getting started with photoshop - Masks & its features (2)

Saving a mask selection

You can save any selection as a mask in a new or existing alpha channel.

To save a selection to a new channel with default options :

1. Select the area or areas of the image that you want to isolate.

2. Click the Save Selection button at the bottom of the Channels palette. A new channel appears, named according to the sequence in which it was created.

To save a selection to a new or existing channel:

1. Select the area or areas of the image that you want to isolate.

2. Choose Select > Save Selection.

3. Do the following in the Save Selection dialog box, and click OK:

• (Photoshop) Choose a destination image for the selection in the Document menu. By default, the selection is placed in a channel in your active image. You can choose to save the selection to a channel in another open image with the same pixel dimensions or to a new image.
• Choose a destination channel for the selection from the Channel pop-up menu. By default, the selection is saved in a new channel. You can choose to save the selection to any existing channel in the selected image or to a layer mask if the image contains layers.
• If you're saving the selection as a new channel, enter a name for the channel in the Name text box. In ImageReady, you can change the default channel name if desired.
• If you're saving the selection to an existing channel, select how to combine the selections: Replace Channel to replace the current selection in the channel; Add to Channel to add the selection to the current channel contents; Subtract from Channel to delete the selection from the channel contents; Intersect with Channel to keep the areas of the new selection that intersect with the channel contents.

In Photoshop, you can select the channel in the Channels palette to see the saved selection displayed in grayscale. A selection saved in ImageReady will appear in a new or existing channel in the Photoshop Channels palette.

Loading a selection into an image

You can reuse a previously saved selection by loading it into an image. In Photoshop, you can also load the selection into an image when you have finished modifying an alpha channel.

To load a saved selection using shortcuts :

Do one of the following in the Channels palette:

• Select the alpha channel, click the Load Selection button at the bottom of the palette, and then click the composite color channel near the top of the palette.
• Drag the channel containing the selection you want to load onto the Load Selection button.
• Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the channel containing the selection you want to load.
• To add the mask to an existing selection, press Ctrl+Shift (Windows) or Command+Shift (Mac OS), and click the channel.
• To subtract the mask from an existing selection, press Ctrl+Alt (Windows) or Command+Option (Mac OS), and click the channel.
• To load the intersection of the saved selection and an existing selection, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (Mac OS), and select the channel.

To load a saved selection into an image :

1. Choose Select > Load Selection. For Document, the active filename is selected.

2. For Channel, choose the channel containing the selection you want to load.

3. Click Invert to make the non-selected areas selected and vice versa.

4. If the destination image already has a selection, indicate how to combine the selections.

To load a saved selection into an image (ImageReady):

Choose Select > Load Selection, then choose an option from the submenu.

To load a selection from another image:

1. Open the two images you want to use.

Note: The images must have identical pixel dimensions.

2. Make the destination image active, and choose Select > Load Selection.

3. For Document, choose the source image.

4. For Channel, choose the channel containing the selection you want to use as a mask.

5. Click Invert if you want to make the non-selected areas selected and vice versa.

6. If the destination image already has a selection, indicate how to combine the selections.