Needing help with Quick Mask in CS5

[Polar01]

Some one showed me how to use Quick Mask on my computer. When I got back I tried to remember what to do as I had done it several times there to get the feel of how to do it. Well my brain has frozen over, so could someone help me melt my brain. What I want to do is use it, to mask the layer then using ine earser tool, to revel areas I want to apply a curves adjustment to.

Allan

[bambleweeney]

Ok, using the quick mask tool. The tool is located at the bottom of the tool palette and looks like a rectangle with a circle within. Your'e going to paint with the quick mask so select the brush tool and set the appropriate brush size, hardness and opacity.
Next click on the quick mask tool and the tool rectangle will turn dark grey.
Paint on the image the area(s) you want to mask and you will probably find (unless you've changed something in options) that you are painting over the image in a bright translucent red. Once you've painted the areas you want to select click once more on the quick mask tool and you will find your selection outlined by 'marching ants'.
Not altogether sure why you want to use the eraser tool to reveal an area for curves adjustment though ...
It might be better at this point to bring up a curves adjustment layer which will already contain your selection in its mask, good chance that your selection will be the inverse of what you want, in which case click on the curves mask and press Ctrl i (control i) to invert it so that your selection will show as white on a black background in the mask. Now you can change the curves as you wish.
It's better to do it this way if possible, using the eraser is effectively destroying/changing pixels - once you've done it there's no going back easily. Using a curves adjustment layer allows you to modify your choices later on in the processing chain if you so wish.
Hope that helps

[Polar01]

Thanks for your help Paul, I was forgotting the most important part, I needed to select a selection tool, then make a selection on the image, then click on the quick mask. The reason I am using the eraser tool is I am erasing the mask, I have it set at about 25%, I seem to like the mask covering the whole image, then removing it from the areas I want to apply the adjustment to, I see the area more clearly than if I paint the mask on the areas I want to adjust. Just a different way of getting to the same result. Thanks again.

Allan

[TonyCooper]

Thanks for your help Paul, I was forgotting the most important part, I needed to select a selection tool, then make a selection on the image, then click on the quick mask. The reason I am using the eraser tool is I am erasing the mask, I have it set at about 25%, I seem to like the mask covering the whole image, then removing it from the areas I want to apply the adjustment to, I see the area more clearly than if I paint the mask on the areas I want to adjust. Just a different way of getting to the same result. Thanks again.

Allan

You're losing a valuable feature of QuickMask when you use the eraser.
When you go to QuickMask, your foreground color should be Black and
your background color should be white. (The two overlapping squares)
When you paint with the brush in Black, you create the selection area.
When you change to painting in White (just hit the X key) you erase the area made
into a selection. You can add and subtract from the selection staying with
the brush and hitting the X key.

If the masked area is not sufficiently visible to you, double-click
on the QuickMask icon. A pop-up will show you the color and the
opacity of the color of the masked area. Increase the opacity
figure to make the selected area darker. I think Red 50% opacity
is the default.

[Bill Yeung]

Where people will set up a thread for 7D, 5DII where all the discussion, photos can be centralized. Why not some of the experts here set up a thread for Photoshop CS5 and I am the first one check it everyday as my "photography daily devotion"!!!
Amen.

[TonyCooper]

Where people will set up a thread for 7D, 5DII where all the discussion, photos can be centralized. Why not some of the experts here set up a thread for Photoshop CS5 and I am the first one check it everyday as my "photography daily devotion"!!!
Amen.

There are several versions of Photoshop in use by readers. Some of
the features in CS5 have been features in several previous versions.
You wouldn't want to limit discussion to just people who have a
particular version.

I have CS4 but not CS5. But, I used been using QuickMask since when I had
Version 7 and, if I remember correctly, Version 5. Why exclude my input
on a feature I've been using for years?

[Polar01]

Tony I still use the X key to change from erasing the mask to adding the mask back you still set that by changing the foregroung and background squares, but I did not know about double clicking on the mask icon to change the opacity. Thanks for that piece of informantion.

Allan

Amen to that brother Bill (that would be a interesting idea hope others read that and think about it)