebar.
5 Switch to the Move tool ( ), or press V, the keyboard shortcut for the Move tool, and click and drag the portrait of the bicycler over to the ps0201_work.psd image, making sure that you do not release the image until you see a border appear around the ps0201_work.psd image. The layer and the layer mask are moved to the ps0201_work.psd document.
6 With the Move tool still selected, click and drag the bicycler portrait image to the left side of the document window.
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The new image is combined with the original work file. |
7 Double-click on the layer name (Layer 1), to the right of the newly placed layer thumbnail. This activates the text so that you can change the name. Type portrait and press the Return or Enter key.
8 Choose File > Save to save this file. Keep it open for the next part of this lesson.
9 Choose Window > ps0205.psd to bring the portrait of the bicycler forward again, then choose File > Close. Choose No when asked if you want to save changes to the file.
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