Creating a simple photo mask in PS

In my previous entry I mentioned the free brushes from Andrei Oprinca and supplied the link. In case you do not know what to do with it, I made a photo mask with these swirls. Here are the instructions for you to make some your self.



1. Start with a New Document
Select a transparent background, 300 dpi and the size of the page that you want to make, or, if you use the Photo Mask later as an element in a page, set the size of the new document to the size of the photo and add some extra along all sides.




2. Use the Rounded Rectangle Tool
Select the right tool, not the Marquee Tool. Set the following options in the Options Bar: Fill with Pixels, Radius 40 px, Mode: Normal.




3. Draw the Photo Mask
With the Colours set to Default (Black is Foreground, White is Background) draw the rectangle the size of your photograph. It is helpful to have the panel Info open, so you can see the size while drawing it.




4. Clip the Photo to the Rectangle
Drag your photo into this document, and clip it to the layer with the mask. (Hold the Alt key, hover with the cursor over the line between the 2 layers in the Layers Palette and click).
If needed, adjust the size of the photo using the hot key Ctrl+T.

5. Add a Layer Mask
Make the layer with the photomask active again. Add a Layer Mask (button at the bottom of the Layers Palette).




6. Load the brushes
Select the Brush Tool from the Tool Bar. Hit F5 to open the Brushes Panel. If you have not loaded the Floral Brushes set yet, you can do this by clicking the small arrow and selecting Load Brushes.
Browse to the folder where you have copied the brushset to and click the filename. The brushes will appear in your Brushes Panel now.




7. Add the brushwork
Select a brush and with Black as your Foreground Colour, stamp once at the bottom of the photo mask like I did. Use Ctrl+Z when you don't like the effect.
Try several brushes and save the project.If you want to use the mask later as a seperate element, save it in the PNG file format. You can then drag it into a LO when you need it.

Just stamping 2 times with a brush, at top and bottom, gave this nice effect. Quick and simple!