Photoshop CS4 -- new Masks palette

Digital Darkroom Questions (DDQ)October 29, 2008by Tim Greywww.timgrey.comtim@timgrey.com
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I'm just getting started with Photoshop CS4, and was intrigued by the new Masks palette. What's your take on it?

In many respects the Masks palette is simply a collection of features and commands that were already available, packaged into a new palette (or "panel", as Adobe now calls them). However, the Feather setting in the Masks palette is very cool, and most certainly something I recommend putting to use.

I've often said that I never feather selections, and I often use hard-edged brushes when performing initial painting on a layer mask. The reason is that I prefer to start with a mask that has a hard edge, and then soften the transition by applying a Gaussian Blur directly to the mask. The primary benefit of this approach is that you can see the actual effect on the image as you apply the blur, as opposed to guessing at the best feathering setting and not being able to see the real impact on the image at the same time.

The Feather setting on the Masks palette replaces this approach, and offers the additional advantage of being editable. So, for example, if you would have otherwise applied a Gaussian Blur with a value of 3 pixels to a layer mask, you would simply set the Feather option to a value of 3 pixels on the Masks palette. The best part is that you could then refine the setting, increasing or decreasing the amount of feathering (blur) applied to the layer mask. This is yet another step toward having layers masks that can be modified with a nondestructive workflow.
The Density setting is also interesting, but not something I fine particularly useful in most cases. It was possible to apply the same effect previously by adjusting the black Output Levels control in a Levels adjustment applied directly to the mask, though the Density control is both simpler to apply and editable. So, if you find you need to effectively reduce the opacity of a layer mask, this is the tool to use.

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