Layer mask alters Colors

Hey!
If I
Start a new Photoshop-File in RGB-Mode
Create a new layer and fill it with RGB = (8,8,8)
Add a Mask
Copy the (8,8,8) Color (strg +a, strg +c), and paste it into the layer mask (alt + click, strg + v)
What I get is not a (8,8,8)-plain-color in the mask, but a dithered image with (7,7,7) and (9,9,9).
Can anyone explain this strange behaviour to me? Is it only a bug in my version (CS6 13.0.1)?
Bonus Question:
Considering this strange behaviour: How can i turn an image exactly into a layer Mask?

It's the way Photoshop works. Copying RGB then pasting into a single channel such as a mask or alpha channel will involve a conversion from document RGB profile to grayscale working space profile (as defined in Edit > Color Settings).
If a doc has sRGB profile and grayscale working space is sGray, or doc has Adobe RGB profile and grayscale working space is Gamma 2.2, then gray RGB values will copy and paste into a mask without change in value.
In any case, if you copy a single colour channel, say R, then that can be pasted into a mask and the values will not change.

Similar Messages

Bug report: [layer mask] editing colors

Sometimes it appears that the white/black color combination that is automatically selected in layer mask editing may override the selected color combination outside of layer mask editing.
Example:
1) Open Photoshop.
2) Select two colors: white/white.
3) Create two blank documents, each with an empty Layer 1.
4) In one document, add a layer mask to Layer 1. The colors should have been automatically switched to black/white as the layer mask is selected.
5) In this document, use the gradient tool to fill the layer mask with black/white.
6) Switch to the other document, and notice that the color selection is again white/white.
7) In this other document, use the gradient tool to fill Layer 1. Notice that the layer is filled with black/white instead of white/white as selected.
Tested on: PS CS6, Windows 7, 64-bit.

On further testing I think the issue may not be directly related to layer masks at all.
Basically the issue is that the Gradient tool colors don't update to the 'default foreground/background colors' in cases where it seems that they should.
One example of such a case (as illustrated in the original post) is when the Gradient tool keeps the black/white color combo used for a layer mask in a previous document after switching to the current document where a non-masked layer is targeted and the default fg/bg colors have correctly reverted to white/white.
Example:
layer mask targeted in doc1 - notice synchronised Gradient and default fg/bg colors
after switching to non-masked layer in doc2, Gradient is still black/white although default fg/bg colors have reverted appropriately to white/white
Bug or not, it's something I wanted to point out as it seems inconsistent.

Layer Mask not revealing the right colors

Hi I am new to Photoshop CS6, and photoshop in general. I am trying to take a color photograph, turn it to black and white, and reveal a flower in color and the rest is still black and white.
I thought I had done this properly when I added a new "adjustment layer, hue/saturation", reduced saturization to zero, and painted the yellow flower over with black to reveal the yellow flower's color while the rest of the photo is still black and white. And it worked..except when I got to the green stem of the flower. Painting over that with black revealed a yellowish-green stem.
I experimented a little more by painting black on the new layer mask and most of the rest of the color photo comes out wrong. The blue sky shows up like a weird smurf blue, faces are oddly peach/orange and most colors look much different than the originial photo. Yellow seems to be not affected, magenta/pink seems to be OK and blue shows up so-so. But the rest of the colors are messed up.
I know this must be something very basic, but why are the colors showing up odd?
Thanks

Sounds like you did the right stuff. You should expect to see the colors revealed where the mask is made black. I might have used a Black & White adjustment layer rather than Hue/Saturation, as that would give you more control over the grayscale part of the result, but the technique with the mask should be the same.
Any chance you could take a snapshot of your screen, save as a JPEG, and paste it here? That will help avoid a whole lot of questions.
I noticed your screen name... I live in "bokeh". The weather has turned nice down here after Sandy passed by, eh?
-Noel

Colored texture pasting as black and white into a layer mask

Hello all,
First time poster, long time lurker here.
I'm pasting a colored layer into a layer mask I created in order to texturize a shape I made. Whenever I Option + Click the layer mask and then paste the texture, it pastes in black and white instead of color, see screen capture below (pardon the watermark):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC8Da4V0FAc
Am I missing something here? Thanks in advance!

If you want to add a texture to a shape, create a new layer, fill it with your texture, then ALT+click their separation line in the layers panel.
This creates a what is called a Clipping Mask: http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/revealing-layers-clipping-masks.html.

