Photoshop :: Possible To Add Existing Layer As A Layer Mask?
Jul 7, 2008
I have a black and white image I want to use this layer as a transparency/opacity mask to another layer of the same dimensions. Is it possible to import the existing black and white image as the layer mask as opposed to manually painting in the mask?
I know that if I make a selection I can press Ctrl + J to promote that selection to a new layer. Is there a way to promote the layer but leave the focus on the existing layer? Â What would be the absolute icing on the cake would be if I could have the focus stay on the existing layer AND for the selection that has just been promoted to be de-selected.
I can do one or another, but both at the same time? It is annoying because a mask selection turns into layer selection when you select a second layer/folder.
Is there a difference between selecting your layer and clicking Add Layer Mask Icon versus having that layer selected, hold down ctrl and select Add Layer Mask Icon?
Also regarding working in Lightroom, if I modify a jpeg, select another image from filmstrip to work on and then go back to the first image for more work, are those actions degrading image even though I never physically save and close.
I've often been annoyed by the fact that that I need to go into the layer panel each time I need to switch between editing a layer and editing it's mask. Surely there must be a way to do this with a shortcut. I found a way to disable the layer mask in the shortcut menu, but this is not something I need to do that often. Switching between layer and layer mask, however, happens all the time - at least in my workflow.
I can't figure out how I can use a text or shape layer as a mask for the layer below. See the example attached and you will know what I mean. (I created the example with simply cutting out the text outline from the white box). Â I need the text to be a mask and I need it to be editable as text. Don't know if this is possible, experimented with clipping masks but I cant make it work.
I`m trying to swich a image on a layer whit a layer mask. I whant to keep the layer mask but change the image. When I paste a copyed image it the laye it creates a hole new layer. How can I change a image but keep the layer mask?Â
Basically exactly how layer masks behave, except I would like to be able to have full non-destructive editing control over the masking layer (e.g. have it as a smart object). The problem with layer masks is that (AFAIK) only destructive editing is possible.
What I'm after is effectively the same as what a 'luma matte' does in After Effects. Is this at all possible in PS?
I could have sworn that in previous versions of Photoshop, before version CS4, that if there was a link icon between the layer thumbnail and the layer mask on that same layer, if you move one or the other, they both move. In CS4, how do you move the layer pixels and the layer mask at the same time so that they stay lined up?
I have been trying to copy a mask from one layer to a new layer in Elements 11. I can do this in CS3 by using alt and dragging to the new layer. It doesn't work in Elements 11. Is this feature unavailable in elements 11 or is there a different command? there doesn't seem to be much point in spending all that time making a complex layer amsk and then being unable to use it on another layer.
I have to give a tutorial on layer masks using both CS3 and elements at the Camera Club!
I'm trying to blend a photo with a background color. I select the new layer mask (selected), I select the gradient tool (color into transparent), and then draw a line to fade the image layer into the background later and it does nothing. Why isn't this working?
Is there a way to move a layer mask from one adjustment layer to another adjustment layer (within the same file), without removing the mask from its original layer?Â
(I can move a mask to a different layer by clicking and dragging the thumbnail, but the mask then disappears from its layer of origin). I'm using Ps CS5 on Windows XP.
I open something with paint and then I do crop and copy the area. Then I open up another document and paste it. Now I am trying to blend it in. I think I can use layers. Create a new layer, then add a layer mask. Then, at least that's how I have seen it online, I can use the brush tool to make the background reappear around the letters ( letters in my case). But this does not work. The brush only paints it in the background color.
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?
Is it possible to transfer a layer mask from one layer to another layer in PS7.0.1? I am following tutorials in Restoration & Retouching by Katrin Eismann. On p. 350 one reads: "To transfer the layer mask from the Selective Color adjustment layer to the Hue/Saturation layer, Option/Alt-drag the Selective Color adjustment layer mask into the slot of the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer." Is this something that can be done only in CS and CS2?
Long time gimp user, but for basic tasks only. Now I would like to get my hands dirty a little more. I'm trying to setup a workflow that involves CAD, Inkscape and GIMP. Basically I did some architectural drawing in CAD, used Inkscape to clean up and convert DXG into SVG, so that I can use paths into GIMP. I did a script that for every path creates a new transparent layer with a layer mask using the path, so I can add fills and textures quickly. Now to the problem: say I want to add a texture from another image, i paste the image into the appropriate layer, then I want to transform the texture a bit (scale, rotate and perspective). the result is that the layer mask is transformed, too. I tried to disable the mask during transform, but didn't work.
Is there a way to workaround this? maybe some layer mode instead of layer mask?
My subject line pretty much sums up what I want to ask.
The thing is I've learned how to do both of them, but every textbook exercise I've done regarding one I found out that I can pull off with the other too.
Are they simply two different mechanisms for doing the same thing?
Level: Newbie  OS: Win7 64bit  Ia: Cs6  Once I use a Clipping Mask on a layer is the entire document covered in a mask?  And/or is all the artwork from then on inside the mask?  I've read about how to add and how to remove art from a mask. I've read about how to make and release and lots of other things.  So, then I went and found a lesson that contained the use of a Clipping Mask.  I am suppose to Select the main shape and "just" copy it and move it down (doesn't say rather to Paste in front or back but I assumed in back ~ not that it has mattered thus far)  However, while making the main shape I used Gradient Mesh and used an Offset to create a "replica" and so when I go to Select the main shape the mesh is selected and so when I Paste (in back ~ seems most logical) and then move it down the details such as the colors of the Gradient and other such things are visible in front ~ ??  So, I have been trying to abate my problem in lots of different ways.  I have tried using the Pen tool to draw behind the main shape, I've tried making a New Layer and placing it above and below and inbetween the main shape layer, I've tried adding the artwork to the Mask ... I've tried everything I can think of and I've been through many an article in the manual and FAQ's to no avail.  I suppose, what I think I need to know ... is, how ... how on earth do I draw behind this main shape? Am I not able to do it because I am not getting behind the Mask?
When you try to rescale a layer using the Rescale Tool with a layer mask active, it scales of the mask, likewise if you select the layer it will scale the layer. Can I select both the layer and layer mask and scale the layer, thus it keeps the layer mask showing the desired masked area only. As the only way I can see currently is by applying the layer mask on the layer and then you can see the layer/s below to get the scaling that is desired. But I would like to keep the layer mask active for editing after scaling.
I have a type layer with some text in it (a headline, let's say). I click on the layer, I click on the Character Panel, and first thing I see is the color in the Panel is not the color of the font in the layer. Â I then click on any Panel property, and the text in this layer is replaced by text from another layer in my document ( a paragraph layer, let's say), but the color is not the same as the layer the text came from.