Painting with a Layer Mask Advice

I created a layer mask that includes a person's face and a mask of a computer chip, so I can selectively paint parts of the chip onto his face, with the goal of making it seem as if the person is a robot. I am able to successfully create the mask and paint back from the mask, however, it does not look at all convincing. It just seems like the effect is sticking on the face.
1. Can anyone give me some advice for next steps to make it look more believable?
2. I'm playing with layer blending modes. Should I be selecting the image or its mask when applying the blending mode.
Thanks for any advice/suggestions!

Look for a Photoshop tutorial on Displacement Map. If you want to have the circuited board contoured to his face. Place a dupe of the face image on top of the contoured board. Mask the face to show parts of the board, Add a layer style to the face layer like a drop shadow to add some depth.

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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.

Blending with a layer mask question

In CS5, I make a selection and copy it to a new layer and use the bloat tool to manipulate the layer, I then select the new layer mask with this new bloated layer and use the brush tool with the airbrush turned on to blend in this new layer with the original layer.
However, I am just not sure I understand what this is doing.
1. How is using the layer mask to blend it in different from just using ther eraser tool to erase parts of it?
Thanks.

I don't get the impression you fully understand the concept of the layer mask. Using a brush on the layer mask does nothing to the layer itself. Think of it like a window through which you see the layer. Paint part of the window black and you can't see the layer underneath. Scrape the paint off, and voila. You now see again what was there.

Painting on Shape layer mask not working correctly

I created a Gradient layer and assigned a vector mask. I then added a mask channel. When I activate the mask channel the forground/background color switch to black and white, but if I attempt to swap the colors, either by clicking the "Swap colors" icon or "Shift-X" the LAYER color changes to black. I am unable to simply paint with black or white on the mask channel. Am I doing something wrong or is there a bug in PSCC 14.2?
This process works as expected n PSCS6.

Am I doing something wrong or is there a bug in PSCC 14.2?
Is the question meant seriously?
Is the Layer Mask actually selected in the Layers Panel?
Could you please post a screenshot with the pertinent Panels visible?

No "Paint" Visible on Layer Mask (CS6 Photoshop)

So, when you're editing a picture using the layer mask, you have the black paint on the paint brush to select it. You paint it, and you see in the side-panel: the right side which is the layer, and the left side which is the white box with black paint on it. You'd think the black paint would also be where you can see it while you're editing the damn picture. But I am not proper enough to know how to make this "paint"... appear! Where the hell is my "paint," and why wouldn't it be on the main picture? Damn it, I just want to make a basic mask. Thanks for your help.

Hey, thank you! One other problem, though: now it's just a white screen with black paint. I need to see what I'm painting around. Thanks Again!

Problem painting on black layer masks

OS 10.5.8, Photoshop CS3. I am unable to paint with white on a black layer mask. When inverting and painting with black on a revealed underlaying layer it works fine. Is there a know bug which I have missed? This worked some time ago, but when trying again now (after the last OS update) it no longer works.

Hi ccyphoto07, welcome to the forum.
From what you've written, I assume you're sure you have the mask targeted in the Layers panel when painting on it...
Any chance your brush is set to something like Color instead of Normal blending?
Could you consider taking some screen grabs showing the problem (i.e. where you've painted on the mask, and it's showing black blotches in the Layers icon, but your image isn't transparent)?
Thanks.
-Noel
Edit: R_Kelly is too quick for me!

Pasting onto layer with a 'layer mask'

I've set up some images with layer masks, but i'm problems pasting items on to the layers that are masked. When ever I paste, photoshop (cs3) creates a new layer. Surely there is a way to paste onto the selected layer, and not to create a new layer?
any tips?
thanks

I'm not sure why you would want to do that. Two options. 1) Either paste to second layer and create clipping mask (ctr-alt-g??, layer...create clipping mask) if you want the transparency of the original layer to dictate the transparency of the second layer. Or, 2) just duplicate the mask from layer one onto the newly create layer by holding alt and dragging the mask to the new layer. Option 2 is what I think you want...
J

Smart object with a layer mask.

I'm using CS4 and I have run into a problem. When ever I create a smart object, photoshop applies a layer mask where is never did before. I can't figure out how to revert photoshop drawing the smart object without the layer mask.
It's driving me insane. I can't do anything and when I remove the layer mask, the smart object fills the whole canvas. Not happy!

