Mode Quick Mask(Quick Mask) is one of the best selection tools in Photoshop. I use it all the time when creating and modifying selections, and when evaluating the quality and accuracy of selections created with the standard selection tools discussed earlier in this chapter. In short, Quick Mask mode allows you to see which areas of the image are active (selected) and which are inactive (unselected), thanks to the transparent overlap. The quick mask mode is very flexible and functional; it allows you to apply many selection tools and filters; in addition, the quick mask can be saved as an alpha channel for future use. Unfortunately, many people consider the quick mask mode a tool for beginners and hobbyists, but this is not the case: the quick mask mode has many uses.

OwlT Before you begin exploring Quick Mask mode in the following exercises, make sure that you have set the default settings for Quick Mask mode. To do this, you can double-click on the left icon Quick Mask(Quick Mask) in the tool palette. Make sure

in that the parameter values ​​indicated on

rice. 2.52.

Rice. 2.52.

Quick Mask Mode Default Parameters

Let's start with the selected area

After creating the initial selection using the standard selection tool, click on the icon Quick Mask(Quick Mask) under the color picker icon in the tool palette; Alternatively, you can simply press the key

... Photoshop will render the image using a red transparent overlay (which can be compared to protective transparency) over inactive areas of the image. As a result, only the selected areas will be available for editing. Note that the "marching ants" will disappear when this is done. In the mode

quick mask, you can change and adjust the selected areas without fear of accidentally deselecting. Best of all, however, you have the ability to see which areas are selected and which are not, and also use black and white to create very precise selected areas.

Separating picture elements

In the next example, we are going to separate a small sheet from the background.

1. Select the sheet with the tool Magnetic lasso(Magnetic lasso) or create an initial selection with the tool Magic wand(Magic wand) (rice, 2,53).

2. Press the key to go

to quick mask mode (rice, 2.54). All areas that are hidden under the red overlap are inactive, which means

not highlighted. All other areas are active, which means they are highlighted.

Rice, 2,53.

Start by creating an initial selection

3. To further separate the sheet from the sidewalk, brush the selected areas of the sidewalk with a black brush. In this case, a hard brush is used to simulate the crisp edges of the sheet. By working on areas of the image with a black brush, you subtract them from the selection.

4. If you need to add new areas to the selection, paint over them with a white brush. For example, enlarge the bottom of the petiole. Treat it with a Hard White Brush at 100% Opacity. (rice, 2.55).

Rice, 2,54.

Switch to quick mask mode

Rice. 2,55.

Change the quick mask by painting with black and white brushes

5. Having received the selected area of ​​the proper form, press the key again ... Photoshop converts the quick mask to a hot selection (fig. 2.56), after which the sheet image can be inserted into another image.

OwlT After switching to Quick Mask mode, Photoshop sets the default colors (white base and black

background). When working, you can press the key<Х>to set the foreground color to black and white as the background color. To decrease the size of the brush, use the key<[>, and to increase<]>.

Rice. 256.

Keystroke allows you to exit the quick mask mode and activate the selection

In this lesson, we will analyze such a concept as.

It causes many difficulties for many, tk. they just do not understand the essence of this tool.
Now we will try to disassemble this unique tool in detail.

There are several types masks in Photoshop: quick mask with the BRUSH tool, quick mask with the Gradient tool, layer mask and clipping mask.

A quick MASK in Photoshop using the BRUSH tool.

helps to create high-quality selection using tools such as brush, pencil and gradient.

To set the mode quick mask, you need to switch to black and white colors in the palette (as shown in the figure), then click on the button quick mask(circled in red in the figure).

Next, we take the tool brush, go to its settings and set it to 100% rigidity, set the diameter to the one that suits us best.
Also, set the Brush Tool to 100% Opacity and 100% Pressure.

Now we have to use the tool quick mask in Photoshop separate the dog from the background.

... To do this, we begin to carefully paint over the dog.
Mask will paint with transparent red color.
To make it convenient for us, you can zoom in on the image.

If suddenly, we accidentally managed to get out of the edges of our selected object, we need to switch to white in the tool palette and paint over the excess selected area, i.e. correct our mistake. As we already know, the tool palettes is above the instrument mask- these are two squares (by default, black and white).

To quickly switch between colors in the tool palette (between black and white), you can use the " X»On the keyboard (the keyboard must be in English!).

