Layer mask does not allow painting...

Question

I suppose this is an easy one, but still I didn't find a quick answer.

My colleague has the problem that when she want's to paint a layer mask, it stays locked until she clicks it visible in the channels.

This is not the behaviour we are used too and it is not the behaviour or my Photoshop.

Photoshop CC 2017.1.1 20170425.r.252 on Windows 7 SP 1.

PAWU · Accepted Answer

Apparently you have difficulties describing what is going on, so please post

• screenshot (including all pertinent Panels) of the image before

• and after you performed a Brush Stroke.

And make sure the Foreground Colour makes sense – painting white on white makes no difference naturally.

Edit: With most Blend Modes that is, with a few it does indeed make a difference.

The problem description was quite clear. To paint on "layer 0" - mask (Layer's palette) you needed first to toggle visibility of the "Layer 0 Mask" (channel's palette).

Nobody was painting white on white, black on black or on the wrong layers (ie picture instead of mask).

Resetting the preferences as described here (Preferences in Photoshop) solved the problem. But the cause of this is still unclear, as my colleague does not know how to fiddle the preferences except through the Photoshop interface.

bzareenk · Answer

Are you sure you're working on the Layer Mask? If you're planning on using a layer mask but notice that you're painting black or white all over the canvas, you've probably forgotten to select the mask. This is a simple mistake that anyone can make because often we just select the actual layer to work on it.

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