Mask like a PRO - Affinity Photo Essentials

[@OlivioSarikas]

What is your favorite way to mask? And what tutorial do you want to see next? :)

[@beausoleilb1]

Olivio Sarikas have you done any videos yet on sharpening a photo, specifically the facial features? How about inpainting, cloning and healing? Thank you for all your great videos so far.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Also check out my other "essentials" and "tricks" videos on my channel :)

[@OlivioSarikas]

Hi Brian, you can use the search function on my channel to find some of these videos :) Sharpening the facial features sounds interesting. i will put that into my list of video :)

[@annewatman677]

Olivio Sarikas I would like to create some silhouettes from photos. Is there any easy way to do that?

[@tymcat]

See my comment - how to use the image itself as a mask. It's possible in Photoshop, but somehow the mask in AP seems to be different from pixels, channels and alpha channels.

[@mikesrandomchannel]

Ooh that ALT-layer click tip at the end is going to improve my brush masks no end, thank you!

[@bannor4-930]

Oh wow, I love your Channels Masking technique. I love all your masking techniques, but the Channels Mask is exactly what I have been looking for and I was not even aware it was possible. Very good video, full of great information that was easy to follow. Thank you so much for this video.

[@Stevieboyfpv]

just about to switch to affinity from adobe. your tutorials are and have been fantastic! research before I did. loving the look of affinitys capabilities under correct use. subscribed and returning to learn more! Thankyou!

[@whomadethatsaltysoup]

Thank you for sharing! I really liked the clear explanation of channels. And, of course, that was my favourite mask.👍

[@kuenstler52]

Ganz grossen Dank Olivio für das, einmal mehr, super Tutorial !!!!

[@OlivioSarikas]

Danke, Armin. Freue mich das es dir gefallen hat

[@bamboo2water]

Hi Olivio, I learn something everyday from you. I have done a bit of masking and feel comfortable with it. But I have been doing a lot of compositing for a book I am working on. And for some reason the mask, no matter how I refined it, kept having “ghost like borders” that I couldn’t get rid of. I walked away for a few days frustrated. I had saved this masking video to watch. I watched it-and everything was very useful. But the pen tool discussion was very interesting. In fact, taking what you taught me, and tweaking it a little bit, I was able to completely solve my masking problem and get what I wanted. In addition, I absolutely love the ability to go into the Curves layer and tweak the nodes. I have used the Pen Tool a lot, but I had never thought of using it this way. You are always teaching me! Thanks for all you do! the Best, bamboo-water (rich pack)

[@OlivioSarikas]

Thank you, Bamboo :) Really happy i could help. If you have a "haze" around selections, you can also try to use the blend ranges. have a look if that help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2fRap2modiXpdE

[@sandrasmith2137]

This was great! All the selection videos go into using a selection brush and refine tool. Have not seen anything like this before. This would have been a good addition to your recent video about 10 videos to watch in addition to the regular selection tools information.

[@DaryaSaidPhotography]

Very well illustrated tutorial. Thanks for sharing valuable tips and tricks.

[@nevaiddd]

I like the pen mask more, and your videos are very helpful. Thank you. ❤

[@markgoretsky766]

Incredibly resourceful tutorial. Thank you and best wishes, Olivio!

[@genesiskeefer2266]

homaigoodness i have been struggling with understanding how masks work, but somehow the way you explained it almost immediately allowed me to understand it so much better. thank you for this!

[@mmanning8041]

Really enjoy your in depth tutorials. I was thinking of changing to Adobe, but not anymore. Thanks so much

[@jerryandmelaniekf5781]

another clearly explained logical sequence by a friendly master!

[@carmenmerzhoffmann]

Hervorragende und hilfreiche Tools, danke Olivio. My favorite way to mask: vermutlich mit dem Pinsel und den Kanälen. Aber es sind alle 5 Wege interessant. Gerne würde ich mal ein Tutorial über Auswahl verfeinern sehen.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Danke Carmen. Pinsel verwende ich auch sehr gerne für Masken. Ist einfach sehr intuitiv :)

[@BGATCARNEGIEHALL]

Fantastic video. Well described and easy to understand. Very well done Olivio. Keep well.