The dog's hair protrudes in some places (it can also be human hair). In such cases, it is best to reduce the hardness of the brush in its settings - the brush will paint with a semi-transparent mask. Also, you can slightly reduce the opacity (located in the tool settings brush). The selection in this case will not be clear, but somewhat vague and will give the effect of fluffiness of the coat (hair).

We painted over our dog.

I selected the dog not very neatly, sorry - I was in a hurry. But you really try.

Now we go into normal mode - press the tool again quick mask in Photoshop... In normal mode, our image will look like this (see the picture to the left) - what was not covered by the mask is highlighted.

Next, we need to invert the image so that the dog is selected and not the background. To do this, press on the keyboard Shift + Ctrl + I or MENU - SELECTION - INVERSION.

Now we have a selected dog and we can do with it whatever we need, for example, transfer to another background. To do this, select the tool moving and drag the dog to a different background.

About the tool move to Photoshop you can also read in this article:.

A quick MASK in Photoshop using the GRADIENT tool.

Via gradient in Photoshop you can make a fade-out effect.

Go to gradient tool, set black and white colors in the palette (as in the example with brush tool discussed above).

Be sure to make sure that in the tool settings gradient in Photoshop the colors range from black to white. If it is not, click on the red-framed gradient in the image below and select the correct one:

We leave the mode normal and the opacity is 100%.

We go to the quick mask mode and carry out gradient:

I spent gradient as shown in the figure with the yellow arrow.

Our drawing is covered with a red film, which will be thick on the one hand, and will gradually disappear on the other.

We go to normal mode, i.e. turn off the mode quick mask in Photoshop:

Then press the key Delete on keyboard.

What will we get?

The right part will be erased for us, but will be erased gradually, leaving a small area of ​​the image with a transparent color.

In general, everything is simple and clear - experiment with the mask yourself using the tool gradient in Photoshop.

The LAYER MASK tool in Photoshop.

Let's take a look at what it is.

Take the kitten layer and drag it to the sunset layer.
Now we need to remove the white background from the kitty layer, i.e. so that the kitten is on a different background - against the background of the sunset.

To do this, we click the button in the layers mask, as shown in the image below, and a vector mask is added to the kitten layer:

Then, select the tool brush and start erasing the white background from the kitten layer.

Layer mask works the same as quick mask, i.e. we erase with black, and restore with white.

On the layer mask in the layers palette, we see that what we erased will be shown in black, i.e. it is not removed - it just hides under the layer mask.

CLIP MASK in Photoshop.

We have two layers superimposed on each other: the kitten layer was dragged onto the sunset layer.
Right-click on the kitten layer and select CREATE CLIP MASK.

What will happen with us?

The kitty layer for which we created rejection mask, will only appear where it crosses the underlying layer, that is, the layer with the sunset. Let me explain. If, for example, the layer with the kitten is larger than the layer with the sunset, then applying to the layer with the kitten rejection mask, we, thus, equalized it, i.e. resized to the sunset layer.

Mask Is one of the most versatile tools in Photoshop. They are used for non-destructive image processing, object selection, creating smooth transitions and applying various effects to certain areas of the image.

You can think of a mask as an invisible layer placed on top of the main one, on which you can work only with white, black and gray, now you will understand why.

In fact, everything is simple: the black mask completely hides what is located on the layer to which it is applied, and the white mask completely reveals. We will use these properties in our work.

If you take a black brush and paint over some area on the white mask, it will disappear from view.

If you paint over an area with a white brush on a black mask, then this area will appear.

We figured out the principles of the masks, now let's get down to work.

Mask creation

A white mask is created by clicking on the corresponding icon at the bottom of the layers palette.

A black mask is created by clicking on the same icon while holding down the key ALT.

Mask fill

The mask is filled in the same way as the main layer, that is, all the fill tools work on the mask. For example, the tool "Fill".

With a black mask

We can fill it completely with white.

Hotkeys are also used to fill masks. ALT + DEL and CTRL + DEL... The first combination fills the mask with the foreground color, and the second with the background color.

Fill the selected area of ​​the mask

While on the mask, you can create a selection of any shape and fill it. You can apply any tool to the selection (anti-aliasing, feathering, etc.).

Copy mask

The mask is copied as follows:

Inverting the mask

Inversion reverses the mask colors and is performed by a keyboard shortcut CTRL + I.

Original colors:

Inverted colors:

Gray on the mask

The gray color on the masks works like a transparency tool. The darker the gray, the more transparent what is under the mask. 50% gray will give fifty percent transparency.

