Mask Workshop (2024)

[MoniqueN.]

My first lay out for the mask workshop is about mills (duh)

The text says: The Netherlands are famous for tulips, mills and cloggs. These photo's are taken at the "Openlucht museum" in Arnhem (Netherlands)

I forgot to write down what font this is for the title, the the text is (I think) Baskerville old face.

[Rene Marker]

My cousin's daughter posted photos just yesterday that were perfect for the day 1 templates! I used a kit called "Plant Life" by Studio Flergs from Sweet Shoppe Designs. A kit I've had for awhile because I loved it but had no photos... until yesterday! I copied Allison's description from Facebook for the journaling.

 

[Jen Brown]

I found the cutest photo of a kitten online at https://picjumbo.com/latest-free-stock-photos/

I made a card front using the kitten. Thank you for the lesson Carole.

[sharon thompson]

The mask bits are getting easier. However, choosing papers & fonts to go with the layout is more difficult for me. I somehow always end up in scrap kits by Brown Owl & Cathyk for papers and then adjust the colours. Script fonts are a **** at times as they never turn out quite like you want even when using Fontrunner for previews. I kept getting error messages when trying to attach my image. It was 600 pixels but exceeded the max kb size by quite a bit. It took me several minutes to realize that I had saved it as a png rather than a jpg... rookie mistake.

 

[Deana Davis]

Was there a lesson for today?  I didn't get the email if there is.  So I'm lost already lol

[Cassel]

23 minutes ago, Deana Davis said:

Was there a lesson for today?  I didn't get the email if there is.  So I'm lost already lol

Yes there was. Check your spam folder. Yahoo and Google have become very picky since February 1st. If it is not there, let me know.

[Gerry Landreth]

Day 1. The script is Shocking Script from Creative Fabrica. The paper is from Pet Papers by Marisa Lerin on Digital Scrapbook.

[Corrie Kinkel]

This will be the 3rd time I'm doing this workshop and it will be a rehearsal of the masking techniques for me. Especially because I normally tend to use the Raster to Mask script and now I will do them manually. I have a lot of flowers from my last year's trip to the States that I haven't used in other projects like the Calendar or Travel Workshop. Last year I used the templates for the Diamond members, so this time I will probably use the given templates. For the background: 2 papers from Escale Amoureuze with a blend mode and an inked edge overlay by Rachel M Hailey. The font is Montana Rough.

[bina greene]

Hello @Cassel and many thanks for this WS! 💓 Hello everyone!!

Lovely template.

Edited February 13 by bina greene

[Anne Lamp]

My day one Foxy Girl

[Bonnie Ballentine]

Took Judy shopping for new pickleball shoes. While she has played PB for years, this is her first pair of pickleball shoes. Our DSW has Sketchers PB shoes in stock which means we can try them on before buying. Judy is very difficult to fit, so being able to try shoes on is a real treat!

[MoniqueN.]

1 hour ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

This will be the 3rd time I'm doing this workshop and it will be a rehearsal of the masking techniques for me. Especially because I normally tend to use the Raster to Mask script and now I will do them manually. I have a lot of flowers from my last year's trip to the States that I haven't used in other projects like the Calendar or Travel Workshop. Last year I used the templates for the Diamond members, so this time I will probably use the given templates. For the background: 2 papers from Escale Amoureuze with a blend mode and an inked edge overlay by Rachel M Hailey. The font is Montana Rough.

 

I wrote down the script you mentioned, will have a loo at it tomorrow 🙂

[Harmony Birch]

Here's my day 1, I used a paper from the kit you linked too and colorised it and the font is Poemiore for the title and good old Arial for the journalling.
I did the making the picture subject clearer a little differently as it was not the middle of the picture I wanted to make clear but rather their faces which were closer to the edge so I used a large paintbrush and set the hardness to about 30 and the size to approx 1500 and painted in white directly onto the mask. I tend to like the appearance of an outer frame so promoted a selection of about 50pixels round the border to a new layer and used an inner bevel on it. Promoted to a new layer in case I want to change the edge at any time. Great lesson I often forget how to make those templates into masks.