Can anybody say why In the layer menu the background color is white when opening a layer mask, and why does it automatically turns black by simply opening the layer mask properties menu? The vector mask is white anyway.

Can anybody say why In the layer menu, the background color is white when opening a layer mask, and why does it automatically turns black by simply opening the layer mask properties menu? The vector mask is white anyway.

Topic or subject titles should be clear, pertinent and concise so that individual users can tell at a glance if they can help or not.
That field is not for attempting to fit your entire question in there.
Please keep this in mind next time you post. Thank you.
A lot more information about your hardware and software is needed.
BOILERPLATE TEXT:
If you give complete and detailed information about your setup and the issue at hand,
such as your platform (Mac or Win),
exact versions of your OS, of Photoshop (not just "CC", but something like CC2014.v.2.2) and of Bridge,
your settings in Photoshop > Preference > Performance
the type of file you were working on,
machine specs, such as total installed RAM, scratch file HDs, total available HD space, video card specs, including total VRAM installed,
what troubleshooting steps you have taken so far,
what error message(s) you receive,
if having issues opening raw files also the exact camera make and model that generated them,
if you're having printing issues, indicate the exact make and model of your printer, paper size, image dimensions in pixels (so many pixels wide by so many pixels high). if going through a RIP, specify that too.
a screen shot of your settings or of the image could be very helpful too,
etc.,
someone may be able to help you (not necessarily this poster, who is not a Windows user).
Please read this FAQ for advice on how to ask your questions correctly for quicker and better answers:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/419981?tstart=0
Thanks!

Bug? color profiles appear to be affecting layer masks

Hello,
I am wondering whether I should file the following as a bug?
We are using color profiles that adjust the white point. When these color profiles are applied to the image we cannot properly paint into layer masks because we cannot access "pure white". The brightest white we can paint with is a form of grey (aka, we cannot paint back full opacity in a layer mask). This shows up in the color "chips" as only allowing the brightest value to be a light grey. The only way to get around this is to turn off our color profile, paint pure white, and then reapply the color profile (which confirms my understanding that "pure white" is supported by the mask channel when a color profile is applied, we just cannot paint it that value when the profile is applied).
As far as I can imagine, color profiles shouldn't be applied to scalar channels like a mask channel, right?
This affects CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS6

Ok, I did one more test to see whether I can use the eye dropper tool to select a "pure white" color even if the color picker does not let me do that. It turns out that I can.
So that is a work around... I am simply going to have to have an adjustment layer at the top of my layer pallette (but turned off) that has an all white mask. Even when it is turned off, I can simply select it, use the eye dropper tool to pick a pure white, and then return to my mask channel of choice and paint in full opacity.
In the mean time, I think the fact that the color profile still affects the color picker when a mask layer is active might be considered a bug. I'll probably report it as such.

What do you do when painting on a layer mask with the correct color dosen't work?

I have been trying to do some compositing but when i paint with white on a black layer mask or black on a white layer mask, NOTHING HAPPENS. What should I be looking for? Is there an adjustment that needs to be set a certain way? I would also like to know how you open multiple images in one document with each image on it's own layer. Thanks...

Everything is set correctly... still nothing.
I want to use a texture and an image. I have them both in the same document, but the only way to get the texture to allow the image to show through is to reduce the opacity. That's not the look I want. I tried clipping the two different images together, but then I could only see the photo itself and no texture. I just don't understand why when I set things correctly they don't work.
One other question if I may? Everything, all of a sudden is opening in Preview instead of with PS as it has always been in the past. I don't recall changing any settings. What should I look for to make PS my default...
Oh and one more thing. When I click on Safari photoshop goes missing and Safari shows. If I click on photoshop then Safari goes missing. This is INCREDIBLY annoying and I don't know why it's doing that. Both these things started at the same time. I'm on a Mac.

Banding in the Layer Mask?

Hello,
I have:
Windows Xp Service Pack 3
4GB RAM
Geforce 560ti
PS CS5 extended
I am a photographer and submit the images to an agency.They inspect images at 100% for technical quality.
While preparing an image today, I used a layer mask in the levels adjustment.I used brush with 0% hardness and just clicked once with black color selected.But I found some severe banding.I alter clicked on the layer mask and found the same banding at 100%.I have not noticed such a thing till date.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/42878955/1.jpg
I did try copy pasting the layer mask to show it to you guys, but when I saved it as jpeg and viewed the jpeg file, there was no banding.However I can see the banding even if view the jpeg of the image above.I tried on another images too but the same problem.It used to be very smooth before.Have made no changes to the default settings.Tried with both OpenGL on and off.
Why does this happen?

