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Posted on 06/01/06 8:02:30 PM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply  |
No comprede
Steve, Am working slowly through the book and, so far, lit on two queries. P53 Psion and hand. Why use a layer mask if you can cut out the object and put it on a new layer? You refer to the shadow of the psion and hand using '..the target layer as clipping mask'. What do you mean and how do you tell PS what you mean? P346. Picture 7/8/9 I got lost in the process of expansion and inversion. If you expanded the selection then inversed and filled with white how is the original selection unchanged when, in picture 7, you expanded it? If you want to avoid white outlines why fill the inverted space with white when you could save the selection for future use on a transparent background? PS: I really love the book. Its one of the few Christmas presents I have specifically asked for. |
Posted on 07/01/06 11:00:32 AM |
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rufus
Destructive Demon Posts: 243 Reply  |
Re: No comprede
There are various ways of achieving the same effect in Photoshop, I think that Steve was using this technique to illustrate the layer mask method, this is also easier in this case as mistakes can easily be rectified by painting with white. Subtle edges can also be achieved by painting in grey or using a soft low opacity brush. I too have been confused by some of the terminology, apparently Adobe change this regularly. As far as the shadows go, add a new layer above the psion and paint in your shadow. You will notice that it also covers the hand, to prevent this, 'clip' the shadow layer by Alt-clicking on the dividing line between the psion and shadow layers when the cursor changes shape. This was previously called grouping and the shortcut is Alt+Ctrl+G with the upper layer active. Repeat with the hand layer. I can't help you with P346 as I only have issue 2 of the book, although it may appear on a different page in mine as P53 did. If you describe it more fully I will try. rufus |
Posted on 07/01/06 12:29:14 PM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply |
Re: No comprede
Thanks Rufus, I tried that and Lo! it worked. I have been using PS for some years from Elements to PS7 and there are some bits I haven't used or even seen yet... and that was one of them. I did look up 'Alt-click' 'Grouping' and 'Which button do I press to achieve this?' in the Index but to no avail. P346 is in Steve's section on time saving techniques entitled "Avoiding white outlines" Thanks for your help Ted |
Posted on 07/01/06 2:16:36 PM |
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rufus
Destructive Demon Posts: 243 Reply |
Re: No comprede
I think that Steve is saying that the selection in step 4 will pick up a little of the new background colour (white) around the edge. By expanding the original selection (in step 3) using Select/Modify/Expand/1 pixel, a little of the original background is included with the statue before the background is filled with white and saved. In step 10, when the original path is turned into a selection, this is 1 pixel smaller and it picks up a little of the background edge instead of white. This overcomes the problem of not being able to save an image with a transparent background in jpeg, by using a path which can be saved. Phew! |
Posted on 07/01/06 5:04:11 PM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply |
Re: No comprede
GOTCHA! Having made your original selection - save that - THEN expand by one pixel> inverse>fill with white. Having now reread the book after your explanation I understand what is meant but it still doesn't read as you explained it. Perhaps Steve might clear it up for me. I must say I hadn't considered that of not being able to save a transparent layer in JPEG. Usually if I make a cutout then either I use it straight away or save it as a PSD file on the HD or CD. Thanks again for the info. Ted |
Posted on 07/01/06 5:46:32 PM |
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rufus
Destructive Demon Posts: 243 Reply |
Re: No comprede
Glad you understand it better now Ted, it provided me with some light relief from filling in my tax return -- thank heavens that's over for another year! rufus |
Posted on 09/01/06 2:16:14 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply  |
Re: No comprede
Ted, As Rufus has explained, you can't save transparency within a JPEG file. So unless you want to save all your cutouts as TIFF or PSD documents, which will greatly increase the file size, this is the solution. The process explains how to first define your clipping path, then expand by 1 pixel - which makes a cutout that's 1 pixel larger than your clipping path. You don't, of course, need to then inverse and delete the area outside the cutout, but it makes it a lot easier to recognise and work with if you do. When you next come to use this image, loading the clipping path will now not produce the white fringeing previously found in cutouts. Does this help? |
Posted on 09/01/06 9:38:54 PM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply |
Re: No comprede
Thanks Steve. I re-read the book with proper glasses this time. What I had read but not taken in was (p346 picture 2) 'So we'll save the path..' (theres even a picture of the save path dialogue - Doh!) Then when you next turn the path into a selection to expand by 1 pixel (picture 7) the original path still exists. As I wrote to rufus I had forgotten (senior moment) that Jpegs don't save with transparency. So much to learn..so little time... then its CS3! Ted |