On 10/24/2012 01:44 PM, Jim Clark wrote: > Wow-- > > I will save this. Incredibly clear and detailed--I have never rally > understood those masks. Still don't, but am sure closer!
Hey Jim, Glad it makes sense to you! I have saved it and I will probably do an illustrated version for my website sometime soon. Figuring out how to use layer masks is one of the real "breakthroughs" that make the GIMP a powerful tool. I have been using the GIMP for around 10 years, but I still remember how difficult it was for me to wrap my brain around what masks can do. You can: * Make templates that enable you to quickly and easily create lots of different versions of an image, i.e. with different colorization as in the present example, or as frames that smaller images will appear in, etc. * "Remove" part of a layer, spend a half hour working on the image, then "undo" an error you just found in your removal by painting a little white on the corresponding part of the layer's mask. I almost never use the "Eraser" tool - if you have to go back and undo it, you lose all the work you did after using the Eraser. * You can "paint with any filter" by applying filters and effects to a copied layer, adding a black mask to make the altered layer vanish, then painting the mask with white to make the changes come back only where you want them in the visible image. (Or vice versa: Paint black on a white mask to wipe away the filter effect where you don't want to see it.) I find this method especially useful when working on portrait shots. * Isolate under-exposed elements from over-exposed elements in photographs, by making a layer copy and masking out the under- exposed part of the top layer. Then you can adjust the brightness and colors of the bright and dark parts of the picture separately. If the contrast between over- and under-exposed areas is strong enough, you can use the Threshold tool on a throw-away layer to create a nearly perfect mask in seconds, that would have taken a LONG time to paint by hand - some call this "finding the natural mask." * Use a black/white gradient on a layer mask to give the layer a smooth transition from visible to invisible. This sometimes comes in handy when processing flash photographs, i.e. a line of people on a stage where those at the near end are fully exposed and those at the far end are under-exposed. ... and a whole lot more. :o) Steve _______________________________________________ gimp-user-list mailing list [email protected] https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user-list
