Object masks

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An object mask lets you control the alpha channel of the relative object. Thus you easily can modify how different areas of a object are hidden and revealed. By making changes to the object mask that is editing or using a grayscale image as mask, you can apply a variety of special effects. You then work on the transparency of the object whitout modifying the pixels on that object.

You can make the changes permanent, or remove them simply by applying or discarding the mask. Photonyx enables you to have a mask for each object.

In the objects palette, an thumbnail appears for each an new object mask you add. The thumbnail appears right to the the object thumbnail in the object palette.

Black indicates the portions of the object that are hidden and white indicates the portions of the object that are visible. You got it ? Grayscale levels indicate the percentage of visibility of the object. The more an area of the mask is light, the more it is visible !

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  • Add Mask

This command is for adding a transparency mask to the current object

  • To create a mask that reveals the entire object,

choose Object > Add Mask > Reveal All. (Alt + M)

  • To create a mask that hides the entire object,

    choose Object > Add Mask > Hide All. (Alt + Shift + M)

  • To create a mask that reveals the selected area and hides the remaining portion of the object,

choose Object > Add Mask > Reveal Selection. (Ctrl + M)

  • To create a mask that hides the selected area and reveals the remaining portion of the object,

choose Object > Add Mask > Hide Selection. (Ctrl + Shift + M)

This is useful and offers you the possibility to bring an object mask acitve or not. When a mask is applied on an object you don't have the possibility to edit the whole object because some parts of the current objects are masked. If you want to see the entire object you can use the Disable Mask command to temporarily turn off the mask in the main window. To reactivate the Mask choose Object > Enable Mask.

  • Remove Mask

When you select Object > Remove Mask a pop-up menu promts you to confirm and enables you to apply or discard the selected mask before removal.

  • To remove the Mask and make the changes permanent, click Yes.
  • To remove the Mask without applying the changes, click No..