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Create your own photo mask with Visualizer Photo FX.
You can easily design your own photo masks with Visualizer Photo FX. All it requires is making a few tweaks to a new document or a photo. In this tutorial we will be focusing on how we can create a photo mask from a new document. You will learn how to work with documents and colors, and we will be looking into how you can manipulate the pixels within the document using the built-in photo masks and artistic filters.
Getting started with a new document.
Before we get started with a new document, let's select the background color for our document. Click on the foreground color in the color panel located on the left side of your Visualizer Photo FX screen. You can use the same RGB values as I am using for this tutorial, which are R: 84 G: 105 B: 127. You can enter these numbers manually as seen in the illustration below.
You may already be familiar with how to create a new document, from reading other Visualizer Photo FX tutorials, but just to make sure I am going to show you how in this tutorial. Click on the Document button, located in the upper tool bar. Select New document from the menu, which is also illustrated in the image below.
Once you click the New document item, you will be able to select the dimensions for your new document. For this example we are going to use one of standard ratios which can be selected from the Standard Dimensions menu. The default ratio is 640x480 (4:3) which is the one I am going to use for this tutorial. If you look further down on your New document screen, you will notice you can select the canvas color for your new document. You can choose the foreground color or the background color, which are both connected to the foreground color and background color on the color panel. This is the panel where you selected the color we are going to use for this tutorial. You can also select a standard white or black canvas color, once you are ready to try out making a new photo mask on your own.
Click the okay button to start your New document. You will notice that we have started a new image using the color we selected for the foreground color on the color panel. The document size is 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels high.
Designing your Photo Mask.
This chapter is all about being creative, and allowing yourself to be creative. To completely understand the Photo Masks I will briefly let you in on how the colors work for a photo mask. A photo mask is a 24 bit inverted color palette, which means it's unlimited in terms of what you want to create. You can use any color(s) you want for a photo mask, and once you save and add it as a photo mask, your color(s) will be reflected within the image. The white color(s) will become dark areas of an image, and the black color(s) will become transparent using the 24 bit alpha blending technique Visualizer Image Group invented for the JPEG file format.
Now it may not make sense that white areas will become dark, so if you paint with black colors which you want to become dark areas within the Photo Mask, VIG made sure you can invert the pixels before you save your Photo Mask. These colors will automatically be inverted back once you apply the Photo Mask to your image.
I know that was a lot of technical details, however, they are important to highlight once you get into making your own set of Photo Masks. Now let's be creative and get started with our own photo mask, and what better way to start of a new Photo Mask than to use one that is already available. We will start of our design by adding the Clouds Black & White, which is located in the FX Default Photo Masks category.
Click the OK button to apply the Photo Mask to your document. Before we apply any filters to our document, let's fade the Photo Mask which we just added. Fade it to about 60% as shown in the illustration below. This will bring out more of the blue color once we apply the Photo Mask to one of our photos.
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Now we can continue to add changes to our Photo Mask using the Artistic Filters, which can be found when you right click on your document and select Artisitc Filters from the menu. The Artistic Filter menu will expand, allowing you to select any of the available artistic Photo Filters you want to apply to your photo mask.
As you can see I have already highlighted the filter we are going to use, which is the Graphic Pencil. The Graphic Pencil will add fine strokes to our photo mask. Depending on the strength of the pencil strokes, they will become visible within the photo where we apply our photo mask.
You add more strength to the Pencil strokes by right clicking again, and this time add the Texturize Filter from the Artistic Filter submenu. You can soften the strength of the strokes by using the Fade FX option located in the lower right corner of your Visualizer Photo FX screen. As you can see in the illustration below I faded the Texturize Filter using a 60% fade.
Your document should now look something like this. |
You can continue to add Photo Masks or other photo filters to your document. I will let you be the creator, but before you start applying other filters or photo masks, I am just going to share a couple of tips with you. Keep in mind that you can rotate the image at any time to make the Photo Mask or Photo Filter appear differently. You can repeat your actions without having to right click all the time or enter the Photo Mask option.
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Repeat last action. Photo Mask or Photo Filter. |
Before you save your Photo Mask.
As you saw earlier in this tutorial, we briefly took a look at the inverted Photo Mask filtering. If you want your Photo Mask to show the blue colors within the photo, you will need to invert it before you save it. Right click on your document and select Invert Pixels from the menu. This will instantly change the looks of your Photo Mask, but you shouldn't be alarmed by it, as when you apply this photo mask to any of your photos, it will automatically invert the pixels back and blend them smoothly into the photo, using the Smart JPEG Photo Masking system developed by Visualizer Image Group.
Save your photo mask in any folder of your choice, and click on the Photo Mask button within Visualizer Photo FX. Click the Load button and locate the photo mask you just saved. Once you have opened it click the OK button.
Viola! You just made your first filter for Visualizer Photo FX. If you would like to learn more about how to distribute your Photo Mask(s) you should have a look at the Photo FX SDK. This will guide you through the steps.
You can also attach your photo mask in a new thread at Visualizer Forums, where I am sure many would love to try it out. |
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Submitted by:
BevB
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