For users of GIMP and Photoshop (and most likely any other graphics software).
I just thought I would post this because some people completely over look it and it could save you bags of time and hassle!
The tip is the 'Alpha to Selection' feature or 'Clipping Masks' in Photoshop.
Let's say you make a logo and you create your base circle that has a slightly blurred edge and hours later, after that selection has long been discarded, you find you need that selection for a mask on another layer or for whatever reason. In Photoshop you can create a clipping mask quite easily to 'clip' the pixels in that layer to the alpha data of a layer below that. To do this go to the layer menu and create a new layer, making sure you check the 'Use previous layer as clipping mask' button.
In GIMP, there isn't a straight forward feature, however it's still really simple. Choose the layer you want to use as a mask for another layer, and right click that layer and choose 'Alpha to Selection'. What this does is select all pixels of that layer, leaving out the transparent ones. The selection data also includes the alpha values of the pixels, so if you have something blurred at the edges, this is taken into account. Activate the quick mask to take a look at a visual representation of the selection to see what I mean. You can then right click on the layer you want to clip and choose 'Add layer mask' and then choose 'Selection'. Make sure that before you begin working on the layer, the layers mask ins't what you will be painting onto!
I hope this made sense. For novices of graphic design it probably didn't but for avid users, no doubt this method has saved them alot of hassle!
I just thought I would post this because some people completely over look it and it could save you bags of time and hassle!
The tip is the 'Alpha to Selection' feature or 'Clipping Masks' in Photoshop.
Let's say you make a logo and you create your base circle that has a slightly blurred edge and hours later, after that selection has long been discarded, you find you need that selection for a mask on another layer or for whatever reason. In Photoshop you can create a clipping mask quite easily to 'clip' the pixels in that layer to the alpha data of a layer below that. To do this go to the layer menu and create a new layer, making sure you check the 'Use previous layer as clipping mask' button.
In GIMP, there isn't a straight forward feature, however it's still really simple. Choose the layer you want to use as a mask for another layer, and right click that layer and choose 'Alpha to Selection'. What this does is select all pixels of that layer, leaving out the transparent ones. The selection data also includes the alpha values of the pixels, so if you have something blurred at the edges, this is taken into account. Activate the quick mask to take a look at a visual representation of the selection to see what I mean. You can then right click on the layer you want to clip and choose 'Add layer mask' and then choose 'Selection'. Make sure that before you begin working on the layer, the layers mask ins't what you will be painting onto!
I hope this made sense. For novices of graphic design it probably didn't but for avid users, no doubt this method has saved them alot of hassle!
