Mask Tutorial 1

With so many versions of PSP being used around the world
The graphic community has needed to find ways of sharing recourses that are cross version and JPG Masks are one of its hidden gems.

Not just a pretty faded background any longer, masks can be turned into many wondrous things, page layouts, overlays and graphic designs in their own right

Here I will attempt to show you a couple of things I like to do with them

Overlays 1 basic overlay

1 Open a new image I’m going to size mine at 800 x800 which would be a good size for a background paper for a tag or taggers kit

2 Flood fill with the colour of your choice mine is a nice lilac

3 New layer flood fill with black or the next dark grey colour down from black

4 On the top menu bar go to Layers - Load/Save Mask - Load mask from Disk



5 choose a nice fading edge mask



6 * note: for this we need to use the mask in the opposite way to what you would normally so make sure you invert the mask if all the black is at the edge if you click the little box under the preview you will get a better idea of how the opacity looks



7 Apply the mask

8 In your layer palette click on the mask layer and delete it then merge the group

9 Highlight your masked layer and either lower the opacity so you get a nice blended edging or play about with the layer blends till you get an edge effect you like.. then merge your layers and save your image

heres mine I just lowered the opacity



now you can go further with this by using some flower or swirl brushes in the corners
or using a filter to add some stains and lines to make it look older. or you could try adding noise or trying some of the artistic effects that PSP has like chalk or pencil.

i hope i made this easy enough to understand if not leave me a comment and ill try to make it better

if you enjoyed this tut leave a hug.