Photoshop Mask Layer, see through multiple layers.

Dear All -
I am a new learner to Photoshop and working on Layers and Layer Mask to obtain see through multiple Layers effect.
Below is the description of my problem that I am looking forward towards resolution in this forum. I will be glad if some expert can guide me on this.
I have three layers of different colors as below.
Layer 1topmost layer) with Red color filled rectangle.
Layer 2(below Layer 1) with Green color filled rectangle.
Layer 3(bottom most layer, below Layer 2) with Blue color filled rectangle.
When I erase something with brush on Layer 1 using masking Layer 1, it hollows the erased part and start showing the Green color of Layer 2 in hollow section of Layer 1.
What I want to achieve is that, when I erase Layer 1 using layer mask, then it should hollow Layer 1 as well as Layer 2 and should show Blue color in the hollow section of Layer 1.
i.e: Hollow section made on Layer 1(using Layer Mask on Layer 1) should also be applied on Layer 2 so that Layer 1 and Layer 2 becomes hollow using eraser and I should see through Layer 1 and Layer 2 and Blue color of Layer 3 should be visible from the hollow section.
Though I can do this by Flattening Layer 1 and Layer 2 together so that it forms one single Image, and then when I hollow this Flattened image using Layer Mask, then it will show me Blue color. But I do not want to do this, as I would lose the flexibility to unhollow/recover the hollow region on both Layer 1 and Layer 2 independently in the future.
Thank You,
Saurabh Khanna.

Here's a sample of copying the layer mask onto layer 2 using a hard cutout.
Here's the same thing using a soft feather cutout.

Similar Messages

How do I create holes through multiple layers?

I'd like to use boxes to punch holes into the layered artwork below them. I want the result to look exactly like this image, but with the white boxes being transparent holes.
This seems so simple, but I can't find any combination of layers/pathfinder tools/compound shapes/or clipping masks that will produce this result. No matter what, I end up losing part of the artwork (usually the topo lines and the black bar).
What am I missing??
Thanks in advance for any advice.

mirvlem,
You may:
1) Select the boxes to become holes and Object>Group (if nort already);
2) Select everything and in the Transparence palette flyout tick Make Opacity Mask with Clip unticked and Invert mask ticked.
There seems to be no need for multiple layers, but the Opacity mask punches through them all right.

Mask layer not visible in layers palete

I have a strange problem, when I apply any kind of mask to a layer in motion 3, the mask icon shows up on the layer to which it was applied in the layers palette, but the mask layer does not show up underneath the layer to which it was applied, thus i can't select the mask to adjust the controls of the mask, I can only toggle it on and off,
I would assume this is a simple user error, but for the life of me I can't find a "show mask layer" setting anywhere,
any insight on this problem would be hugely appreciated.

the disclosure triangle for the entire group is twiddled, showing my layers and any added effects, but for some reason the only thing that shows the presence of a mask is the small square icon on the video layer, but as there is not layer beneath the video layer to click on to adjust mask controls... i have been watching m3 tutorials and the mask always creates a layer in the palette when activated, but for some reason it's not with mine...
???

How to use the same mask, stencil, etc., for multiple layers? Photoshop equivalent of masked group?

Hi I spent more than half an hour to search manual, forums, and Internet and still can't find the answer. Please help!
For example, in a comp with 5 or more layers I want to use the same mask or stencil or what ever can hide areas of the layers 2,3, and 4 but layer 5 and any other eventual layers below should not be affected.

Pre-compose the layers you want to mask and apply a track matte to the pre-comp using the mask. Think of pre-composing as an equivalent of creating a layer group.
Use Set Matte effect on each of the layers you want to mask. This is easiest to do if you apply set matte once and then create an animation preset to apply to the other layers. Just get set matte to do what you want it to do on the first layer, Select Set matte in the ECW or in the Timeline, then go to Animation>Save animation preset. Then select all of the other layers you want to apply the set matte to and apply the preset.
Put the mask at the bottom of the layers you want to mask and enable the preserve transparency switch, then nest this group in the composition with the other layers.
Here's another tip. You could define a custom color for all of the layers you want to use the matt on, then use the custom color for a group selection. This may make things easier down the line.