[Corrie Kinkel]

30 minutes ago, MoniqueN. said:

I wrote down the script you mentioned, will have a loo at it tomorrow 🙂

It is such a timesaver and it is probably the script I use the most!

[Rene Marker]

1 hour ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

It is such a timesaver and it is probably the script I use the most!

Agree about raster to mask script. A good companion to it is the Merge Group Rename script. I drag my photos into the layer palette which keeps the image number of it. By using the Merge Group Rename, it keeps the image number which is useful if I have multiple photos of the same subject.

I was doing the steps for my first layout for the regular photo spots and it wasn't looking right (was following the written directions but didn't scroll down far enough). So I used the script and realized that I had missed a step of changing the grey to black. 

[Emerald Jay]

Masks Workshop - Lesson 1

[Cassel]

Welcome to all the posters. At this point, we have 147 registrants! Woohoo!!! That means we should see a lot of wonderful projects in this thread.

Welcome to all the newcomers to this workshop, namely @Barbara Caulton, @Diana Moore, @Mariana Trapnell, @Deana Davis, @Jen Brown, and others. If you ever get stuck, don't hesitate to ask in this forum. There is always someone ready to help (sometimes, faster than I can).

Welcome to our return participants. Even with the same tutorials and templates, you can always try something slightly different.

@MoniqueN. Nice photos of windmills. Can you check if you might have hidden the shadow on the bottom right photo? It seems to be missing.

@Rene Marker Two layouts for the price of one! For the first layout, can you check if the shadow layer for the middle photo on the bottom might have been moved? It should be above the left photo, but it looks like it is under.

@Jen Brown Cute kitty! I love the patterns you used in the background. It looks like you used washi tape!

@sharon thompson Choosing photos and supplies is often the most time-consuming task. The more you have, the worse it is! LOL The mistake you made when saving in PNG, I bet you learned from it and likely won't repeat it too soon! 

@Deana Davis Did you end up getting the first lesson? If not, here is a little secret: you can access the lesson page through the Workshops in the DIAMOND members' section!

@Gerry Landreth That font you used is a great one. Simple yet elegant!

@Corrie Kinkel Those flowers really pop on the dark background!

@bina greene Are those your photos? If so, where are they taken? I would love to travel with you there! Maybe you could add a location on the layout? I might just be nosey!

@Anne Lamp Oh, you will get a lot of fans in this group with that Foxy girl!!

@Bonnie Ballentine I am so glad you managed to get all those "ordinary" photos of day-to-day activities. This is a great snapshot of a fun activity.

@Harmony Birch It is great to hear that you are already comfortable enough to tweak a mask to suit your need!

@Emerald Jay Oh, another cutie!! Will we have more pictures of that little star in future lessons?

If any registrants are reading this thread and have not received their confirmation emails, (1) check your spam folder or (2) reach out to me. 

Keep up your work, and show us your lessons. Those projects are made to be quick, so I hope you will catch up. Don't be shy!!!

[Rene Marker]

@Cassel I didn't use the template shadows. I used my own. All 3 photos were shadowed the same. The left photo is below the middle photo in the layer palette, that wasn't changed. I also used a mat behind the photos instead of whatever it is that is in the template.

[Susan Ewart]

Mask WS Day 1

I used the .pspimage mask from the Extra1 folder.  And it tipped it over and moved/resized the other two masks to fit the image.  Here is a before and after of using the new Creation Cassel PencilSketch2 script.  I had fun with it and if all goes well with my photos I will probably use it for the whole workshop.  Background paper is from Creative Fabrica called Vintage Paper Textures - Apothecary.  The font is Maraton, from Creative Fabrica as well.   I also duplicated the larger mask group and hid it and merged the copy layers so I could add a texture to simulate the texture in the background paper. 

