I discovered this by accident. Doh! Over the years, I've always had a task of selecting just the type in a type layer, or an object that I had cut out, so I could apply an effect. I usually just used the magic wand. But it works like this, click on the type layer or the layer that your cut out object is on, then CTRL click that layer in the layers pallette. Only the type or the object is selected. If you look at my latest upload in the 2D gallery, Slaughter Party, I used this to put a gradient on the type, then used it to put the same gradient on the Troma logo, which was cut out from a black and white image. The things that happen when you have accidents...wish I'd known this years ago lol.

"click on the type layer or the layer that your cut out object is on" in the layers palette, I meant

cool tip bone! thanks. :) scott

That's funny, I just learned that recently also. Thanks bone!!

:) Been using that for years now, and it's the handiest thing in the world. I use it to make alpha masks. You don't need to do the first clicking by the way, just control-click the layer with the thing you want selected. If the layer has various degrees of opacity, it'll keep that, too. ;)

I remember discovering this. Great, isn't it? If we are throwing tips around, you could keep things more editable and flexible if you put the gradient above the text layer and alt-clicking on the line between the layers. The gradient layer should jump a little to the right and should only show it's gradient where there are pixels in the underlying layer. That could come in handy if you want to use a filter on the gradient that needs pixels from outside the area the text covers (some kind of displacement). And, not to forget, there is in the latest two version of PS a 'Gradient Overlay' layer effect that keeps your gradient editable 'till 2285 at least... And, on the ctrl-clicking and alpha channels, if you shift-ctrl-click on multiple layers, you can make combined selections of multiple parts of your image. You can also use the alt and command instead of shift, to take out parts of your selection or make a... urm... a, you know (what is it called), when you have two selections and only keep where they overlap. Once you get used to it (and also the advantage of having partial transparancy, like aprilgem said), you will use the magic wand less and less (I could very well live without it). The ctrl-click to make a selection can also be performed on alpha channels, but also on color channels (and paths). Sometimes I hide all layers but, like, three, and ctrl-click on the 'rgb channel', which creates a grayscale-like selection. If you click on the 'create new alpha channel' button, you will have a greyscale representation of the rgb picture, which can come in handy when manipulating colors, highlights or shadows or as starting point for a mask. Or as a start for advanced alpha channel manipulation by filters (I would, for instance, use that technique for the bloody letters of your nice Trome picture, I love those guys). Ctrl-clicking on the alpha channel gives you the selection to put on a new layer and add layer effects too. Sorry I got carried away on this. I hope I can provide even more things that make PS even more fun (and easy). The magic wand is a rough tool, that you will use less and less once you discover hidden powers like this. One last thing... I discovered years to late that alt-clicking on a layermask makes you jump into the mask, which you can then see and manipulate and filter what you want. Or just watch it...

'select all' then hit the left and right arrow keys one after the other quickly will also put a selection around whatever is in that layer...

Well, the problem with the magic wand for me is that in real life, and photos, there's rarely anything that's one pure color. Everythings kind of a mix of shades, so it just never selects accurately. And I do a LOT of compositing. I've had articles published on compositing in pshop. So any better way to select is valuable to me.

maybe we should have a TIPS section that members can submit to and we can keep track of these gems (i know as soon as i mark the forum "All Read", i'll lose track of this!!).

the down side is i'll have to do something with the "backroom" again... and i really don't have the time (i'm down to 4hours of sleep a night).

what do you(s) think???

:)
scott

works for me

Hoof, I didn't know about the alt-clicking between layers. I do the same thing, but I use Ctrl-G while on the top layer -- it automatically "groups" with the layer beneath it. Bone, if you want something a little more precise than the magic wand when selecting a not-so-pure color, you might want to try Select > Color Range. I also sometimes use the path tool, and more lately, I use a plug-in called KnockOut 2.0 by Corel (I won it in a contest, and it's been super, super useful in nearly all of my compositing work).

well, I use color range, but since I work with photos a lot, it always selects bits that are outside what I want selected lol. Over the years it's just become easier for me to use the lassoo tool to cut things out. I know there are easier ways to do it, it's just what I'm used to.

Did you know you can make a selection around the colored object first, and THEN you can use Color Range? ;)

I most of the time use a mask that I create with paint tools (mostly a hard brush to start with) and I might use color selecting tools when the photo is suitable. In the past I started these kind of selections with making paths (because they were needed to import stuff in Quark) and I sometimes forget that is rather easy too. Especially large straight surfaces like cars are hard to 'paint' freehand with my Wacom. I find the lasso tool unneccesairly wiggly. If you cough you have to start from the beginning. If you are painting in a mask you can just go back small steps (you HAVE to love multiple undo). Bonestructure, I would really recommend to explore things beyond the lasso tool. In my humble opinion it is not really suitable. Especially when you work with photos that are not perfectly sharp, painting a mask with a soft-ish brush with a low opacity can create beautifull edges, over with you can have more control then if you do blurring on a mask created with the lasso. I use more and more mask on adjustment layers too, for instance for changing colors in areas of a photo or just to change the color of a piece of clothing. Because it keept things so flexible. Sometimes it pays to explore different ways of working. Two weeks ago I was in a photo studio and the photographer never dared to do things with alpha channels or masks. So he was erasing like it was 1985 on his precious digital photos. Destroying those sweet pixels that could come in handy later... But everybody should of course work the way he or she prefers. An open mind can help you speed up things and even save valuable time when those pesky clients keep changing their minds. Especially if the pixels are still there to help you.

I'm with Hoof on the adjustment layers. I loooooove the adjustment layers.

I've never used adjustment layers...? What are they? A million great tips here, thanks Bone and Hoof and April... Hoof, when using the lasso, if you DID cough...? You could Shift-click to add to your selection, or Alt-click to subtract from it...

Shadow, have you ever used the Image > Adjust tools? Curves, Levels, Hue/Saturation, Brightness/Contrast and the like? When you use those tools, you affect the layer you're on somewhat permanently.

However, if you use adjustment layers, you do all the adjusting on a layer above what you want to affect, and later, you can readjust it or delete the adjustment entirely. OR, you can create a mask on the adjustment layer so that only parts of the image are affected by the adjustment.

To use adjustment layers, go to your layers palette and look for the adjustment layers icon, which is a circle that's half-black and half-white. Click on that, and you will get a menu like the one you'd get hitting Image > Adjust. If you select one of the options, you will get the familiar dialogue box with all the settings and everything, and voila, it's just as if you used the Image > Adjust -- the only differences being that you can group the adjustment layer with one layer and you can make a mask to adjust only a portion of the image. It keeps your original pure and untouched. :)

Message edited on: 11/20/2004 00:59

Aye, thanks for the tips, Aprilgem... I always wondered about that situation, and figured the people at Adobe would have found a way...