What Is A Selection Mask And How Do You Edit It?

Adobe Photoshop software has many masking applications in its program. These masks allow you to make changes to the image you are working with and add various effects to certain areas of the image, without changing or adding the effect to the whole image. Experts liken masking to putting masking tape around your room when you paint to protect areas of the wall you don’t want to paint. Masking software in Photoshop works on the same idea.

Layer masks and selection masks are two popular masks used within Photoshop. Many people use layer masks exclusively, and they are certainly the most commonly used mask. Selection masks, however, are an important and under used part of the program. Instead of just masking and editing your layers, selection masks allow you to control the selections you make and elect to only edit or protect the parts of the image you have specifically selected.

One type of selection mask that is easy for new users to try out is a so-called “quick mask.” When using a quick mask, you can make selections on your image using your paintbrush tool or pencil tool instead of using your lasso tool, which can be unwieldy when working with small portions of an image.

To get started, select an image to work with, and open that image within your Photoshop program. Now, open your marquee tool and select part your image.

Now, it is time to open your quick mask tool. It is in your toolbox, near the bottom right side – it has a white circle on a gray background. When that is done, everything that you have not selected should turn red – make adjustments to your selection if necessary.

Now, it is time to open your pencil tool or paint brush tool; whichever you choose to use. With that open, change your foreground color to black in your tool box and draw around the image. This will make the mask larger while unselecting the image at the same time. This will give you a larger are to work with while get your mask to exactly the right size, without damaging anything around what you have selected. Now zoom into your masked area and change the foreground color to white. White will make your mask smaller and re-select your image. Using your pencil or paint brush again, carefully remove the edges of the mask that go outside your image and cover areas that you do not want to be covered. When you are satisfied that your mask is adequately covering what you it to cover, and not covering anything else, click the “standard mode” button in your tool box – right next to the quick mask button. This will seal your mask, and your image should be protected.

Some people prefer to change the way their quick mask works. If you want to change the setting, double click on the quick mask icon to open up a dialogue box. In here, you change the opacity of your mask. You can also change which area is highlighted in red when you first select your object – if you want your select to be highlighted, rather than everything NOT selected, then change the “color indicates” box from “masked areas” to “selected areas.”

There are plenty of other functions for selection masks, like alpha channels, but the quick mask will allow you to get used to using the utility and seeing how it best works for you. Like many Photoshop applications, it requires some trial and error to master it completely.

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