Edited February 13 by Susan Ewart
forgot to add something

[Carolyn Rye]

Day 1 of this Mask Workshop.  I have really been looking forward to this as I can never seem to get the knack of mastering Masks.  Thanks for the opportunity Cassel.

[bina greene]

@Cassel: Yup. that's right. I usually don't boast the locations (unless the photo gives them away anyways) since I want to keep them under wraps (the best places are too crowded anyways ). But if you want to visit, you are welcome to crash, we're usually there over Xmas and New Year's. Therasia's like the quiet cousin next door to flashy Santorini. It's all about chill vibes and keeping it real. You won't find the tourist hustle here, just laid-back Greek island life. Picture-perfect villages with white houses and colorful flowers everywhere, plus those quaint stone streets to wander. The beaches are like hidden treasures, perfect for a dip or snorkel session. And the views? Unreal! You've got rugged cliffs meeting crystal-clear waters all around. Therasia's just got that simple, down-to-earth charm that makes you feel right at home, away from the crowds and hustle.💓

[Julian Adams]

This is what came out of me...

Cassell - What I found challenging with this lesson is while I could memorize the steps to making the gray shapes into masks, I don't understand the reason behind all of the steps. It would be good to understand why that particular sequence of steps went from the shape to a mask.

[Harmony Birch]

2 hours ago, Julian Adams said:

This is what came out of me...

Cassell - What I found challenging with this lesson is while I could memorize the steps to making the gray shapes into masks, I don't understand the reason behind all of the steps. It would be good to understand why that particular sequence of steps went from the shape to a mask.

 

If it helps any you need to use the black shape to make a selection so you need to use a show all mask so that the shape shows on it.

you float the selection so that you have it to place on the mask layer.

You need to be on the original shape layer and make your mask from that if you do it on the selection it will promote it to a layer and you will get a totally white mask layer with no black shape to flatten down onto it.

You pull the selection into the mask group on top of the mask and defloat the selection so that it becomes a black shape on the white mask layer.

At this point the center is blocked and the outside shows through the opposite of what you want. On show all masks white creates a hole for what is underneath to show through and black lets nothing through. So you invert the mask layer and now your photo can show through in the middle of the mask..

I hope that helped. Cassell can probarbly explain it better

Forgot to say you did a great job showcasing those smiling babies

Edited February 13 by Harmony Birch
clarifying a point

[fiona cook]

Corrie, I have note taken on paper like you which I find easier for me to digest. Susan, your idea of screen shots of the steps I will take up. I had made a mistake on the last photo for this lesson and still don't know what I did wrong (See snip of my layers) I rectified by deleting the offending layers and replacing by dragging across from the original template and redoing just that last photo.

My theme is back to my local tree project and because the main tree image was not wide enough for the mask , it caused a sharp edge where it fell short. I used a black brush stroke inside the white area of the mask using a splodgy brush tip (a-dozi's background-08 003) to blend the edge in.

The 2 background layers were blended with Multiply having used Adjust\Colour\Colour Mixer to change a red to blue.

The main title font is Mama which Carole gave us the link to download

[fiona cook]

18 minutes ago, Harmony Birch said:

If it helps any you need to use the black shape to make a selection so you need to use a show all mask so that the shape shows on it.

you float the selection so that you have it to place on the mask layer.

You need to be on the original shape layer and make your mask from that if you do it on the selection it will promote it to a layer and you will get a totally white mask layer with no black shape to flatten down onto it.

You pull the selection into the mask group on top of the mask and defloat the selection so that it becomes a black shape on the white mask layer.

At this point the center is blocked and the outside shows through the opposite of what you want. On show all masks white creates a hole for what is underneath to show through and black lets nothing through. So you invert the mask layer and now your photo can show through in the middle of the mask..

I hope that helped. Cassell can probarbly explain it better

Forgot to say you did a great job showcasing those smiling babies

Thanks Harmony. This helps me as well from Julian's original question and it may explain what I got wrong with one of my layers with my tree project. I was using the wrong layer perhaps.