TABLE OF CONTENTS Masking in traditional photography is used to physically protect part of the picture from development or exposure. In black and white darkrooms this process often involved the positioning of specially cut ruby red sheets over the photographic paper, which shielded this part of the picture from being exposed during the enlargement process.
The digital version of masking is also designed to restrict effects to only certain portions of an image. Photoshop Elements provides a variety of ways to employ a masking system when editing your pictures.
Suitable for Elements 6, 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, 2.0 Difficulty level Intermediate Resources Web image 6.09
Related techniques 6.02, 6.03 Tools used Selection Brush
The Selection Brush was a welcome addition to the Photoshop Elements tools line up when it was added in revision 2.0 of the program and, although its primary purpose is to aid the creation of complex selections, it can also be used in a Rubylith Mask mode. Activate the mode by selecting the Mask option from the mode drop-down menu in the Tools options bar. Now when the brush is dragged across the surface of a picture it will leave a red, semi-transparent mask behind it. The mask will protect these parts of the picture from the effects of filters, color changes and tonal correction.
The size and edge softness of the Selection Brush as well as the mask opacity (overlay opacity) and...
