Layer mask, elements 6 HELP!

picturegirl

I found some info on how to make "Eye's pop". The directions say to duplicate layer, color dodge, then layer, layer mask and hide all, change foreground color to white, select a brush and start painting away at the eyes. The layer that you masked will start to show up.

I followed these exactly but it seems the "hide all effects" is not working ( or I just have no clue what I am doing???) I assumed that when I go to layer, layer style and hide all effects the photo would go back to what it originally looked like and that I could brush in the color dodge effect??? What is happening is that the color dodge stays and the only way to adjust anything is to brush away everything but the eye???

I have read the photoshop tutorials over and over and just can't seem to get it. I'm beginning to wonder if something is wrong with my program?? Does Elements 6 not support this type of adjustment? I don't have anything that actually says "Layer mask" under "layer" so maybe I am not choosing the right option?

Thanks in advance for looking and giving some advice!

Richard

picturegirl wrote:

I found some info on how to make "Eye's pop". The directions say to duplicate layer, color dodge, then layer, layer mask and hide all, change foreground color to white, select a brush and start painting away at the eyes. The layer that you masked will start to show up.

I followed these exactly but it seems the "hide all effects" is not working ( or I just have no clue what I am doing???) I assumed that when I go to layer, layer style and hide all effects the photo would go back to what it originally looked like and that I could brush in the color dodge effect??? What is happening is that the color dodge stays and the only way to adjust anything is to brush away everything but the eye???

I have read the photoshop tutorials over and over and just can't seem to get it. I'm beginning to wonder if something is wrong with my program?? Does Elements 6 not support this type of adjustment? I don't have anything that actually says "Layer mask" under "layer" so maybe I am not choosing the right option?

Thanks in advance for looking and giving some advice!

Those instructions should work fine in Photoshop, but I don't really know what is available in Elements. If you don't have any layer mask options on the layer menu, you can accomplish the same thing by adding a mask to the color burn layer, selecting the mask and filling it with black. Then you can paint on the mask in white to reveal the color burn.

It might be helpful if you could post a screen shot of your layers palette after you think you have added a hide-all mask.

picturegirl

I'm assuming a mask is where you can create adjustment layer? If I fill it with black I can't see what I am trying to reveal? Maybe I just have know idea what I am doing? I was actually able to get the effects I wanted but I had to go about it completely the opposite way the directions said and it took much longer.

Here are some screen shots:

<b>This is before anything is done:
<br>

<br>
This is after duplicating layer and adding color burn, after hide all it looks exactly like this:
<br>

<br>
Here is a screen shot of my options under layer:
<br>
</b>

Richard

Angie,

I'm pretty sure that there is no mask on the color burn layer. Search the Elements help and find out how to add a mask to the layer. You should see a black (or white) rectangle next to the image icon in the layers palette when there is a mask, and you click on that rectangle to make it editable. Black means concealed, white means revealed.

Hopefully, someone who uses Elements will jump in with instructions on adding a mask.

picturegirl

Richard wrote:

Angie,

I'm pretty sure that there is no mask on the color burn layer. Search the Elements help and find out how to add a mask to the layer. You should see a black (or white) rectangle next to the image icon in the layers palette when there is a mask, and you click on that rectangle to make it editable. Black means concealed, white means revealed.

Hopefully, someone who uses Elements will jump in with instructions on adding a mask.

Thanks so much Richard for taking the time!! I tried help and I got noting I will keep working at it! Have a great day

Richard

picturegirl wrote:

Thanks so much Richard for taking the time!! I tried help and I got noting I will keep working at it! Have a great day

Hmm...strange, I think Elements has masks. Well, assuming it does, it's something you want to learn. In the meantime, here's another way you can do it: Starting from the original, make two duplicate layers. Apply the color burn to the lower of the two duplicates (you will have to turn off the visibility of the top layer to see the effect). Then turn the top layer on again and use the eraser tool to reveal the color burn underneath.

Good luck.

jjbong

I looked on Adobe's web site, and it appears that Layer Masks are not supported in Elements.

However, I did find this on how to simulate it"

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/pselements/qt/layermasks.htm

It looks simple enough. Not having Elements, I can't verify that it works.

picturegirl

Richard wrote:

Hmm...strange, I think Elements has masks. <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/ne_nau.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" > Well, assuming it does, it's something you want to learn. In the meantime, here's another way you can do it: Starting from the original, make two duplicate layers. Apply the color burn to the lower of the two duplicates (you will have to turn off the visibility of the top layer to see the effect). Then turn the top layer on again and use the eraser tool to reveal the color burn underneath.

Good luck.

jjbong wrote:

I looked on Adobe's web site, and it appears that Layer Masks are not supported in Elements.

However, I did find this on how to simulate it"

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/pselements/qt/layermasks.htm

It looks simple enough. Not having Elements, I can't verify that it works.

</b>

Thanks so much!! I will try that way you talked about and check out the site. I actually think I was able to duplicate it on accident, it just took a little longer and I had to basically trace around the eye to bring back the original photo, leaving the eye the way I wanted with the color burn effect. I will be curious to read that article you posted, it may be the way I got it to work. I'm in the process of getting CS4, which I'm sure will eliminate these weird problems I keep coming across. Thanks again

If your curious here is my before and after:
<b>BEFORE

<br><b>AFTER, also applied screen

Shootin1st

If you are adjusting just the eyes, here's one way:

Select the eye using whichever selection tool you prefer. The selection brush works pretty good for this, especially if you zoom way in and adjust the brush size as you go. Refine the edges, feathering to taste.

***With the selection still active*** From the Layer menu, select New Adjustment Layer|Hue/Saturation (you could use Levels too) and OK

From there you can play with the colors/levels/etc within your selection area.


Another method could be to duplicate the background layer. Then while working solely in the bottome layer, make the adjustments you want. When done, switch back to the top layer and use the eraser tool just in the area you want the underlying changes to show through.

Hope that all makes sense!