Now you can consider a more professional tool for working with selected areas - masks. Gradient masks.

We have already become quite familiar with selections and learned how to work with selected areas. Now you can consider a more professional tool for working with selected areas - masks. Why do you need masks at all? Can't the selection tools we've studied be able to do something? The fact is that all the previously considered methods allow you to select areas of arbitrary shape, but none of them can take into account the differences in focus levels. Undoubtedly, you have seen collages in which one object flows smoothly into another. It is with the help of masks that such transition effects are created. In addition, masks allow you to select an arbitrary area or adjust an existing one. Let's take a look at the most interesting and powerful tool in Photoshop.

The essence of masks is as follows: if one part of the image is selected and we can only work with it, then the rest of the image is called masked, i.e. a closed mask. The mask can be compared to black paper that photographers use to cover some of the photographic paper when printing photographs. This is done so that the light from the enlarger would hit only certain areas of the paper and would not affect those areas that the photographer covered with black paper. The mask can be schematically represented as follows.

- this is a selection outline, presented in the form of shades of gray. Wherein:

• Selected areas are displayed in white.
• Unselected areas are displayed in black.
• Partially selected areas are represented by shades of gray. The more the area is selected, the lighter its mask. Accordingly, almost unselected areas are represented in dark gray.

Quick Mask- selection view, in which selected areas retain their original color, and unselected areas are covered with a semitransparent solid-color mask. It is colored red by default.

It would be logical to assume that if we can specify a selection, then we can also specify a masked area. In Photoshop, you can literally paint a mask using any painting tool. Very often the mask is an indispensable selection tool. Take a look at the photo. Even the Magnetic Lasso and Magic Wand tools go crazy if you make them highlight a white shape on a white background. I suggest using a mask to select the girl's figure in the document. photo.jpg. To do this, you need to do the following:

The question arises: why did we do all this, if in the end everything is selected except what is needed? Then, now it is enough to invert the selection with the command Inverse menu Select to select the girl figurine. I want to note that masks are the shortest way to solve complex problems of selecting areas like this one.

The color and transparency of the created mask can be adjusted at your own discretion. To configure these parameters, just double-click on the button for switching to the quick mask mode.
The mask settings are for your convenience only. The color with which you mark the masked area does not affect the image, and the transparency changes only so that you can see what you cover with the mask. Consider the action of the switches in the section Color indicators(color indication). By default, the masked area is marked in red. This corresponds to the switch Masked areas(masked area). If you want the selection to be color coded, toggle the checkbox to (selection). Again, this is a matter of personal habits and convenience. Let's look at this setting with an example. Select a rectangular area in any image. Switch to quick mask mode by pressing or clicking on the corresponding icon on the tool palette. The following picture will appear in the document window:
Double-click the Quick Mask Mode icon. In the opened Quick Mask settings dialog box, in the Color Indicates section, switch the radio button to. The picture will instantly change and you will see the following:
Pay attention to the icon for switching to the quick mask mode. Depending on the setting, it changes its appearance, showing which setting is currently active. Once again, I insistently draw your attention to the fact that the mask and selection (masked area and selected area) are two sides of the same coin. Any area that is not selected is masked, and all unmasked area is selected. The above settings are for your convenience only.

I draw your attention to the fact that the mask is drawn in black, and erased with white or an eraser. All other colors in quick mask mode are displayed as grayscale (depending on their brightness). An interesting aspect is that the lighter the color (in grayscale), the more transparent the selection will be. In this case, the transparency will also be special, namely, the same as when executing the Feather command. Verify this as follows.

Gradient masks.

Let's try to get acquainted with the principle of creating gradient masks. As discussed above, a mask can add transparency to a selection. Let's use this to create a beautiful effect called a gradient mask. The meaning of this action lies in the possibility of creating a mask with any painting tool and in the peculiarities of interpreting the gray color that fills the mask as translucent. In other words, one image will be superimposed on another with gradient transparency... Let's carry out preparatory work with the drawing. My idea is to create a mirage in the form of an eagle's head dissolving in the clouds. Now let's move on to the second document and try to select the eagle's head for a reason, but through a gradient mask. For this:

In the lower right corner, I've pasted a part of the Flower.psd image from the Samples folder. This part also dissolves in a gradient into the background. To create this effect, I filled the quick mask with a linear gradient.