[@BB-wh1nr]

Thank you! SUCH A GOOD VIDEO! This one is my favorite so far

[@sidneyjohnson6895]

Nice one Oli! I like the innovation that you are delivering in this tutorial. More tools in the toolbox lol. Request: Could you go over Refining - Cut-out's - and Selections and how to remove the fringe junk around it for a more clean removal? Maybe it's me but AP seems a little buggy at times. Nothing clear and clean.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Thank you Sidney, i put it into my List and will make it as one of my next "Essentials" Videos :)

[@jer3006]

So useful even 2 yrs later! Thank you. My most often used Mask is the Gradient for my outdoor images. Loved the 3-node gradient you showed here, greatly enhances the usual 2-node gradient and will likely become my new std. 😁 The Group Mask is great for eye enhancements. I see from your demo that I should involve the Color Channels Mask and the Pen Tool Mask more in my editing.

[@wrzlbrnth4092]

I use the selection brush too create masks also use the channels quite often to create masks. You can extend or subtract from the channel mask selection also with the selection brush so this is very versatile. Schoen gemacht Olivio deine Tutorials sind die besten

[@OlivioSarikas]

Good point, hans. I should have put that into the video too. :)

[@SamuelRamirezTijuana]

Hello Olivio, excellent tutorial, I use the masking tool a lot, and I mean like all the time. I love your work man.

[@detectorbro]

excellent tutorial. was super helpful. everything i was looking for in one video. thanks.

[@tjorgensen2007]

Thank you for sharing your talents with us. This was very useful information for me. I had just recently purchased the trio of Affinity software and now ready for photos, designs, and publishing things. I will be looking forward to watching more of your videos very soon. Thank you again.

[@chrisboyce4733]

Absolutely great tutorial for masking, I will use these techniques on my next project. Oli you are brill👍

[@haraldgrunsky397]

I will switch to affinity leavin adobe behind very soon. Very nice video, powerful knowledge! Good to know you are here! :-)

[@OlivioSarikas]

Awesome, thank you!

[@cptbrncls7050]

Very helpful - thank you Olivio

[@OlivioSarikas]

My pleasure!

[@JyrkiGrohn]

You can also drag the curve on the layer’s thumbnail picture and the curve will turn into mask. This works also with ipad.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Cool, thank you Grohn. I didn't know that :)

[@rolandrick]

Does someone know how to extract a once made integrated mask from a live filter/adjustment layer at a later point in time, if you e.g. decide to add multiple filters/adjustment layers and want to apply the once made mask no longer on a single layer but the whole group?

[@JyrkiGrohn]

In Ipad: select masked layer, go to selections-persona and from ”...”-menu ”selection from layer”. Now you should have the mask as selection (marching ants). Go to layers-panel and make a new mask-layer. In ipad I couldn’t find the easy way to remove an integrated mask from layer. The only way to remove it is to paint white on the mask. With computer it should need only to select the thumbnail and press ”backspace”.

[@enthusiaticbeginner]

I have learned so many things in this particular video, Olivio. Great stuff!

[@OlivioSarikas]

Awesome, Jim, happy i could help :)

[@paulcharman8113]

Thinking I will need to watch this video several times as the masks shown are very different from those I've created although I have to say the effects are superb. Finding it difficult to look at a picture and understand what adjustments are required to improve it in the way you do. Is this skill one that takes a while to accomplish?

[@SailEtherow]

Creating the Group and adding a black mask by modifying the new mask layer with the Alt key is very interesting. It could be useful to have some tutorials focusing on extending other click functions with such modifiers.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Great idea, Sail, i will put it in my list :)

[@chuctanundaspiderbone5407]

I don't think I can say I like one technique over another. I can think of several situations where one technique or another would be most beneficial. This tutorial will take some study, given all the different tools and techniques you showed us. I usually just use the selection brush and go from there, but these techniques, and some tools I hadn't learned about yet, like how to use color channels for masking, provides more power, subtlety and flexibility to Affinity's already awesome masking tools. Thanks for this.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Hi Spider, to be honest, i mostly also use the selection brush and freehand tools. The others are more for special occasions, at least in my workflow ;)

[@wrzlbrnth4092]

baering gemacht und interessant, I use blend ranges instead of restricting the curve to shadows.... also works

[@lazvaldes2857]

once you have a pixel selection, you can refine it by using the 'Selection Brush Tool' and experimenting with the 'add' or the 'subtract' buttons to further refine the 'pixel' selection' that will become the mask. YOu can also go to 'Select' (top menu) and click on 'Invert Pixel Selection' and invert the mask from the original selection (the boat) to the rest of the scene.

[@robestey5628]

Thank you very much. I have subscribed.

[@athraadr1838]

Thanks very much , you deserve a big like to this tutorial , Please do more and more about affinity photo 👍

[@7h249]

very clear instruction

[@jester1034]

Great tips!!!

