Masks Aren’t Always for Halloween
I always found it funny when a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire would use a life line against one of the first three questions. These questions would be super simple to the majority of us but Regis would always make a good point to make the contestant feel better…”It’s easy if you know the answer.”
I feel the same way about photography. Many online resources and even my photo friends take certain knowledge for granted. Take the term mask. Everyone tells me using masks will make selections easier. I searched my copy of Elements 6 for mask and came up empty. Wikipedia has an entry on masking but I was still confused after reading it. I searched the web but couldn’t find a good definition, only tutorials on how to use them…kinda. Without a proper understanding of the term even the tutorials were hard to understand.
A new friend from DPChallenge, banmorn, mentioned a book by author Scott Kelby on PhotoShop Elements 6 he was thinking of purchasing. After some research on Amazon I found what he was talking about, The Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers coauthored by Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski. It turns out Scott Kelby is one of the leading authors on the Photoshop line of products He hosts an online blog and a site that offers his various training courses.
Not being one to order online (I can’t stand to wait) I hoofed it over to the local Barnes and Nobles to pick up a copy. Heads up if you go there to buy this, its not found in the PhotoShop section but in the Digital Photography section.
After reading just a few chapters I highly recommend this book. Chapter 6 on Selections (and masks) was my first target and in just a few minutes I learned more on creating layers than I have by playing around in Elements over 3 months. The writing style is easy to read with just enough humor inserted to keep it interesting. The book sometimes assumes the reader has some background in digital photo tools but to be fair it states an Intermediate to Advanced user level on the back cover.
PhotoShop Elements 7 has already been released but I do not see me upgrading any time soon. I may wait for Scott and Matt’s new book to come out before I do.
Links:
Wikipedia entry on Masking (in art)
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