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Peter G Millward
Inspiring
September 6, 2022
Question

Properties Panel

  • September 6, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 2046 views

I was checking a YouTube video on masking difficulties. I was instructed to "select subject" and then "select and mask". It hink a mask was created, but it seemed as if the mask was a slightly transparent layer. The Properties panel didn't look like my properties panel at all (see attachments of my Properties panel, my Layers panel, the Properties panel from the video), and my photo file was no longer a file I could adjust. I couldn't go back in the history panel. And the layers panel was very unfamiliar. Almost all my menus bcame greyed out. And I was unable to continue following any instructions in the video. I started this procedure from the beginning several times with no luck at all. Can anyone help?
I'm reallly trying to find a way to mask hair, but nothing seems to work for my in all the videos I've tried.

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3 replies

PECourtejoie
Community Expert
PECourtejoieCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 7, 2022

Hi, in the future, post a link to the tutorial, and full screen captures, not cropped ones.

jane-e
Community Expert
jane-eCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 6, 2022

 

@Peter G Millward wrote:

The Properties panel didn't look like my properties panel at all (see attachments of my Properties panel, my Layers panel, the Properties panel from the video)

 

The Properties panel changes depending on what is selected.

  • In your third image, your layer is selected, and the first image show Properties for a pixel image.
  • Your second image appears to be Properties for the mask at 66% opacity.

Try selecting first the mask, then the image and watch the Properties panel change. When you paint, be sure you are on the mask.

 

In addition to Select Subject, also try the Object Selection tool.

 

Look at the videos from Jesús and Colin for selecting hair.

 

Adobe

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-to/select-hair.html

 

Colin:

https://photoshopcafe.com/use-newest-photoshop-features-easily-cut-select-hair/

 

Jesús:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV1DAf5cYXE

 

    P
    Peter G MillwardAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 6, 2022

    Thank you for your suggestions, jane-e. But once I've done the "select and mask", I can't do anything more. I can't select the layer mask. I can't even undo anything or go back in history.

    P
    Peter G MillwardAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 6, 2022

    It sounds like you arent completely exiting Select and Mask properties box.

    Are you clicking OK when you are finished adjusting your mask in the dialog box?

     


    I've reset the preferences as suggested, and I've quit and re-opened Photoshop. And there's no dialog / properties box for mask adjustment. I can't adjust the mask at all.

     

    Kevin Stohlmeyer
    Community Expert
    Kevin StohlmeyerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 6, 2022

    Your opacity is only 66%. Increase it back to 100.

    Masks work on the basis of black and white - black conceals, white reveals.

    When you have a level of gray less than 100% black, it leads to transparency.

     

    Here is a good basic tutorial that may be more helpful than a YouTube video:

    https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-to/layer-mask.html

     

    and here is one on Hair Masking:

    https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-to/select-mask-hair.html

     

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      Peter G MillwardAuthor
      Inspiring
      September 6, 2022

      Kevin Stohlmeyer:
      Thank you for your reply. What is the opacity I'm supposed to change to 100%? After I click "select and mask", a new layer is created in the layers panel for me, replacing the original background layer. There's a mask there, I guess, but it loooks like a ghosted layer, not the black mask that I'm used to.
      And I'm no longer able to change anything in that Photoshop file. The history panel doesn't allow me to go back or undo anything, and I have to close the file and start over again. And the Properties panel doesn't look anything like the one the YouTube video instructor has on display.
      In the Hair Masking video that you linked to, again my Properties panel doesn't look like the one there. Is that what appears on a Windows PC?
      Once I've used "select and mask" Nothing is open to me to change. If I try to select the maks, I just get a bell/gong sound but I can't select the mask or change its opacity. Can you tell me why this is happening?

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