Noel Carboni wrote:
c.pfaffenbichler wrote:
When I set 16 bit in Camera Raw from the beginning and then opened in PS in 16 bit, and then did the same processing, I see the banding till I zoom in to 50% but not onwards 66.67%.
So at Actual Pixels the problem is not visible in 16bit?
Just FYI, layer combination for the Photoshop preview display is done for zoomed out levels in 8 bits, to optimize for speed, regardless of whether you're working in 16 bits/channel, unless you have the Cache Levels preference set to 1.
Further info: at least with my GPU, layer combinations in 32 bits-per-channel mode remain unbanded (unquantized) at all zoom levels with multiple cache levels. I dare say there will be a performance hit in some cases but it looks really good.
I would like to see an option in Preferences > Performance so the user can decide whether to sacrifice performance or display quality in greater than 8 bpc modes. In many cases, the reduced performance probably would be unnoticeable or negligible, whereas the reduced display quality can be very noticeable.

Alter color of pattern swatch w/o editing

I'm trying to alter the color of a pattern without actually editing it - similar to layer masking in PhotoShop.
For instance, in the example below, I want to ultimately change the color of (the visible parts of) the pattern (middle layer) to shades of yellow (top layer), but still be able to see the green underneath. I don't want to manually change the pattern swatch because I don't know which swatch I want to use yet. I assume the answer is something relating to masking, and adjusting the blending mode. I just haven't figured out the specific way in which to do it. Can anyone help?
Thanks!
Ben