Help with Photoshop CS2 files MUCH larger than normal, possibly not compessing layer masks

Has anyone else come across a problem where Photoshop files grow in size much faster than expected, especially when adding layer masks?
Normally when you add a layer mask the file size grow a small amount if the layer mask is mostly all white or mostly all black. In this case it's like the file size is growing exponentially, almost as if the layer mask isn't being compressed at all.
The file in question although large, is similar dimensions, resolution, and number of layers as other projects that have been worked on and all the usual thing have been checked like resolution, colour mode, bit depth and the image has also been cropped so there's nothing outside of the page.
The file has been checked on 2 different macs and exhibits the same behaviour and Photoshop preferences have been deleted and re-created and we've tried copying the file by dragging layers to a new document of the same dimensions with no success.
The only things we're certain of is that file size grows dramatically when adding layer masks in particular and layers in general.
The file was created by someone else, if that might be a factor, though the file has been "saved as.." with no improvement.
Any ideas?
TIA
Tom
The only

Maybe it has something to do with "Maximize Compatibility". If that's checked when you save, it might add a lot of weight to your file, even with just a simple layer mask. Don't know, haven't done any testing, just a thought.
Edit: Just did a quick test:
1. flat image saved as PSD = 5.2 MB
2. same image converted to a layer with simple layer mask, saved as PSD = 5.8 MB
3. same layer mask image saved WITH "maximize compatibility" = 10.7 MB
So adding "maximize compatibility" nearly doubled this test file. Could be it?

Photoshop TIFFs with layer masks do not display correctly

I am sure other people must have this problem, but I cannot find any related posts so here goes:
I open an image using the "open in external editor" command (typically a RAW file converted to a TIFF), edit in Photoshop and save the file (as a TIFF, I do not use PSD format)
If the PS edit contains any layer masks or alpha channels (masks in the channel pallet) it does not display correctly when it reappears in Aperture. Only the top most mask will display, assuming I have multiple layer masks in the PS edit.
Not only will the TIFF only appear as the mask in Aperture, but Aperture will print or email the mask, not the PS edited file as it should appear.
It seems that Aperture only recognizes the layer mask (or alpha channel mask) as the image, and all the other layers etc are disregarded.
Is this a confirmed bug, or is there some setting I have not correctly configured or some other issue?
I love Aperture, but this problem is nearly a deal-breaker for my workflow, and would be for any serious photoshop user, I would imagine!
I cannot believe this is still a problem in version 1.5, which is the version I am using (thus my system is 10.4.8)

David,
I assume you mean in the edited PS TIFF file:
In different cases I have either:
A. A TIFF file with layer a layer mask
B. A TIFF file with multiple layer masks
C. A TIFF file with an alpha channel mask
D. A TIFF file with multiple alpha channel masks
E. A TIFF file with any combination of the above
the outcome is the same, they all do not display correctly in Aperture. It does not seem to matter if the file was opened in PS from Aperture via the open with external editor command or if it was worked on outside Aperture entirely then imported. I do have maximize compatibility in PS checked (though I understand this is only for PSD files, though perhaps I am wrong here)
any thoughts?

Saving adjustment layers with layer mask

Hello -
I need to be able to save a curves adjustment layer WITH its layer mask.
I have written a longish automatic applescript to process image files that are all identical in pixel dimension. Part of the script relies on Photoshop, where a number of actions take place. In one of the Photoshop actions, I need to load an adjustment layer with a precise layer mask. I realize that if a layer mask file is open I could write an action to load a selection from that file, but I very much want to avoid keeping a second file open, or forcing PS to open and close that file.
Is there a simple way to "load" a layer mask into an adjustment layer?
Thanks,
- M