How to use a clipping mask layer to a multiple base layers?

Is it possible to use one layer as a clipping mask to a 5 different bottom layers.
What I'm trying to do is apply an adjustment layer to certain layers only. Is that possible?
-Zeropan

Zpan wrote:
Is it possible to use one layer as a clipping mask to a 5 different bottom layers.
not that I would know, but what you can do instead is group those 5 layers (CTRL+G), add the adjustment layer as the topmost layer in the group and set the group's blending mode to "normal". The adustment layer is then only applied to the layers within the same group.

Linear wipe through multiple layers

Hi, I am trying to set up a project where by i can drop multiple stills images into a comp and have a linear wipe go through them one by one, all controlled by expressions.
similar to vfx breakdown's you get on Youtube
MPC Prometheus VFX breakdown! - YouTube
Being an intrepid novice to expressions I though "I can do that, no problem!"
So I have a comp with the images in it and another comp with the wipe effect in it. Inside the wipe effect comp I have 2 layers, a null with two sliders and a solid with a linear wipe effect.
The first slider (called pause) controls the length of time before the wipe effect begins and 2nd (called wipeSpeed) controls speed of the wipe:
if (time < thisComp.layer("Controls Wipe").effect("pause")("Slider")){
0
}else{
((time - thisComp.layer("Controls Wipe").effect("pause")("Slider")) * thisComp.layer("Controls Wipe").effect("wipeSpeed")("Slider"))
This works great I can apply a set channels effect to each image layer that takes its alpha channel from the comp with the wipe effect.
But this is just the first step after this I have become stumped, searching the web unsuccessfully for information, I hope I can get some advice here.
What I think needs to happen next is once the transition % for the wipe has reached 100 the time (play head for the comp) needs to go back to frame 0 and the whole process begins again.
Each time the cycle has run the upper most layer in the stack, that is visible, needs to be made invisible, that way each new layer below can be revealed and the whole layer stack is played through sequentially.
I hope that makes sense and there is someone out there that can help. Thanks for your time.
Felix

A Knockout Layer (Advanced Blending) might be an option, but I would recommend putting the Layers in a Group and applying a Vector Mask or Layer Mask to the Group. (edited)

Smart filters that blend through multiple layers?

Does anyone know if this is possible? I'd like to use Smart Filters - or something - to stack filters in a way that's cumulative and applied to the layers below. It's been a couple versions since I really sank my teeth into the deeper parts of layer blending. Just wondering if this is possible. I know how to simulate the effect with clever masking and lots of filters, I was just wondering if it's been implemented in a more interactive way.
For example, I'd like to create a Gaussian Blur masked effect (white box below), and layer it up with other Gaussian Blur effect layers so that their effect where they overlap is cumulative (blue box). Basically I'd like the area of the effect to be a live, movable widget, and be able to arrange these widgets dynamically.
Make sense? Is this a feature request? Or is it one of those "oh man that's been in Photoshop since 3.0, you didn't know?" things.

Well, in Photoshop CS2 I haven't seen any way to do that, although if you find a way be sure to share!!
But CS2 does have some image-modifying filter-like layers (AKA fills and adjustment layers). It creates a new layer that applies adjustments to the layers underneath and it has an editable mask. Although they don't have as much variety as filters themselves (or gaussian blurs for that matter), they are stackable and incredibly useful when you want reversable edits!
The adjustment layer button are right by the "New Layer" button--it's the half black half white circle. Sorry if you already knew about this, just trying to be of at least some help! Maybe those CS3-54 users can provide further insight into this...?
-Monica

Is it possible to erase through multiple layers?

The closest I know is group the layers and then use a mask but this is painful especially applying the mask to many layer.
Any easier way?

