{"id":19889,"date":"2018-08-18T10:58:48","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T14:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/?p=19889"},"modified":"2018-08-18T10:58:48","modified_gmt":"2018-08-18T14:58:48","slug":"choose-photoshop-mask-color-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Choose Which Photoshop Mask Color To Start With"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20170206_ANT_yalourislands<\/p>\n

Image before selective adjustment.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"20170206_ANT_yalourislands<\/p>\n

Image\u00a0after selective adjustment (dodging).<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Mask\"<\/p>\n

It takes fewer white strokes than black strokes to make this mask.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"20170206_ANT_yalourislands<\/p>\n

So, instead of starting with a white mask, start with a black mask.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"LayerStack_425\"<\/p>\n

The layer stack.<\/em><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re making masks in Photoshop, you can get the job done more quickly and easily by starting with the right color mask. When you make a mask, you can start with one of two colors \u2013 white or black. What\u2019s the difference? A white mask shows everything on a layer as if it were at 100% opacity. A black mask hides everything on a layer as if it were at 0% opacity.
\nSo use this simple strategy when you\u2019re brushing in image adjustments with masks.
\nIf you want to affect most of the image, start with a white mask and add a few black brush strokes to reduce the effect in smaller areas.
\nIf you want to affect just a few areas of an image, start with a black mask and add a few white brush strokes to show the effect in only the areas you paint on.
\nFor even more control, you can vary the opacity of the brush strokes you make to reveal or reduce effects partially. (Keep the Opacity of the layer being masked at 100% and then you can make the opacity of different areas vary based on the brush strokes you make.)
\nHow do you make choose the color of the mask when you make it?
\nYou can get a white mask when you target a layer and go to the menu Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Or, simply click the mask icon at the bottom of the layers palette.
\nAlternately, you can get a black mask when you target a layer and go to the menu Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All. Or, hold the option\/alt key before you click the mask icon at the bottom of the layers palette.
\nA mask is automatically created when you make an adjustment layer. By default an adjustment layer mask is white. If you want to start with at black mask instead, hold the option\/alt key before you make an adjustment layer.
\nTo make masking even more efficient, you can start with a simple selection (made with any selection tool, including the Lasso, Marquee, Magic Wand, or Quick Selection tools) and then, while the selection is still active, make a mask. If you do this, the selected areas will appear in white and everything else will be blacked out on the mask. You can then brush the mask to refine it further.
\nBut wait, there\u2019s more! Remember, you can always invert a mask (making black white and vice versa) by going to the menu Image > Adjustments > Invert or pressing the keys Command I. So if you forget to start with the right color mask, just invert it.
\nThese simple techniques will save you a great deal of time.
\nRead more about masking\u00a0here.<\/strong><\/a><\/span>
\nView more in my DVD Drawing With Light.<\/a><\/strong><\/span>
\nLearn more in my digital photography\u00a0and digital printing workshops.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image before selective adjustment. Image\u00a0after selective adjustment (dodging). It takes fewer white strokes than black strokes to make this mask. So, instead of starting with a white mask, start with a black mask. The layer stack. When you\u2019re making masks in Photoshop, you can get…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[2725],"tags":[136,3779,3765,245,248,141],"post_folder":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Choose Which Photoshop Mask Color To Start With - John Paul Caponigro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Choose Which Photoshop Mask Color To Start With - John Paul Caponigro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Image before selective adjustment. Image\u00a0after selective adjustment (dodging). It takes fewer white strokes than black strokes to make this mask. So, instead of starting with a white mask, start with a black mask. The layer stack. When you\u2019re making masks in Photoshop, you can get...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Paul Caponigro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-18T14:58:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/20170206_ANT_yalourislands-_190_B_425.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"johnpaulcaponigro\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How To Choose Which Photoshop Mask Color To Start With - John Paul Caponigro","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How To Choose Which Photoshop Mask Color To Start With - John Paul Caponigro","og_description":"Image before selective adjustment. Image\u00a0after selective adjustment (dodging). It takes fewer white strokes than black strokes to make this mask. So, instead of starting with a white mask, start with a black mask. The layer stack. When you\u2019re making masks in Photoshop, you can get...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/","og_site_name":"John Paul Caponigro","article_published_time":"2018-08-18T14:58:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/20170206_ANT_yalourislands-_190_B_425.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"johnpaulcaponigro","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/","name":"John Paul Caponigro","description":"Illuminating Creativity","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/20170206_ANT_yalourislands-_190_B_425.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/20170206_ANT_yalourislands-_190_B_425.jpg","width":425,"height":361},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/","name":"How To Choose Which Photoshop Mask Color To Start With - John Paul Caponigro","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-08-18T14:58:48+00:00","dateModified":"2018-08-18T14:58:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/858a1050968a36008905f1980aae47b0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/19889\/choose-photoshop-mask-color-start\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How To Choose Which Photoshop Mask Color To Start With"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/858a1050968a36008905f1980aae47b0","name":"johnpaulcaponigro","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/309d46e93fff33337943899d8f3269cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/309d46e93fff33337943899d8f3269cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"johnpaulcaponigro"},"url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/author\/johnpaulcaponigro\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19889"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19889"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=19889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}