Computer Graphics with Photoshop - How to restrict where a layer effect takes place?

Author

How to restrict where a layer effect takes place?

Jon Danniken

2004-05-16, 4:28 am

I desire to have a layer effect (outer glow) on a small image (a face) that I have pasted into a larger
image. The problem is that when I apply the layer effect (outer glow) on the layer with the face, the
glow extends outwards into a certain area in which I do not want it to go.

What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the background, so that the layer effect
wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode, but I wasn't able to achieve my
goal.

Any suggestion appreciated,

Jon

Derek Fountain

2004-05-16, 9:28 am

> What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the
> background, so that the layer effect
> wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode,
> but I wasn't able to achieve my goal.

Put the layer in a layer set and apply an appropriate mask to the set.

edjh

2004-05-18, 7:28 pm

Jon Danniken wrote:
> I desire to have a layer effect (outer glow) on a small image (a face) that I have pasted into a larger
> image. The problem is that when I apply the layer effect (outer glow) on the layer with the face, the
> glow extends outwards into a certain area in which I do not want it to go.
>
> What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the background, so that the layer effect
> wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode, but I wasn't able to achieve my
> goal.
>
> Any suggestion appreciated,
>
> Jon
>
Layer Mask. Check "Layer Mask hides effects in Layer Styles dialog.

--
Comic book sketches and artwork:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/edjh.html
Comics art for sale:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/batsale.html

Wesley Norman

2004-05-18, 7:28 pm

Jon,Ctrl click on the layer with the face on it to select it. Then go
to Select>Modify>Expand and type in the number of pixels you want to
expand the selection by. Then do the outer glow. This will constrain
the spread of the outer glow to within that expanded selection. Or if
you need to make the selection around the head follow a different
path, just use the lasso tool and draw the selection, then do the
outer glow.

"Jon Danniken" <jonREMOVETHISdanniken@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<2gobj5F54emoU1@uni-berlin.de>...
> I desire to have a layer effect (outer glow) on a small image (a face) that I have pasted into a larger
> image. The problem is that when I apply the layer effect (outer glow) on the layer with the face, the
> glow extends outwards into a certain area in which I do not want it to go.
>
> What I would like to do is to somehow protect a small section of the background, so that the layer effect
> wouldn't hit that particular section. I tried editing in quick mask mode, but I wasn't able to achieve my
> goal.
>
> Any suggestion appreciated,
>
> Jon

Jon Danniken

2004-05-18, 7:28 pm

"edjh" wrote:
> Jon Danniken wrote:
larger[color=darkred]
effect[color=darkred]
achieve my[color=darkred]
> Layer Mask. Check "Layer Mask hides effects in Layer Styles dialog.

Rats, I don't have that button in PS6. Thanks, though.

Jon

Jon Danniken

2004-05-18, 7:28 pm

"Wesley Norman" wrote:
> "Jon Danniken" wrote:
larger[color=darkred]
effect[color=darkred]
achieve my[color=darkred]
>
> Jon,Ctrl click on the layer with the face on it to select it. Then go
> to Select>Modify>Expand and type in the number of pixels you want to
> expand the selection by. Then do the outer glow. This will constrain
> the spread of the outer glow to within that expanded selection. Or if
> you need to make the selection around the head follow a different
> path, just use the lasso tool and draw the selection, then do the
> outer glow.

Thanks, Wesley. I tried doing the second method you describe here (it's exactly what I'm trying to do),
but no matter what I do the layer effect isn't paying any attention to any attempt at constraining it.
Here is a screenshot of what is happening:
http://kalyke.affordablehost.com/~j...skExample01.jpg

That is a face layer on a gray background layer; I selected a rectangle, set quick mask mode, then applied
the layer effect, but it still bleeds into the masked area (above and below the face). Making a freehand
selection yields the same results.

I must be missing something really obvious here (like my brain).

Jon

Dale Glaser

2004-05-18, 7:28 pm

Hey, I have actually just been playing around with what I think you
want to do.

Say you want to put a halo around a face. Select the face, and choose
any adjustment layer. Click OK without doing anything. This will
create a mask on the adjust layer which is just acting as a holder for
the mask.

Select the mask. Now you can choose a layer style and it will affect
the while pixels of the mask, ie, your selection. The layer style is
responding to luminosity values on a mask as opposed to
non-transparency/transparencey on an image. On a mask, layer styles
see white pixels as if they were pixels on an image, and see black
pixels as if they were transparency on an image.

Go to

http://www.pacificsites.com/~dglase...4/reststop.html

to see what I did with an image using this technique, with some
further explanation.

Dale

edjh

2004-05-18, 7:28 pm

>
> larger
>
n[color=darkred]
>
>
> Rats, I don't have that button in PS6. Thanks, though.
>
> Jon
>
In 6 unlink the mask from the main thumbnail in the Layers Palette to
get the same thing.

--
Comic book sketches and artwork:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/edjh.html
Comics art for sale:
http://www.sover.net/~hannigan/batsale.html

Jon Danniken

2004-05-18, 7:28 pm

"edjh" wrote:
>Jon Danniken wrote:
>
> In 6 unlink the mask from the main thumbnail in the Layers Palette to
> get the same thing.

Aye, thanks a ton for that, Ed; it works perfectly. Thanks for that.

Jon

Jon Danniken

2004-05-18, 7:28 pm

"Dale Glaser" wrote:
> Hey, I have actually just been playing around with what I think you
> want to do.
>
> Say you want to put a halo around a face. Select the face, and choose
> any adjustment layer. Click OK without doing anything. This will
> create a mask on the adjust layer which is just acting as a holder for
> the mask.
>
> Select the mask. Now you can choose a layer style and it will affect
> the while pixels of the mask, ie, your selection. The layer style is
> responding to luminosity values on a mask as opposed to
> non-transparency/transparencey on an image. On a mask, layer styles
> see white pixels as if they were pixels on an image, and see black
> pixels as if they were transparency on an image.
>
> Go to
>
> http://www.pacificsites.com/~dglase...4/reststop.html
>
> to see what I did with an image using this technique, with some
> further explanation.

Thanks for that technique, Dale, I appreciate it.

Jon

Dale Glaser

2004-05-20, 9:28 am

Jon,

I did some more thinking about halos and did some more exploring into
the power of using layer masks as the basis for applying layer styles.

I put up another page on my site that you might find of interest:

http://www.pacificsites.net/~dglase...leTut6Halo.html

This uses a mask and a layer style to create an editable halo done
using non-destructive editing principles.

You might be interested in backing out of that page to see the other
tutorials/tips I have been putting up on my web site.

Thanks for steering me into another interesting topic to explore...!

Dale