forums.adobe.com/message/4515625#4515625
might be of help.
mike

PS CC (since JAN 2014 update) Layer-mask editing causes hangs/crashes

ONLY since JAN 2014 update, PS CC has been hanging/crashing when I paint/edit a layer mask. All may be well at first (or not), but suddenly the display of the mask (or mask overlay on the layer itself, as shown when hitting backslash key) is not shown in full but renders in s-l-o-w-l-y in rectilinear pieces <snapshot below was taken before video card upgraded but is still typical of what I mean>. When I view Windows' Task Manager for PS, I see my CPUs are each working at their upper limits (up to 80+-90+%), varying only by a few points, over a VERY long time... which could be MANY minutes. OR the System has decided PS is Not Responding.
In any case, whenever this happens, it means in all practicality PS CC is not working, so I either kill it or it's crashed.
Now, here's the thing: that VERY file, can immediately be opened in PS CS6 (which I have fortunately kept installed on my computer), and the mask will be as I thought it should be, and I can edit it as I always could, just fine! So it's obviously a PS CC thing, and I do NOT recall this happening prior to the JAN update. It is still a problem after the two subsequent updates.
I have not been able to determine the specific instances when this happens, as it seems to happen whenever I am editing a mask, no matter what size/softness/color brush, what magnification, what view mode, many or few layers, big or small file, etc.
I did upgrade my NVIDIA card (from GeForce GTX 260 [with current driver] to GTX660), just in case it was a factor (maybe kept it from crashing as fast? hard to tell... but it's still an unworkable problem). You can see from my Sys Info shown here from the PS CC Help menu that it should be more than sufficient for any PS CC task, and it's running the latest driver:
Adobe Photoshop Version: 14.2.1 (14.2.1 20140207.r.570 2014/02/07:23:00:00) x64
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit
Version: 6.1 Service Pack 1
System architecture: Intel CPU Family:6, Model:14, Stepping:5 with MMX, SSE Integer, SSE FP, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2
Physical processor count: 4
Processor speed: 2664 MHz
Built-in memory: 16379 MB
Free memory: 12453 MB
Memory available to Photoshop: 14697 MB
Memory used by Photoshop: 60 %
Image tile size: 1024K
Image cache levels: 4
Font Preview: Medium
TextComposer: Latin
Display: 1
Display Bounds: top=0, left=0, bottom=1200, right=1920
OpenGL Drawing: Enabled.
OpenGL Allow Old GPUs: Not Detected.
OpenGL Drawing Mode: Advanced
OpenGL Allow Normal Mode: True.
OpenGL Allow Advanced Mode: True.
AIFCoreInitialized=1
AIFOGLInitialized=1
OGLContextCreated=1
NumGPUs=1
gpu[0].OGLVersion="3.0"
gpu[0].MemoryMB=2048
gpu[0].RectTextureSize=16384
gpu[0].Renderer="GeForce GTX 660/PCIe/SSE2"
gpu[0].RendererID=4544
gpu[0].Vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
gpu[0].VendorID=4318
gpu[0].HasNPOTSupport=1
gpu[0].DriverVersion="9.18.13.3221"
gpu[0].Driver="nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um"
gpu[0].DriverDate="20131219000000.000000-000"
gpu[0].CompileProgramGLSL=1
gpu[0].TestFrameBuffer=1
gpu[0].OCLPresent=1
gpu[0].OCLVersion="1.1"
gpu[0].CUDASupported=1
gpu[0].CUDAVersion="6.0.1"
gpu[0].OCLBandwidth=1.16816e+011
gpu[0].glGetString[GL_SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION]="4.40 NVIDIA via Cg compiler"
gpu[0].glGetProgramivARB[GL_FRAGMENT_PROGRAM_ARB][GL_MAX_PROGRAM_INSTRUCTIONS_ARB]=[16384]
gpu[0].glGetIntegerv[GL_MAX_TEXTURE_UNITS]=[4]
gpu[0].glGetIntegerv[GL_MAX_COMBINED_TEXTURE_IMAGE_UNITS]=[192]
gpu[0].glGetIntegerv[GL_MAX_VERTEX_TEXTURE_IMAGE_UNITS]=[32]
gpu[0].glGetIntegerv[GL_MAX_TEXTURE_IMAGE_UNITS]=[32]
gpu[0].glGetIntegerv[GL_MAX_DRAW_BUFFERS]=[8]
gpu[0].glGetIntegerv[GL_MAX_VERTEX_UNIFORM_COMPONENTS]=[4096]
gpu[0].glGetIntegerv[GL_MAX_FRAGMENT_UNIFORM_COMPONENTS]=[2048]
gpu[0].glGetIntegerv[GL_MAX_VARYING_FLOATS]=[124]
gpu[0].glGetIntegerv[GL_MAX_VERTEX_ATTRIBS]=[16]
gpu[0].extension[AIF::OGL::GL_ARB_VERTEX_PROGRAM]=1
gpu[0].extension[AIF::OGL::GL_ARB_FRAGMENT_PROGRAM]=1
gpu[0].extension[AIF::OGL::GL_ARB_VERTEX_SHADER]=1
gpu[0].extension[AIF::OGL::GL_ARB_FRAGMENT_SHADER]=1
gpu[0].extension[AIF::OGL::GL_EXT_FRAMEBUFFER_OBJECT]=1
gpu[0].extension[AIF::OGL::GL_ARB_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE]=1
gpu[0].extension[AIF::OGL::GL_ARB_TEXTURE_FLOAT]
I work on digital-photography files, and use a layer mask in almost every file, so this relatively-recent bug is a big PITA, having to switch back and forth between CS6 and CC!
Until there's a fix... is there a way to roll-back my PS CC version to BEFORE the JAN 15, 2014 update?

I am not qualified to comment on technical issues; I'm just a user whose son in IT is my 'technical support department.' (But he's not much of a PS user.)
I'm pretty sure, however, that all my Prefs were set to the same things BEFORE the Jan 16, 2014 PS CC update as after (unless the update itself changed something I was unaware of... the settings APPEARED to be the same but I can't easily locate my notes of what my Prefs were from long ago).
And they were the same as the PS CS6 I have had installed on this same system for a very long time, with older video card with older driver, with newer driver; newer video card with newest driver, etc. Yet after that CC update, CC has not (until this workaround) worked re 'the masking bug' for me, yet CS6 has always worked just the same.
So I conclude that the only variable (other than the video card upgrade I did in an attempt to solve this and of course those Windows auto-updates) in this scenario IS something to do with PS *CC*, and after Jan 16, 2014.
As for restarting the machine vs. restarting PS, well, PS is the major player of my system, so when I shut that (and LR) down, I might as well 'clean things up' by Restarting. BTW, I am in the habit of closing and reopening PS (CC or CS6) whenever I finish with a file and load another, in order to get back some of that memory which PS never seems to want to let go. (This is not new to the latest versions, I think. My son says it's a 'memory hog'? ;-) ) I track its memory use in Windows' Task Manager and find that seems to let it 'refresh' itself. (See, I told you I'm not a technical person. ;-) ) But I do not think this has anything to do with the bug. Just a quirk of PS. Like when a tool goes all wonky (for example, its little icon becomes just a 'plus' sign even though the tool is still performing correctly, it's telling me, I think, that it would like to be restarted. And that makes it feel all better... I mean, tool icon reappears.)
Anyway... it's up to Adobe to figure out IF and what may be wrong with PS CC -- it still doesn't work for me as I had it configured at first, and I think it should, right? -- and to fix that... PLEASE. SOON.