So I gather it is not possible. Then at least is it possible to automate this by scripting or writing a plugin. I wish I press a hotkey that groups all layers and creates a layer mask. Then after erasing another hotkey applies the mask to all layers and removes the group.
I wouldn't say it's not possible. Select all layers, group and mask; and merge group and apply mask both should be quite actionable. Tell us a little more about your process if you have the time. I feel the eraser tool shouldn't even be part of the suite anymore so am obviously interested in real uses for it. Maybe others might have some better solutions if you give a little more info.

Moving mask layer also moves layer underneath

Ref: Lynda course http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=55426 Last item in Chapter 2, "Pasting into Layer Mask" demonstrates that after pasting the layer mask (sketch of a tree) onto another layer, you can then move it into place with the "move" tool. While following along, when I tried to move it, it also cut out and moved the layer that I pasted the tree onto. I noticed that the "move" tool has a pair of scissors attached to it that I can't get rid of. I figure that's the culprit. What am I **** wrong? I have the mask layer selected in the layers panel and doing everything as in the tutorial. I repeated the tutorial 3 times with the same result.
I have CS4 Windows.
The files "drawing" and "sketch" are the lesson images. The objective is to make a layer mask out of the tree sketch and to place it onto the "paper" layer and then moving it into place as if the hand is doing the sketching. "layer cut out.PSD" is my result. You can see part of the drawing pad is cut out

I got it! (I think) I did not have to deselect anything. I can move it as long as I click on the unselected part of the layer mask AND the chain unlinked. The tutorial did it with chain linked and moving from within the selected area of the mask (tree). Maybe her workspace was set up differently but I set mine up according to her directions as well. Lynda.com will have to explain that one, but I'm happy as long as I was able to do it. By the way, those tutorials on Lynda are great for the most part and definitely worth the money. I just wish I had more time to sit through them all.
I know you guys are way beyond this petty stuff, but if I get stuck here I'm in trouble. Thanks.

Printing to Adobe PDF issues - phantom lines and "see through"

Hi,
I have a book I'm working on in InDesign. To export it for the printing company, I'm using "Print" and selecting the Adobe PDF print driver.
I'm setting the quality to high, images to 305dpi and the transparency flattener to high quality.
However, at various places in the book I have white lines surrounding image elements (generally when one is on top of another). There are also weird issues where a background "box" (with patterned border) shows through images on top (even though I've moved them to their own layer above).
An example of the white lines (the circular "p" white lines):
http://2tap.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/book/p20.pdf
An example of the background layer "see through" (the dog photos):
http://2tap.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/book/p64.pdf
I'd greatly appreciate any help - I'm at a loss as to what is going wrong!
Thank you in advance.
Russ

These are flattening artifacts. The white lines are called stitching and usually don't affect high-resolution printing. I've never seen the others before, but they are most likely similar.
You can avoid this problem by exporting, rather than printing, to PDF with compatibility set for Acrobat 5 of higher.
Peter

Feature Request, option to relink all unlinked layer masks when transforming multiple layers at once.

As a professional PS artist who works on files with sometimes hundreds of layers, I often need to transform many layers or groups at once. It is a nightmare to find that after the transformation, a mask did not get included in the transformation, (especially when the file is many gigs large, and the transformation took 15 minutes). Sometimes, a mask is accidentally unlinked, but more commonly I unlink it temporarily, but forget to relink it. There is currently no way that I'm aware of to find these pesky unlinked layers, other than going through every single one. What would work great is to have a popup asking if you would like to relink all unlinked layers, whenever you're transforming multiple layers that include one or more unlinked masks. Or else have an option in the layers palette to either select or relink all unlinked layered masks. Hope this makes sense. Cheers!

