PSU_February_2016_PDF

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step nine: Before we wrap up erasing,
two quick things: (1) as with the
brush, you have complete control over
how your Erase brush works in the
very bottom section of the Adjustment
Brush panel. Click on the word Erase (as
shown here) and it displays the settings
for the Erase brush. You can choose the
Size, Feather (how soft the edges are),
Flow (whether it paints a solid stroke at
100% opacity or whether you want it to
build up as you paint), and you can turn
on/off Auto Mask (we’ll talk about that
next). (2) You have two regular brushes
to choose from, as well, called “A”
and “B,” and you can choose their settings.
I usually make my “A” brush have
a soft edge and my “B” brush have a
hard edge (I lower the Feather amount
to 0), so if I run into a situation where
I’m painting along a wall or other area
where a soft edge looks weird, I can
toggle over to my “B” brush using the
Backslash (/) key on my keyboard.
› › photoshop user › february 2016
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step ten: I’m going to switch to a
new image for just a moment to talk
about Auto Mask (you turn this on/off
near the bottom of the panel). When it’s
on, it kind of senses where the edges of
things are and keeps you from accidentally
painting where you don’t want to.
Take a look at the image on top, here.
I want to darken the background, but
when I paint on it near the guard’s arm,
it also paints over his arm. However, look
at the image at the bottom. When I turn
Auto Mask on, it senses the edge and
lets me paint over the background next
to his arm without spilling over onto it
(pretty amazing!). The trick is knowing
how it works: You see that little + (plus
sign) in the center of the brush? That
determines what gets painted, and any
area that + travels over gets painted.
So, as long as that + doesn’t go over his
arm, it won’t paint over it, even if the
outer rim of the brush extends way over
onto his arm (as shown here). As long as
you keep that off the arm, it leaves that
area alone.