DiMarco J. Digital Design for Print and Web: An Introduction to Theory, Principles, and Techniques

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ChaPter 5 Raster Graphics 153

Deselecting Image Areas

After you create a selection and delete pixels—or if you simply want to get rid

of a selection—press CTRL + D (Windows) or CMD + D (Macintosh). You can

also go to SELECT > DESELECT.

Figure5-13 Use a marquee selection or the ERASER

tool to eliminate image pixels from a layer.

technique Lesson 5.14: Feathering Selections

By default, selections are hard-edged. Feathering a selection blurs its inner and

outer areas, resulting in a softened effect.

QuiCk StepS (pS & FW):

Feathering a Selection in the Same Document

1. Use a marquee tool to make a selection around the outline of an object.

2. Choose SELECT > FEATHER.

3. Choose SELECT > INVERSE.

4. Press DELETE.

The image background will be deleted, and the image will be feathered.

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PART TWO Techniques154

Feathering a Selection and Dragging It into a Final Design Document

1. Use a marquee tool to make a selection around the outline of an object.

2. Choose SELECT > FEATHER.

3. Using the MOVE tool, drag and drop the selected area into the nal design

document.

Figure5-14 Softened pixels on the inside and outside of a selection create a feathered image.

technique Lesson 5.15: Filling and Stroking Selections

You can ll a selection, or the entire layer if there is no selection, by using the

FILL command. The STROKE command places a stroke along the selection

marquee.

QuiCk StepS (pS):

Filling a Selection

1. Use a marquee tool to make a selection around the outline of an object, or

create a shape (square, rectangle, circle, or ellipse).

2. Choose EDIT > FILL. (If there were no selection, the whole layer would be

lled with the chosen color; this technique is useful for creating a solid color

background layer.)

3. Go to CONTENT USE and choose COLOR; this will display the COLOR

PICKER.

Tip

Feathering is used

to eliminate the

hard edge of a digi-

tal image or to cre-

ate blended images

within a digital

montage. If you

feather on a color

background and

press the delete key

after the feather is

set, you will create

a color halo around

the image. To avoid

this, select the

image and drag it

onto a transparent

background, then

feather and drag it

back into the recep-

tacle document.

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ChaPter 5 Raster Graphics 155

4. Pick a color. Make sure the opacity is 100%, the mode is NORMAL, and

PRESERVE TRANSPARENCY is unchecked.

You can also add a ll to any object on a layer by using LAYER EFFECT >

COLOR OVERLAY.

Stroking a Selection

1. Use a marquee tool to make a selection

around the outline of an object, or create a

shape (square, rectangle, circle, or ellipse).

2. Choose EDIT > STROKE. Set the WIDTH

and click on the COLOR swatch; this will dis-

play the COLOR PICKER. Pick a color. Make

sure the opacity is 100%, the mode is NOR-

MAL, and PRESERVE TRANSPARENCY is

unchecked.

You can also add a stroke to any object on a

layer by using LAYER EFFECT > STROKE.

Figures5-15,a–c You can add ll and stroke to any selected area, or to the pixels on an indi-

vidual layer, using different techniques. The color overlay applied here creates a silhouetted

image.

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PART TWO Techniques156

Figure5-15c

technique Lesson 5.16: Saving Selections as alpha Channels

A selection is made up of a selected area and a masked area. Saving a selec-

tion as an alpha channel makes the masked area transparent when placed in a

motion graphics program such as Adobe After Effects or Adobe Flash.

Tip

Strokes can add

a dynamic or

highlighted look

to graphics and

text. They can also

be used to clarify

image contours

and text elements.

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ChaPter 5 Raster Graphics 157

QuiCk StepS (pS & FW):

Saving a Selection

1. Use a marquee tool to make a selection around the outline of an object.

2. Choose SELECT > SAVE SELECTION. Name the new channel selection.

Click OK.

3. Save the le as a .psd or .tif and make sure the ON check box under ALPHA

CHANNEL is selected.

Figure5-16 Saving complex selections saves time by allowing the selections to load immedi-

ately, thus eliminating the need to re-create them.

Load a Saved Selection

1. Open a .psd le with a saved selection.

2. Choose SELECT > LOAD SELECTION. In the Load Selection dialog box,

select both the saved channel to be loaded and the layer the selection

should be loaded on. Click OK.

Load a Selection from a Layer

1. Open a layered .psd le.

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PART TWO Techniques158

2. Choose a target layer and then choose SELECT > LOAD SELECTION. Click OK.

All the pixels (but not the transparent areas) on the highlighted layer will be

selected automatically. If you go to SELECT > LOAD SELECTION on another

layer, you can add to the selection area by selecting the pixels on it.

Masks

A mask is the inverse area of a selection. A mask covers something; in digital

imaging applications, masks cover parts of an image and reveal selected parts—

similar to looking through a keyhole or binoculars.

technique Lesson 5.17: Layer Masks

You can create masks using gradients (pixels that move gradually from one

color to another) on top of individual layers. These are known as layer masks.