Michael,
It looks like you are right! Thank you for your help.
I still have a small concern. I looked at the documentation and it reads,
"The configuration settings for a cache instance are stored in the USER_SDO_CACHED_MAPS metadata view. You should normally not manipulate this view directly, but should instead use the MapViewer administration tool, which uses this view to configure map cache instances."
But, I tried inserting records into USER_SDO_CACHED_MAPS and it works, and I can't really see any reason not to directly insert records into this table, so...
Perhaps that warning is there simply because potentially you could screw things up tinkering with the table directly.
Cheers!
John

Photoshop Elements select tool, when targeting layer or multiple layers the layer properties box pops up. Having to very carefully and repeatedly select and highlight layers to move, or merge when using Move Tool. Win 8, Adobe 12, Intuos 4 w/ updated dr

This issue has been going on for several weeks.
The Move Tool is not functioning properly when selecting and TARGETING a layer or multiple layers, as the Layer Properties box pops up requiring me to close it and try again.
How to reset or is there an update and fix for this issue.
Using Win 8, Elements 12, and Intuos 4 Pen and Tablet.

To reset the tool I suggest click on it once and then look for something like this in the bottom half of your window:
In the above picture I have marked one section in red box. You need to click on it to get the option to either reset the only tool you have clicked or to reset all the tools in the editor window. Of course you have to be in Expert Mode to get this to work.
Good luck.

Combining multiple layers into one "final image" then working on each layer's opacity to affect what the final image looks like

Ideally the "final" image would be displayed. I'd go over to the layers panel and work on each layer, dialing up and down the opacity and see the effects on the "final" image. This is in regards to interior real estate. Normally I combine my images in Photomatix (different exposures) and have that method down. But what I'd like to be able to do is to, say, strobe different areas of the scene while shooting maybe six images (same exposure), load those six into CS5 (File>Scripts>Load Files Into Stack) then proceed.
I've looked at a ton of videos on Youtube and searched CS5 Help and just can't find the answer to what exactly what I'm trying to do. I can choose Edit>Auto-Blend Layers and that does indeed give me a final image (like in Enfuse or Photomatix) but I haven't found a way to then adjust each individual layer to affect that final image. And I know there's a way, maybe coming at this from a completely different direction. Thanks.

Ok I will take the last question first, since that is probably the easiest.end
A merged file or a flattened file is the same thing as a composite.
A merged file still has its transparency and data that is outside the canvas area.
A flattened file is a merged file that is converted to a background layer that does not support transparency or data outside the canvas.
A composite can be a merged copy of the existing layers if you use the multiple key strokes I mentioned above. Whereas a merged file is a composite of the original layers. So I personally use the term composite to mean a copy as merged and flatten already explain that process, no need to give them an additional term to mean the same thing.
Generally blend modes work by selecting individual layers before changing the blend mode. However you can group the layers or convert them to a smart object and apply a blend to that group or object.
Normally you set the blend mode as you work on each layer. But you could set all of them to overlay or reduce the opacity to 30 or 50 percent to see through all the layers, then adjust them later on.
I am not sure how it works on the mac, but on windows you can select the blend text box then use the up and down arrow keys to change the blend mode to see how it looks.
I recommend that you go through the free videos on layers, masks, opacity, and layer styles. This will help you dramatically. Also a few books on the subject will help has well.
(free)
http://creativesuitepodcast.com/
http://kelbytv.com/
http://tv.adobe.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
(pay)
http://kelbyone.com/
http://Lynda.com

Masking multiple layers to achieve some effects

Hi,
I understand (at least a little) about how masking works. As far as I see it reveals layer underneath it.
What I am wondering if there is some ways to reveals different(multiple layers) layers or masking is done only on one layer.
I have searched and some pages suggest it is possible to mask multiple layers but it doesnt actually show any examples or step by step tutorials.
Any help would be appreciated,

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=flash+masking+multiple+layers
The Help on masking has a heading "Mask additional layers after creating a mask layer" that might point you in the right direction.

How to share the same mask across multiple layers?

Say one needs multiple layers, one above another, to share the same layer mask. Is there any smart way to tell all those layers they have to use the same mask? As opposed to copying the same mask into all layers. The latter approach has the disadvantage that, when you need to change the mask, you need to copy it again into all layers that must share it.
Thank you.

Put the Layers in a Set and apply the mask to that.

Photoshop Mask Layer, see through multiple layers.

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for