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jetcode
23-Apr-2008, 14:39
does anyone know a simple way to take two masks of the same subject and combine them to make a single mask?

Anupam
23-Apr-2008, 15:10
Command-click on mask 1 to load mask as selection.
Ctrl-click on mask 2 and choose intersect mask as selection and so forth.
Finally create new mask.

jetcode
23-Apr-2008, 15:15
Command-click on mask 1 to load mask as selection.
Ctrl-click on mask 2 and choose intersect mask as selection and so forth.
Finally create new mask.

I didn't know about intersect, I just did it by selecting, inverting color, copying, and pasting into the target mask, I will check it out, thanks

Daniel_Buck
23-Apr-2008, 15:16
or if you have two masks that you want to edit seperatly, you can put your curves layer (or whatever you have) into a folder. Then you can have a mask on your folder, and on your other layer inside the folder. Whatever is in the folder gets passed through the folder mask, but it goes through the layer mask first. This is quite handy if you want to put a gradient mask on your curves layer (or whatever) but then be able to paint an additional mask and still have the ability to put a different gradient on the curves. Just put a gradient in the mask of the curves, then do your painted masks on the folder :) (for say, excluding or excluding a part of the image from the gradient curve)

layer masks are great :)

jetcode
23-Apr-2008, 16:01
or if you have two masks that you want to edit seperatly, you can put your curves layer (or whatever you have) into a folder. Then you can have a mask on your folder, and on your other layer inside the folder. Whatever is in the folder gets passed through the folder mask, but it goes through the layer mask first. This is quite handy if you want to put a gradient mask on your curves layer (or whatever) but then be able to paint an additional mask and still have the ability to put a different gradient on the curves. Just put a gradient in the mask of the curves, then do your painted masks on the folder :) (for say, excluding or excluding a part of the image from the gradient curve)

layer masks are great :)

thanks daniel

Gordon Moat
23-Apr-2008, 16:07
If you save your selection as a Channel, and then save another selection as a Channel, then that gives you another few ways to combine those. You can then use Calculations from the drop down menu to create another Channel from those. The result can then be used to create a selection area or mask as needed, and can also be duplicated from one document to the next. There are at least three other methods of using selections as Channels to get a similar result. This is possible in all versions of PhotoShop after 3.0.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

jetcode
23-Apr-2008, 16:35
thanks gordon, I just found out that combining to make a selection from a series of masks is not what I am after, but rather compositing a series of masks to isolate a different area of the image

Gordon Moat
23-Apr-2008, 19:31
Joe, using Calculation, you can combine Channels much as you would Layers, including using Difference, Exclusion, Screen, Overlay, etc. when combining Channels. Also, using either the Shift or Option key, in combination with the Command key while clicking on a Channel, will add or subtract areas from each Channel to result in a different selection. Any selection or mask can be saved as a Channel, up to 99 total Channels; this means a very diverse set of selections could be combined into new Channels, or even used in combination to create custom selections. The added benefits are that it is there any time you want to open the file in the future, and you can duplicate Channels across files.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)