Topic awaiting preservation: Show Color Overlay for Masks?

If I create an adjustment layer and edit the mask, how can I display a color overlay in the same way as quick mask does?

Simon

It may well be me Simon, but I have read your question 2-3 times and I don't understand it. Soz

Ok, let me try again. If I go into Quick Mask mode and paint using a black brush, the areas I have painted over are shown by a 50% red color overlay (by default) - this makes it fairly easy to see what areas are masked. You can change the color and opacity of the overlay by double-clicking the Quick Mask icon.

Now, if I create, say, a curves adjustment layer, I can limit the area the curve applies to by painting on the associated mask. However, the only way I can tell where I've painted is by looking for the effect of the curve (or looking at the thumbnail of the mask). What I want is the same color overlay I got in Quick Mask mode. If I double-click on the mask icon in the layers pallette, I get the same option to change the color and opacity of the overlay, so I think it must be possible to display it! But how?

Simon

Yes you can. There are several tricks that you can do with the masks to make things easier:

If you hold shift and click a mask, it will temporarily disable it.

If you option+click (alt+click) the mask it will show the black and white mask just like a channel.

If you cmd+click (ctrl+click) the mask, it will generate a selection marquee based on the mask.

If you option+shift+click (alt+shift+click) the mask, it will cause it to behave as quick mask does by showing you the colors.

Any my personal favorite for using masks to cut out objects for compositing. Place the layer to be cut out over a background. Add a mask. Option+shift+click (alto+shift+click) then shift+click the mask. This makes the mask visable, but disables it, so that the layer you are masking doesn't vanish. The advantage to this is that you can draw the mask right up to the edge of objects and still know where they are. If you want to see how the mask looks, shift+click any time on the mask to toggle it on and off. Some combination of this is about the only way that I extract objects anymore.

Hope that answers your question.


It's only after we've lost everything...
That we're free to do anything...

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Hope that answers your question.

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It certainly does! I'm going to nail these instructions to the wall over my workstation.

Simon

Glad it helped. I know what you mean, the day I learned to control layer masks effectively was pretty much the same day I stopped using the erase tool altogether.


It's only after we've lost everything...
That we're free to do anything...