Masking Q - Lasso an Pen tool.

[Craig Ryder]

Hi:
I am having a problem with masking. Situation/procedure is this:

I am trying to add small parts of an upper layer to a lower/main layer.

I select the upper layer, make a section in the upper layer with the lasso tool then click add a new mask icon. A black mask is created and the selection in the upper layer is added to the main/bottom layer. I can then add additional selections to the same mask by using the lasso tool to make additional selections and then hitting the delete tool. The mask must be selected and the black white toggle must be set to black. This works great. I can add many selections in one mask.

However, if I go to the pen tool to make a selection in this process, when I hit delete the mask goes to white and it will not work. Everything I have selected with the lasso tool is lost and, because the mask is white on the upper layer, I am looking at the inverse of what I am trying to create.

Why won't my pen tool work like my lasso tool? I've seen it done so I must be doing something (or have a setting) wrong.

Edit: also, once I've used the Pen tool and want to "undo" it, the undo option says "undo clear" if that means anything to anyone. Apparently I am clearing something instead of adding a selection when I hit delete when using the Pen Tool.

Thanks,

Craig

 

[IamSam]

The Pen Tool should be set to PATH, if so, you must first right click near the path and choose "make a selection", then hit delete or choose SELECTION from the Pen Tools option bar .

 

[IamSam]

Sorry, I wasn't paying attention!!

Set your Pen Tool's Path Operations to Combine Shapes.

edit: Also make sure that after setting the path op to combine shapes, using the Pen Tool, making a selection, that the selection you created with the Pen Tool is the only thing selected. If you have marching ants around the the selection and the outside of the document, inverse the selection.

 

[Craig Ryder]

Thanks for the reply.

Pen is was set to path and I am making the path a selection (by hitting Command/enter) before hitting delete.

The problem is that it always comes up as a white mask and therefore hides the bottom layer when I hit delete to add the new selection to the mask. It does not work this way if I use the Lasso tool.

When I use my pen tool to make a small path and then turn it into a selection the "marching ant" selection line is all the way around the picture too. Not just the area I've selected. Isn't this like there is an invert selection happening for some reason?

Thanks
Craig

 

[Craig Ryder]

Thanks, I believe you solved my problem I will work with it a bit more to confirm. I set it to combine shapes. Somehow it had been set to "subtract from shape" and I was getting results I couldn't understand.
First couple moves I am making work as expected now. Hopefully that's it.

Thank you very much!!!!!