How do you turn any picture/image into a mask in PS?

[dolphincrazy]

Hi

Is there a way on turning any picture/image into a mask in PS?

I have looked for a tutorial in YouTube & Google search but can not seem to find one?

Help, thanks in advance!

Julie

[davescm]

Hi

1. Make the picture you want to see as the mask visible (i.e. turn on layers as required)

2. Ctrl+ Click (Cmd+Click on Mac) on the RGB channel in the Channels panel to load the image as a selection

3. Go to the layer you want to mask and use Layer >Layer Mask>Reveal selection (or hide selection) as appropriate.

If adding an adjustment layer then adding it after step 2, once the selection is made, will automatically add the mask

Dave

[dolphincrazy]

Hi Dave

Thank you so much for your reply & help, its much appreciated!

Ok this is the picture I took myself & I would like to turn into a mask to use in Photoshop as follows:

Do I just make it greyscale & then save it as a jpg to then use as I would a mask?

Thanks & I will await your reply!

Julie

[davescm]

No need to make it grayscale - just open it as a layer in the document - make the mask using the steps above then turn the layer visibility off (or delete the layer if you will not use it again).

Dave

[c.pfaffenbichler]

save it as a jpg

Why would you degrade the image without necessity?

jpg employs lossy compression and therefore damages images.

What do you want to do with the Mask?

And have you read davescm ’s post? At no point did he mention converting the whole image to grayscale.

[dolphincrazy]

Thank you so much to you both: davescm & c.pfaffenbichler, much appreciated.

I will give this ago.

Thanks for the tip as I did not know that:

jpg employs lossy compression and therefore damaged images.

Julie

[Norman Sanders]

Consider this, as well:

1. Open the image

2. Select > All followed by Edit > Copy

3. Add a mask by clicking on the Mask symbol at the bottom of the Layers panel

4. Option-click on the mask. The image area becomes white.

5. Edit > Paste.  Done.

[dolphincrazy]

Thank you norman.sanders

[Norman Sanders · Accepted solution]

You're welcome, Julie. Here is an example of using an image as a mask in order deal with an extreme luminance range. It was a technique that was used before the HDR feature was added to Photoshop and it still comes in handy now and then.

The top pair are original images; one to capture the low end of the luminance scale, the other to capture the high end.

As the Layers panel shows, the images where stacked in register, then bottom image was used as the basis for a mask that was applied to the top image.

Important: When this technique is used, the final step is to blur the mask slightly to blend the images more effectively.

[dolphincrazy]

Hi norman.sanders & c.pfaffenbichler                 

Thank you to you both for your kind reply's!

I am quite new to Photoshop only been using it since beginning of year so have lots to learn/understand etc lol.

I am not quite sure what you both mean, so sorry!

Julie

[c.pfaffenbichler]

What exactly do you want to mask with the image?

Please post a screenshot of the file open in Photoshop including the Layers Panel.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

By alt-click-dragginging one can split the Blend if-handle (in this case the white one for »This Layer«).

[dolphincrazy]

Thanks c.pfaffenbichler
I am new to this so I will need to look into this more, I am a newbie lol.

Julie

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Good for you that you are willing to learn.

I would say the method I showed is more complicated than norman.sanders ’s and the advantages it offers may not be worth the trouble in many cases.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

One option to use a full color image as a mask is to use its Blend if settings and Clipping Mask another image to a Group containing it.

That way one can still use Adjustment Layers (inside a Smart Object or on the Layer).