Combining Images II

page two
Once the apple had been dropped onto the snake, I pressed Alt and double-clicked the new apple layer in the Layers palette (it should have the default name of Layer 1). I named the layer ‘Apple’, and chose yellow for its color.
     With the apple layer selected, I chose Layer > Add Layer Mask > Reveal All. This creates a layer mask for the apple’s layer, but masks nothing. If Hide All had been selected, the entire layer would have been masked.
layers palette showing mask in edit mode
The mask will be in edit mode since it was just created. If you have clicked on another layer, or somehow made it not in edit mode, click on the mask’s thumbnail to select the mask and put it back in edit mode. You can tell if it is selected as it will have a double line outlining the thumbnail, and the mask icon will show in the edit column on the left side of its layer.		 next
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Displacing Textures 		Make sure the default colors are chosen by clicking the default colors icon in the toolbox, or by pressing D on your keyboard. This makes white the foreground color, and black the background color (the reverse of the default colors in image edit mode). Press the X key to make black the foreground color.
     Choose the paintbrush tool in the toolbox. Make sure its opacity is set to 100 % in its options bar. Choose a brush from the top row of the brushes pop-up palette in the options bar.
      I painted with black over the apple in areas where I wanted it hidden, and the snake showing. You can see a close-up, below, of the black being applied. You don’t see black, you simply see the revealed snake. The black adds to the mask, preventing the apple from showing wherever it is applied.
      If you paint too much, you can remove the mask by painting with white. Click the switch color icon in the toolbox, or press the X key on the keyboard to switch foreground and background colors. Press X again to switch back to black.
     A layer mask affects only the layer it is applied to. Therefore, the snake layer, which lies below the apple layer is not masked, but the apple is.
     One of the nice things about layer masks is that the masked portion of the apple is still there. If you change your mind about how much or how little of the apple you want to be obscured by the snake, you can edit the mask, or move the apple itself to a new position. You can then edit the mask with black and white to cover the apple in its new location.
Continue on page three		  
 

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Copyright © 2004 by Jay Arraich.
All rights reserved.
All photographs copyright ©2004 by Jay Arraich
jay@arraich.com
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