Mount Revelstoke National Park
August 10th, 2008 by Don
Balsam Lake at the trail head in ‘Meadows in the Sky’ parkway. Located in Mount Revelstoke National Park
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What is a Selection Mask and How Do you Edit It?
June 29th, 2008 by Don
Adobe Photoshop software has many masking applications in its program. These masks allow you to make changes to the image you are working with and add various effects to certain areas of the image, without changing or adding the effect to the whole image. Experts liken masking to putting masking tape around your room when you paint to protect areas of the wall you don’t want to paint. Masking software in Photoshop works on the same idea.
Layer masks and selection masks are two popular masks used within Photoshop. Many people use layer masks exclusively, and they are certainly the most commonly used mask. Selection masks, however, are an important and under used part of the program. Instead of just masking and editing your layers, selection masks allow you to control the selections you make and elect to only edit or protect the parts of the image you have specifically selected.
One type of selection mask that is easy for new users to try out is a so-called “quick mask.” When using a quick mask, you can make selections on your image using your paintbrush tool or pencil tool instead of using your lasso tool, which can be unwieldy when working with small portions of an image.
To get started, select an image to work with, and open that image within your Photoshop program. Now, open your marquee tool and select part your image.
Now, it is time to open your quick mask tool. It is in your toolbox, near the bottom right side - it has a white circle on a gray background. When that is done, everything that you have not selected should turn red - make adjustments to your selection if necessary.
Now, it is time to open your pencil tool or paint brush tool; whichever you choose to use. With that open, change your foreground color to black in your tool box and draw around the image. This will make the mask larger while unselecting the image at the same time. This will give you a larger are to work with while get your mask to exactly the right size, without damaging anything around what you have selected. Now zoom into your masked area and change the foreground color to white. White will make your mask smaller and re-select your image. Using your pencil or paint brush again, carefully remove the edges of the mask that go outside your image and cover areas that you do not want to be covered. When you are satisfied that your mask is adequately covering what you it to cover, and not covering anything else, click the “standard mode” button in your tool box - right next to the quick mask button. This will seal your mask, and your image should be protected.
Some people prefer to change the way their quick mask works. If you want to change the setting, double click on the quick mask icon to open up a dialogue box. In here, you change the opacity of your mask. You can also change which area is highlighted in red when you first select your object - if you want your select to be highlighted, rather than everything NOT selected, then change the “color indicates” box from “masked areas” to “selected areas.”
There are plenty of other functions for selection masks, like alpha channels, but the quick mask will allow you to get used to using the utility and seeing how it best works for you. Like many Photoshop applications, it requires some trial and error to master it completely.
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Stay in Comic Book Character - How to Draw those Comic Balloons in Photoshop
June 22nd, 2008 by Don
Adobe Photoshop software is a dream come true for graphic artists and comic book artists. With the help of the software, even budding comic book artists can transfer their imaginations to paper (or screen) with relative ease, as long as they devote the time to getting to know the program. So, you have some comic book characters created and a story line in mind, and you know how to draw the characters, but how do you create those dialogue balloons to let you characters engage in witty banter? Drawing a basic comic dialogue balloon in Photoshop is not difficult and requires just a few steps.
To get started, first you will need the image of the character that will be doing the talking. You can use either a character you have drawn, or a pre-existing image to practice with. Whatever you choose, open the image within your Photoshop program. With the image open, create a new layer and title it “balloon” or something else easy for you to remember. Now, select that layer and with it open, open your “elliptical marquee” tool.
Using the elliptical marquee tool, draw the shape you want for your speech bubble; usually oval is the shape used by comic book artists, but this is your comic, and you can make the rules. Once you have drawn your balloon, which will look pixilated at this point, open your “lasso” tool. Use your lasso tool to draw the part of the balloon that extends to your character’s mouth and indicates the words are being said by that character. This part should connect the balloon itself.
Now you should have the outline of your comic balloon drawn, and it is time to fill it in with color. Open you “swatches” palette and choose the color you want the inside of your balloon to be. White is the most common choice, but you can pick whatever you like - just remember that text has to show up against this background. With your color selected, open you “paint bucket” tool and use it to completely fill your balloon with color.
At this point, you need to get rid of the outline of your comic balloon. Click “control” and “D” at the same time, and your balloon will be de-selected and the lines will disappear. Now, open your “layer palette” and select your balloon layer with the palette open. Turn on the “blending options.” A dialogue box should appear titled “layer styles.” Go to the “stroke” option box at the bottom and change the size to 1 pixel. The position should be set at “outside” and the blend to “normal” with an opacity setting of 100%. “Color” should be the “fill type”, and the color should be black. With these settings applied, you can close that dialogue box. Your comic balloon should now be outlined with a thin, solid, black line. If you don’t like the appearance of the line, you can change the weight of the line or the color.
Now, the balloon is ready to add your text. Simply select the balloon layer, open your “text tool” and type away. You can make adjustments to the text color, size, and font within that tool.
If you want your characters to be thinking instead of speaking, you can use these same tips to create comic thought balloon. When you open the elliptical marquee, draw a balloon that has a more cloud like appearance, instead of using a straight line, to create this effect.
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Pick Up That Pen Tool! Handy Device to Trace Images and Vectors
June 15th, 2008 by Don
Photoshop is a truly amazing art editing and creating software program that has applications too numerous to count. But it is this sheer scope of what a person can accomplish while using Photoshop that puts many people off. All of the bells and whistle that come with the program can be downright daunting, and many people fall into the habit of performing one or two “safe” tasks and never bothering to learn everything the program can do for them. The pen tool is one such aspect of the Photoshop program. The mere words strike fear into the hearts of many of a Photoshop user, but those who have mastered the tool swear there is no going back. Using the pen tool doesn’t have to be complicated; it simply takes some patience and practice.
For the uninitiated, the pen tool performs many of the same functions as the lasso tool - it can help you select portions of images for editing or help you crop images. But it can really do so much more for you. It can help you create real vector graphics, it makes perfect, sharp edges, and it can even allow to you “draw” freehand. To begin using the pen tool, first you should select it from the tool palette. From there, there will be several flyout options for you to choose from. First, you will find the Freeform Pen Tool, which is used for freeform drawing. Unless you have a steady hand and actually want to draw a picture, the lasso tool is better used than the freeform pen tool for selecting areas of graphics. Next, you will find the Add Anchor Point Tool, which, as the name suggests, allows you to add anchor points to already existing paths. The next tool is the Delete Anchor Point Tool, which is used to delete anchor points. The Convert Point Tool allows you to change the curves on paths by changing the direction of the lines, or remove the curves on a line (which you can do by clicking on an anchor point while using this tool). The Path Selection Tool lets you move entire paths, and the Direction Selection Tool allows you to move line sections and anchor points. To use these last two tools, you must select what you wish to move, and then drag it to the right spot.
To make using all of these applications easier, you should turn on the automatic add/delete function in the main menu. With this function turned on, when you place you curser over a path, it will automatically perform the function of the specific pen tool devise you are using. This allows you access all of the functions of the pen tool much easier.
How you use these tools will depend largely on the tasks you wish to complete. Some applications may be of no use to some users and indispensable to others. The only way to discover which functions of the pen tool will be most useful to you is to experiment with the pen and see what you can do. If you’re new to Photoshop, seek out the opinions of other people in your field about which pen tool utilities are the best. The only thing to do then is practice, practice, practice. Many seasoned Photoshop pros liken learning to use the pen tool to learning to ride a bike or driver - it takes some learning and practice, but once you have it down, it become second nature. Buckle down and give the pen tool a whirl, and soon you’ll be creating vectors and images with the best of them!
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