How to create masks with Magic Wand tools<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In the world of computer-graphics design, the
\nmask is as important and essential a tool as it is in the world
\nof politics.<\/p>\n
In CorelPHOTO-PAINT, Adobe Photoshop and other graphics image
\nediting programs, the masks are perhaps one of the most essential
\ntools for manipulating images. Take a look at the accompanying
\npicture. If you have The Jakarta Post's beautiful 1997 wall
\ncalendar, you'll recognize immediately that the picture at the
\nbottom is of a Sumatran Tiger, skillfully captured by P.J. Leo
\nfor the month of January.<\/p>\n
Across the top of this particular picture you'll see a board
\npainted in yellow and green and you can read The Jakarta Post's
\nbanner -- complete with its subtitle. The portion of the picture
\nbehind the board still shows through the text, as if the text had
\nbeen punched through the board. The board is a mask.<\/p>\n
For a change, let's explore the possibility of creating this
\neffect with Photoshop, the de facto standard program for hard-
\ncore professionals in graphics editing. CorelPHOTO-PAINT lovers
\ndon't have to worry because almost all of what we do here can
\nalso be accomplished in CorelPHOTO-PAINT.<\/p>\n
The project<\/p>\n
To simplify the accounts of the procedure, let me provide you
\nwith step-by-step details of what I did to create the composite
\nimage in the illustration.<\/p>\n
First, I used a scanner to scan the image of the Post's
\nbanner. Because the banner extends across the top of the page, I
\nhad to scan it vertically. More importantly, because the image
\nwas basically a black and white one, I scanned it as a black and
\nwhite drawing. This eliminated the task of cleaning all the dusts
\nand ink spot that may have been splattered around the characters.
\nI chose the .TIF file format before I saved the file, but you can
\nchoose any other popular format for the image.<\/p>\n
Next, I opened the file in Photoshop 4.0. I clicked on Image,
\nand then Rotate Canvas. I rotated it 90 degrees CCW (counter-
\nclockwise) as necessary. Then I selected the Magic Wand tool from
\nPhotoshop Toolbox. Photoshop had a different approach to
\nshortcuts. If I chose, I could have just hit the W key once to
\nselect it. In the accompanying picture, the Magic Wand is the
\ntool underneath the mouse pointer. As I moved the cursor over the
\nimage, its shape changed into a wand that magicians use in their
\nshows. Then I selected all the areas in the banner that were
\nwhite by placing the cursor anywhere outside the black text and
\nclicking once.<\/p>\n
Spots<\/p>\n
What the Magic Wand tool does is select pixels of the same
\ncolor that are adjacent to each other. We can increase or
\ndecrease the range of colors that the wand is supposed to select.
\nIn Photoshop, the range is between one and 255. A tolerance level
\nof one will select pixels that have exactly the same color value.
\nThe higher the tolerance level, the wider the range of the colors
\nof the pixels that get selected.<\/p>\n
However, there were spots in the banner that did not get
\nselected because they were isolated from the main white area by
\nthe black text. In the example, you would find these spots inside
\nthe characters e, a and o. To solve the problem, I just told
\nPhotoshop to look for these insular areas and add them to the
\nselection mask. To do this, I clicked on Select and then Similar.
\nEvery white pixel in the image was now included in the mask.<\/p>\n
We can do a lot of things to the masked area of an image. For
\ninstance, we can change its fill color, punch it out to make it
\n100 percent transparent, or save it for reuse at a later time. In
\nthis project, I just copied the mask by pressing Ctrl-Ins (or
\nclicking on Edit, Copy).<\/p>\n
My next step was to scan the picture of this animal's handsome
\nhead and opened it in Photoshop. I then pasted the mask that I
\nhad just copied on top of the newly opened image. This created a
\nnew layer on top of the background, and the Layer Palette on the
\nbottom right-hand corner identified it as Layer 1. Because I had
\ncopied only the white area of the newspaper's banner, the black
\ntext was not copied. It gave an effect as if they were carved out
\nof the mask.<\/p>\n
As usually happens, the mask may be too large or too small.
\nRarely will it fit the entire image. The best way to solve this
\nproblem is to go back to the original banner and have Photoshop
\nresample the image to reduce or enlarge the size as necessary. I
\nclicked on Image, and Image Size. On the dialog box that
\nappeared, I increased or decreased the dimensions as needed. What
\nyou must remember is that the ratio between the image width and
\nheight should be maintained. The easiest way to ensure this is to
\ncheck the Proportions option.<\/p>\n
After I resized the image of the banner and Photoshop finished
\nresampling it, I had to use the Magic Wand tool once again to
\nselect all the white areas. Then I copied the mask to the
\nclipboard and pasted it on the picture of the tiger like before.
\nUsually, the copied mask lands in the center, so I used the Move
\ntool to drag it to the top of the picture. In Photoshop, we just
\nhave to hit the V letter to select this Move tool.<\/p>\n
Once the mask was positioned in the right place, I could turn
\nthe white color into any other color. In this example, I changed
\nit to a light yellow color. I clicked once on the Foreground
\ncolor box at the bottom of Photoshop toolbox. This brought up the
\nColor Picker dialog box. I chose the color I wanted, and closed
\nthe box. Then I selected the mask once again with the help of
\nMagic Wand. I then clicked on Edit, and then Fill. On the Fill
\ndialog box, I made sure that the chosen fill color was also the
\nForeground color and the Opacity level was 100 percent. Then I
\nhit Enter. The mask now was in yellow.<\/p>\n
Finishing touch<\/p>\n
In Photoshop, we can do more magic tricks with the mask tool.
\nFor example, we can stretch the selection out or shrink it. In
\nthe pictured illustration, I've given the mask a rim. I created
\nthe rim by taking advantage of Photoshop's ability to shrink an
\nexisting selection.<\/p>\n
First, I selected the mask once again with the Magic Wand
\ntool. When I saw the selection marquee around it, I clicked on
\nSelect, Modify and then Contract. Photoshop allows us to expand
\nor shrink a selection as much as 16 pixels at a time. I chose the
\nmaximum, and the marquee now became smaller than the mask. I
\nchanged the foreground color in the box into green, and then
\nclicked on Edit and Fill again to fill the shrunk selected area.
\nThe result is as you see in the picture.<\/p>\n
Remember that you can copy as many masks as you wish onto a
\nsingle image. Each time it will create a new layer. These
\nindividual layers will remain separate until you combine them
\nwith the background. Once you do that, you won't be able to
\nmanipulate the mask in isolation. So, do what you want to do
\nbefore you merge the layers together.<\/p>",
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