As I said before in my other tutorials, I must point out that it should not be copied, emailed or represented as anything but my work. Of course, the results of following the tutorial are yours to use any way you wish but the tutorial itself belongs to me exclusively.

I prepared this tutorial to show you how to make a background using masks. I did the work in PSP X and so the screenshots will show the layer pallette as it appears in that version. I realize you may be using another version but I think the screenshots give you a better idea of what's going on than if I had used the ones in version 9. I think most of the instructions will be clear for use in PSP 9 and earlier versions. I would appreciate it if you would contact me with any questions you might have so I can clarify it in this tutorial. My original plan was to give you a little tip on how to make masks in the very simplest of terms and I will proceed as planned.

Basically, masks are like reverse stamps. Instead of adding color to a layer they take it away and leave the areas that are opaque in the color of the top layer and the transparent layers in the bottom color. If you study a mask you will see that the white part retains the top layer color and the black makes the top layer transparent to show the bottom layer. The different shades of grey vary the transparency. I thought it would be fun to have you try a little playing and experimenting to see if we can explain and simplify things to make it easier and get you to love masks as some of us do.

In PSP open a new 400x400 transparent image. Add two new raster layers. On the bottom layer floodfill with a light color, on the second a contrasting brighter color and on the top another entirely different color similar to the first sample shown below.

Highlight the top layer and then go to Layers/Load-Save Mask/Load Mask from Disc. As shown in the screenshot of the window, there is a small box up in the left corner with the current mask displayed. On the right is a preview of how it will look. Click on the arrow to view the drop down where you can scroll through and select the mask you want to use. When you've chosen one, click on Load.

Here is the result of loading the first mask. Go to Layers/Delete. A window will come up asking if you want to merge the mask with the lower level, click on yes. This combines the mask with the layer below.

For a regular mask this would be all you'd have to do but I think it's kind of fun to have two masks to make the background more interesting. Okay, highlight the second layer and repeat the previous actions with another mask. That is, Layers/Load-Save Mask/Load from Disk. Select the mask you want to use, load it and then delete it. You will end up with something like either of these depending on the masks you chose and the order you used them. I've also shown the final image with a frame which, in itself is a type of mask.

Finally, Merge/Visible and File/Export/JPEG Optimizer. Adjust the compression value to bring the file down to the size (weight in bytes) you want it. I usually shoot for no more that 50,000 bytes. Just compress to the lowest level where you retain the quality you want.

Now that is basically how you execute a mask in PSP but there are a number of ways to load the mask in the first place. One way is to open an image, mask or not into PSP. You can minimize it to allow you to view your layers. Then when you have your layers ready, go to Layers/New Mask/From Image. This will bring up this window where you will select whatever name or number your image shows on your workspace. Then you will load it in the same way you did before. This is an example where I opened a mask file and then a picture I took of a friend and myself at a golf tournament. I used the picture just the way it was and you can see the result.

And here are examples of the same thing but using two different photos one of the sunset from my deck and the other a photo from a pontoon boat on the Lake in my development. The choice of photos wasn't the best but I think it will give you some idea of what you can do with Masks. I added a floodfilled layer beneath so you could see the effect.

Hope I was able to simplify this process for you and that you will feel comfortable using more masks. The results are amazing.

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