PI8-tut_027/Part 1

PI Version: 8
Level: Beginners
Featured tools: Pick Tool, Crop Tool
Additional filters: None
Additional files: Clipart/photo ... you can download the Clipart picture I used here, or use whatever picture/photo you want.
Tutorial: Copyright © Inge Klement

DESCRIPTION: I want to show you, how you can achieve beautiful pictures with the help of Masks and PI.
Be aware ... the result of your work will always depend on which kind of picture you use, how you use the masks (in which order you apply them), which colors you choose for your fills (standard magic gradient, gradient, your own gradients, et.cetera) and of course which kind of blend mode you prefer.
But enough talk ... let's get started :))

Remember to save often!

In the first part of this tutorial I intend to explain how to transfer a picture into a mask. So those of you which know how to go on without my explanation, just skip the first part, and start with the second one right now (Part 2)!
	Open the picture/Clipart you want to use. To use a picture as mask, the picture has to be a Grayscale picture. Left click the Data Type icon (white arrow) on your below menu bar, and choose Grayscale (8-bit) ... red arrow. You can also instead of that go to Format/ Data Type, and choose the Grayscale (8-bit) from there.

	Close the original picture, which leaves you with a Grayscale picture on your screen. Right click/All, right click/Convert to Object (red arrow).

	Open your Easy Palette/Object Libraries (red arrow). Find a folder where you want to store your own masks. If necessary, create a new folder (left click the Object Libraries icon, choose Object Library Manager/ Create). I made a folder called My Masks (white arrow), and created a New Group inside this folder (right click the folder ... here My Masks ... and choose New Group). For this tutorial I called the New Group ... tut027 (1).

	Activate the Mask Library (white arrow), right click any thumbnail in this library, and choose Store Image as Selection (red arrow).

	Now activate the group you want to store your mask in ... in this case it's the one I created for this tutorial, with the name tut027 (red arrow). Click the Pick Tool (white hand), and drag your picture ... must be Grayscale (8-bit), and converted into an object (which we did before!) ... into your Easy Palette. That will open a little window (1), with the name Add to Easy Palette.

	Sample name: Selection (Obj-1) ... check that you have the word Selection (red arrow) standing here, because if not, you've made some mistake, and the picture will be saved as an image and not as a mask. Here you'll write your own name for your mask. (I used the name ... tutorial_027) Gallery/Library: My Masks ... here you can choose which Gallery/Library you want to use for your mask/image. Tab group: tut027 ... and here you can choose which under group (Tab group) you want to store your mask/image in.

	Here you'll see the mask (1) inside the Easy Palette. Go to Format/Invert (red arrow). You might wonder now, why I invert the mask ... I always do with all masks I store inside my Easy Palette. You can use masks in so many different ways, I really love to have the possibility to try different effects with different masks, and I do prefer to have the inverted mask beside the original one. Saves me a lot of work and searching later on :)) You can do as you wish, but for this tutorial, you should invert your mask too!

	Drag the inverted mask inside your Easy Palette. Choose an easy name for this mask too. For this inverted mask I used the name ... tutorial_027/1. Be sure you have the right Library and Tab group picked. Close the Grayscale picture.

	Here you'll see the 2 masks we made. The original one, which I called tutorial_027, and the inverted one, with the name tutorial_027/1.

That's it! For the 1.part of course, and now we shall have really fun, using these masks in the 2.part of the tutorial ... making beautiful pictures. HAVE FUN!!!
If you need any help with this tutorial - or want to make suggestions to improve it - please email me!