Swap black and White in layer mask

How do I change the default settings for the layer mask, as I'd like to swap black and white color.

hi steenmikkelsen2,
white means that your mask is transparent until you fill it with black. since then, there was no option to change the mask default settings from white to black otherwise you have to do what Noel suggested. but i hope my suggestion will help you better.
►press "Alt" key on your keyboard simultaneously as you click on the "Add Layer Mask" button under the Layers panel. that switches a white layer mask to black. :-)

Image in a layer mask with gradient problem

Hi,
I have a image in a layer mask with an gradient on a 30c0m0y100k background and at the gradient from image to background I always get a white "shine". which NOT appears when the background is the standard photoshop-black definition in all colors.
please have look also here (where the problem is): http://adobe.ly/1yXBCix
and here where it looks like I want to have it (where I switched the layer mode of the mask to multiply and that causes that my background is not anymore 30c0m0y100k): http://adobe.ly/1HFZfC4
thanks a lot!
oliver

Yes, just save it and post it here using the little camera icon:

Eraser tool doesn't work for black layer mask

I am trying to set a black layer mask and use the eraser tool to edit it. Unfortunately the eraser tool is not responsive. I'm not knowingly doing anything differently than I've done in the past. I recently did a round of software updates for CS6. Wondering if anyone else is experienceing this and if there's a solution?

Check that foreground color in the toolbox is set to black. (opposite from when using the brush tool)
Press D and then the X key.
And that opacity and flow are 100%.
Most people use the brush tool on layer masks and you might find that works better.

Why use layer masks and adjustment layers?

I've been using PSE and CS successfully for years.
One thing I have never understood is: why use layer masks and adjustment layers, instead of simply creating a copy of the subject layer (the one I want to make changes to) and experimenting with that? It's quick (Ctrl-J), I can do it as many times as I want, I'm not affecting my Background layer. If I like the changes, I can keep them. I can switch the copy on and off to compare with the Background layer. I can do any type of blend or combination I desire. I can insert Gradient layer(s), select any part of the copy and (Ctrl-J) create a new layer containing only the selected part. I can adjust size, rotate, do anything.
It almost seems that "layer mask" and "adjustment layer" are mainly another layer of terminology; can anyone explain (preferably in 50 words or less) how they are intrinsically different from or superior to working with copies of the Background layer? What can be done with them that can't be done simply using copies of the Background layer?

Here's a very basic example of the advantage of using a layer mask.
I have this picture of a sunflower and I want to convert the background to black & white, leaving just the flower in color. I duplicated the Background layer, converted it to B&W and proceeded to use the Eraser to uncover the flower color. But I made a mistake and erased outside the flower. There is no way to correct this other than deleting the layer and starting again.
Now let's use a layer mask on the B&W layer. Set the Foreground/Background colors to the defaults black/white. Using the Brush tool paint on the mask with black to reveal the color. Here I painted too far, revealing a green leaf in the background. No need to start over. Simply switch to white and paint the excess to convert back to the B&W.
Tip: while painting you can type "X" to toggle between black and white.
You could also select the flower using the various selection tools and then fill the selection with black. If it turns out the selection was not 100% accurate you can then fine-tune the result by painting on the mask with black or white as necessary.

Replace colors on multiply layer with predefined color

Hello,
This is my first time here and I've tried to find an answer to my question but haven't been able to. Maybe someone can help me whith this.
My process:
I scann my artwork (linedrawing)
I color my artwork with multiply mode on different layers (as i'm sure many do)
Now what I haven't been able to figure out is how to replace the color on this multiply layer with a predefined color from my colorswatch.
I've found tutorials on how you can change colour around by using hue/saturation and stuff like that but I have a predefined colorpalette. So I just want to replace a certain color blue I always work with, for a specific color green from my palette.
I've used the replace brush tool but the colors that appear are a blend of the first color and the second color I use.
So my solution so far has been to set up a new layer and color again. I'm hoping there is an easier way.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
Kind regards,
Lineke from Amsterdam

You could have a Color Fill layer for each color selected from your Swatches, with the blending mode set to Multiply, and the layer mask filled with black. Then, paint on the mask with white to do your coloring.

Layer mask alters Colors

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