Adobe PHOTOSHOP 5.0 User Manual page 288

280 CHAPTER 11
Using Layers
2 To turn on the mask, do one of the following:
Click the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers
•
palette.
Choose Layer > Enable Layer Mask.
•
To change the rubylith display for a layer mask:
Do one of the following:
1
Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS)
•
the layer mask thumbnail to select the layer mask
channel; then double-click the layer mask
thumbnail.
Double-click the layer mask channel in the
•
Channels palette.
To choose a new mask color, click the color
2
swatch and choose a new color as described in
"Using the Adobe Photoshop Color Picker" on
page 218.
To change the opacity, enter a value between 0%
3
and 100%.
Both the color and opacity settings affect only the
appearance of the mask and have no effect on how
underlying areas are protected. For example,
changing these settings might make the mask
more easily visible against the colors in the image.
4 Click OK.
Applying and discarding layer masks
When you have finished creating a layer mask, you
can either apply the mask and make the changes
permanent or discard the mask without applying
changes. Because layer masks are stored as alpha
channels, applying and discarding layer masks
may help reduce file size. For more information,
see "About channels and file size" on page 239.
To apply or discard a layer mask:
Click the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers
1
palette.
Do one of the following:
2
Click the Trash button at the bottom of the
•
Layers palette.
Choose Layer > Remove Layer Mask.
•
3 Remove the mask:
To remove the layer mask and make the changes
•
permanent, click Apply.
To remove the layer mask without applying the
•
changes, click Discard.