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Online User Guide - Adobe Photoshop
Using GlobeShots with Photoshop


Masks and channels

Masks come into their own when used with Photoshop's "Alpha Channels" - a powerful method of applying and manipulating masks by turning them into selection areas. By using channel operations you can create a wide range of effects, for example applying globes to any bitmapped image, such as a photograph. You will find four masks on your GlobeShots disc: a circle mask to make pasting a globe into a background easier, and three cloud masks for giving your globes a more realistic effect. The masks are all high resolution, and you will find them in a folder in the High Resolution Globes folder.

Placing a globe on a background

  1. With a high resolution GlobeShots image open, click on the right-pointing arrow at top right of the "Channels" floating palette (make the palette visible by selecting "Show Channels" from the "Window" menu), and select "New Channel..." or click on the New Channel icon at the bottom of the palette. In the dialog box which appears, name the channel "Mask." Click "OK." The image window now shows the new channel as solid black.

  2. Now open the circle mask, Select All, and drag the mask into the globe mask channel that you just created. You can now close the mask window.

  3. Make the RGB channel of your globe image visible by clicking on "RGB" in the Channels window.

  4. Choose "Load Selection..." from the "Select" menu, and then choose "Copy" from the "Edit" menu. You have now copied the globe, without its background, to the clipboard. You can now paste the globe onto any other image of your choice, such as a photograph or piece of art.

Applying a cloud mask

  1. Follow steps 1 - 3 in "Placing a Globe on a Background. Then:

  2. Choose "Load Selection..." from the "Select" menu, and then hit the "Delete" key, first making sure that the background color is set to white. Alternatively, rather than deleting to white, you can use the "Brightness/Contrast" controls to apply white to the clouds.


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