| Now down to the nitty gritty! Open a picture file, make sure the color reolution is set at 16.7 million colors. Now open your mask as well, make sure it is also set at 16.7 million colors. Here is a tip, I made a new folder in PSP called it masks,,I do not save my masks to the mask channel, but rather in this folder as gifs. OK now you have 2 images open, your mask and your picture. Set your mask aside, as it will never be active in this process, just needs to be on clipboard. Now with the picture active, add a new layer. Click on the Layers menu and choose New. For PSP6 and above users that will be a New Raster Layer. |
|
Layer Menu
|
|
In case you have never worked with layers, the next dialog box that pops up will be the Layer Properties Box. For now leave the settings at default,(where they are), then click OK. A new layer will be added to the image which is transparent for now. I am going to ask you to mess it up now! Choose a color from your foreground color box,try a bright color one for starters. Click on the Flood Fill tool in the Tool Palette and then click it on the image to fill the transparent layer with color. WHAT!?! OK so now you have a solid color picture,pretty boring and unimaginative, never fear, Mask is here! Next, click on Masks in the main menu and choose New, then from Image.
The resulting dialog box will be where you will find the Masks to choose from.
If you have only the mask and the picture open on your PSP desk, you will choose the mask. What if you have just made this mask? Well likely it will be Image 1. Keep the settings at default for now. Here is what your picture should look like if you have used the oval mask you just made.
Now the image still seems kind of plain , lets do some stuff. First you will need to save the Mask to Alpha Channel for later use. Here is a brief explanation of the Alpha Channel. It is used to save an image for only as long as you have PSP open. So you go from your top menu, Masks, Save to alpha channel.
In the resulting Save to Alpha dialog box choose the image, most likely Image 1 then click OK. In the resulting New Channel dialog box you can type a name for the channel or leave it as it is. Click OK and the Mask is saved in the Alpha for later use. |