Maybe you could do something like this...
if(documents.length){
CurveLayer();
colourMask();
function colourMask(){
selectMask(true);
var black = new SolidColor();
black.rgb.hexValue = '000000';
var Width = activeDocument.width.as('px');
var Height = activeDocument.height.as ('px');
var stripWidth = Width/12;
var Left = 0;
var Top = 0;
var Right =stripWidth;
var Bottom = Height/2;
for (var a =0;a<12;a++){
    activeDocument.selection.select([[Left,Top],[Right,Top],[Right,Bottom],[Left,Bottom]], SelectionType.REPLACE, 0, false);
   if( a % 2) activeDocument.selection.fill(black);
    Left +=stripWidth;
    Right +=stripWidth;
var Left = 0;
var Top = Height/2;
var Right =stripWidth;
var Bottom = Height;
for (var a =0;a<12;a++){
    activeDocument.selection.select([[Left,Top],[Right,Top],[Right,Bottom],[Left,Bottom]], SelectionType.REPLACE, 0, false);
   if(a % 2){}else{ activeDocument.selection.fill(black);}
    Left +=stripWidth;
    Right +=stripWidth;
activeDocument.selection.deselect();
selectMask(false);
function CurveLayer() {
    var desc3 = new ActionDescriptor();
        var ref1 = new ActionReference();
        ref1.putClass( charIDToTypeID('AdjL') );
    desc3.putReference( charIDToTypeID('null'), ref1 );
        var desc4 = new ActionDescriptor();
            var desc5 = new ActionDescriptor();
            desc5.putEnumerated( stringIDToTypeID('presetKind'), stringIDToTypeID('presetKindType'), stringIDToTypeID('presetKindDefault') );
        desc4.putObject( charIDToTypeID('Type'), charIDToTypeID('Crvs'), desc5 );
    desc3.putObject( charIDToTypeID('Usng'), charIDToTypeID('AdjL'), desc4 );
    executeAction( charIDToTypeID('Mk '), desc3, DialogModes.NO );
function selectMask(BOOL) {
    var desc184 = new ActionDescriptor();
        var ref84 = new ActionReference();
        ref84.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID('Chnl'), charIDToTypeID('Chnl'), charIDToTypeID('Msk ') );
    desc184.putReference( charIDToTypeID('null'), ref84 );
    desc184.putBoolean( charIDToTypeID('MkVs'), BOOL );
    executeAction( charIDToTypeID('slct'), desc184, DialogModes.NO );

Paint brush not working on layer mask

This is a totally novice question, but...
When working with a layer mask, my paintbrush isn't showing up on the image. I can see the brush strokes on the layer mark in the layers sidebar, but no brush strokes on the image itself.
I know it's just me doing something wrong...can anyone tell me what it is?

I think you are not understanding how layers and layer masks work.
Look at the following illustration. The layers panel shows that the left of the image (The right is simply to make room for the layers panel and should be ignored) has solid blocks of red, green and blue. The layer mask in the top layer (red) has a black rectangle which conceals that area of the layer, revealing the underlying layer.
The mnomic we use is 'Black conceals and White Reveals' So where the layer mask is white, the corresponding area in the layer can be seen, and where black, it is like a window looking through to the layers below.
The Green layer also has a (smaller) black rectangle, so we can see the blue layer below that.
The blue layer has an even smaller rectangle so we can see the checker board background which indicates transparency.
Understanding Layer Masks In Photoshop

Is this done with layer mask?

Hi all and thank you for your help.
I need some help with an image as per example below. If you can tell me what it is called, I can start searching for tutorials on how to do it.
I want the top part of the "B" to be in front of the "G" and the side of the "B" below the "G", as is. I tried to do it with a layer mask and brush away the blue part above the "G" but it doesn't look good and it is clear that I have done something to the image.
I will appreciate it if someone can tell me what the technique is called and I will search for the tutorials.
Regards, Deon

Linked Letters [Logo or Monogram ] Tutorial how I create these linked letters

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.

Photoshop Elements 9 Layer Mask Difficulties

Hi,
I am trying to use the Photoshop Elements 9 layer mask tool but every time I brush over my image to hide sections of it, the image merely becomes faded-out, as if I were using a brush with a low opacity. However, my brush opacity is at 100%, as is the opacity for the layer mask itself. I have made sure that I am using a black brush, that my brush mode is set on normal, that the layer mask mode is set on normal, that the image's color mode is RGB, and that the layer mask is selected when I am painting on it. I have reset all the tools to their default settings, and have gotten rid of all other layers except for the image in question and the background layer so that nothing is obstructing my view. Whenever I paint on the layer mask, the thumbnail shows the black areas in which I painted, as it should; however, the image is still apparent. Meanwhile, when I use the eraser tool, areas I erase disappear just fine. What am I doing that is causing the layer mask tool to behave in this way?
Thanks!

Could you post a screenshot?
If you press the D key then the X key, does that make any difference when you paint on the layer mask?

Painting with a Layer Mask Advice

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