Layer masks are attached in the LAYERS palette and appear in a thumbnail box

next to the layer thumbnail. A chain link shows that the mask and the image are

linked. Click on the chain link to move either the object or the mask individually.

QuiCk StepS (pS & FW):

Creating a Layer Mask

1. Select a layer with an image on it from the LAYERS palette.

2. Go to the bottom of the LAYERS palette and click on the LAYER MASK icon.

3. Select the GRADIENT tool. Use the LINEAR GRADIENT from the TOOL

palette (the specic colors don’t matter).

4. Drag a gradient across the layer to reveal a layer mask based on the gradi-

ent direction. The gradient is determined by the direction in which you drag

across the image and the gradient colors you select.

5. To APPLY or DELETE a layer mask to or from a layer, click on the L AYER

MASK thumbnail in the layer and click the TRASH CAN in the LAYERS

palette.

Tip

Saving alpha

channels allows

you to reopen a

document and

load a saved alpha

channel as a selec-

tion. This handy

production tech-

nique saves time.

5.17

Tip

Layer masks are

useful for manipu-

lating images

with gradients by

softening the edge

of an image. They

are also great for

integrating and

separating visuals

with soft, implied

lines.

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Figures5-17,a–c Layer masks allow you to creatively crop and soften an image using a sec-

tion as the mask. Here, the bottom layer is lled with black and the layer mask uses a gradient

to soften the bottom edge of the image.

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PART TWO Techniques160

technique Lesson 5.18: type Masks

Type masks are selections in the shape of letterforms (fonts); they allow you to

cut out an image in the shape of the letters. Type masks provide a creative visual

effect—if used thoughtfully and sparingly.

QuiCk StepS (pS):

Creating a Type Mask

1. Select a layer with an image on it from the LAYERS palette.

2. Go to the TEXT tool on the TOOL palette; select and hold down the HORI-

ZONTAL TYPE MASK tool.

3. Click on the document and type a word or a letter. Use a heavy font so that

there is enough area inside the letterforms to allow the selection to show

through. If you need to scale the text, go to SELECT > TRANSFORM SELEC-

TION; resize handles will appear around the marquee. Scale the text mar-

quee and press ENTER.

4. You will see the text in the form of a marquee. Go to LAYER > LAYER

MASK > REVEAL SELECTION. The image will show through the selected

area. You can click on the TYPE MASK icon in the layer and unlink it from the

image. Then you can scale, move, or manipulate the mask or the image.

This technique also works with all selection marquees (elliptical, rectangu-

lar, and freeform).

Figures5-18,a–F Type masks use text as a selection mask. Here, the building is used to

experiment with creating the type mask image.

5.18

Tip

Type masks are

effective for

display type and

design pieces with

large text areas,

such as billboards,

signs, posters, and

full-page ads.

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ChaPter 5 Raster Graphics 161

Color

Adobe Photoshop uses foreground and background swatches to represent

color on the TOOL palette. Foreground color is the active color for brushes and

lls, and background color, a quick cursor click away from foreground color, rep-

resents the document’s background or base color.

Fireworks handles color in the TOOL palette differently. It provides color

values for stroke and ll. Stroke is the color of the line around an object, and ll

is the color(s) of the image or type. These ll and stroke properties are attached

to a Web-safe palette or an index color palette. (For a review of color and color

models, refer to chapter 3.)

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PART TWO Techniques162

Color Specications to Remember

Print projects being output to a printing press need to be CMYK les. Work in

RGB, and then convert to CMYK just before saving the nal le.

Web projects being output to a screen need to be RGB or index (Web-safe)

color. Work in RGB and optimize images for higher or lower quality and for nal

output in RGB or Web-safe color.

technique Lesson 5.19: the Color Picker

There are several ways to access color in digital imaging programs. The Photo-

shop COLOR PICKER is a basic tool that will help you get started. Double-click

on the TOOL palette swatches to display the COLOR PICKER, which is a swatch

area that represents color using RGB and CMYK models. (HSL and LAB mod-

els are also represented, but you don’t need to worry about them right now.)

Always select the H (HUE) radio button; otherwise, you will not have access to

the full range of RGB colors.

QuiCk StepS (pS):

Selecting a Color Using the Color Picker

1. Double-click the foreground color swatch in the TOOL palette.

2. Go to the color spectrum (rainbow) and select a HUE (base color) from the

color ramp, and then move around the hue area to nd the desired shade

and value for your color.

Options:

For Web: Check off ONLY WEB COLORS for a Web-safe color palette. Use this

option for solid-colored Web page backgrounds.

For spot color: Press COLOR LIBRARIES and look at the Pantone swatch pal-

ettes (both coated and uncoated are commonly used) and other swatch-based

color systems.

3. After the color is selected, press OK.

5.19

Tip

Use the COLOR

PICKER to quickly

nd colors and

to view Pantone

swatches. The

Picker allows you

to see the RGB

and CMYK values

of existing colors

in order to match

them to colors in

other digital design

program les.

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