[@colemyst]

Wonderful information. When I took classes, back when Graphic Design was called Graphic Art, yeah a long time ago. There was so much to learn and the professors often just said "play around with it until you get a style you like". Though I understood the sentiment, there were so many techniques we just didn't know were even possible. Being able to replay a video until it sticks in my head is such a nice help. Thanks you. I have a question off topic. I was told in school that you should ALWAYS start your design in the end result color format, yet I find now some say it doesn't matter everything should start in RGB because you can change it to CMYK before exporting as a png. (I work on designs that would normally be printed with a home printer or on a design-on-demand such as a T-Shirt.) I also find making brushes don't seem to work well created in CMYK. I just wonder if I should start every project as a RGB and convert it later. Thoughts?

[@trevorhansen4943]

Hello Olivio, you are very clever. Have you ever considered putting an ebook together for those of us that are a wee bit slow lol

[@alainadamski7703]

Hello my friend, ;-) Very good tuto Olivio, 5 nice ways on mask . Thank you very mutch .

[@OlivioSarikas]

You are welcome, Alain. Thx for watching :)

[@imzaazmi]

thank you so much sir ..very good tutorial 🙏🏼👍👍

[@alnwick00]

Thank you for this very informative video.

[@OlivioSarikas]

You are welcome :)

[@Qwas1999]

Most of the time I use the magic wand to make my mask. It's easy and fast. Afterward applying the mask, I can go in with the paint brush tool and clean up the mask by using white or black on the mask.

[@Qwas1999]

I would like to see a tutorial on using the Refine option on the mask and all of its options.

[@OlivioSarikas]

that's a great way too :) Also thank you for the suggestion about refining the selection. i will cover that in my videos about selections :)

[@filippoz1976]

Bravissimo, complimenti!

[@ssojyeti2]

great tutorial. I just moved from photoshop to affinity because I was tired of the lag

[@juannavarrete2546]

amazing videos, so glad i subscribed!

[@OlivioSarikas]

Welcome aboard!

[@cezicase]

very well explained, thank you!

[@OlivioSarikas]

you are welcome, cees :)

[@justsendit8506]

Thank you for sharing these very useful techniques! 🎨

[@OlivioSarikas]

You are welcome :)

[@SonnySaguil]

Great tutorial. I've been a Photoshop user for a very long time and my workflow utilizes a lot of masking normally derived from channels. Is there a way to use an adjustment (curve or level) on the mask? This is very easy to do in PS but can't find a way to do it in Affinity.

[@alan-muscat]

Brilliant. Thank you

[@malhamishery9]

Your tutorials are great, except....Affinit is such a powerful and complex tool that has so many aspects. It is sometimes difficulty to follow when you combine multiple elements into one tutorial. I have been following you for.a few years and have learned so much, but like this tutorial I got lost and could never duplicate what you have done. I write this comment with apparition for your skill and the hopes this feedback might help improve future tutorials. Blessings !

[@Nostradamus21b]

Terrific VIDEO!!

[@OlivioSarikas]

Thank you, Nostradamus :)

[@PierGiorgioZuccaro]

Awesome video...

[@martynjohnstone6022]

Thank you this was just what I needed as I prepare to design my Christmas cards.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Happy to help, Martin :)

[@ToastandJam52]

This is fantastic!!! This is going to help me out a lot. Thank you very much!

[@OlivioSarikas]

Thank you, ToastandJam52

[@timtee3691]

Hello Olivia, Tim here from New Zealand. I've been watching some of your tutorials and learning quite a lot. Could you help with some advice on the best method for cutting out a particular selection and recolouring the result. I have been able to get an okay result but maybe you have some secret sauce to speed up the process as I have a few hundred images to process... maybe I can send you an example file ?

[@OlivioSarikas]

please join my facebook group and share the image there so we can see what the specific issue ist :) facebook.com/groups/oliviotutorials.superfan

[@raymonddasilva7419]

I would like your lessons to also be in the iPad platform, as I have hard time trying to follow your pc video on my iPad Pro

[@OlivioSarikas]

Hi Raymond, sadly i don't have a iPad, so i can't do tutorials on that.

[@mbrylewski]

you are a star!

[@WaldirBorbaJunior]

Fantastic... I really appreciate it.

[@OlivioSarikas]

You are welcome, Waldir

[@wronaphoto4541]

Great tutorials Olivio, many thanks, but here I have a problem, When I create a curves adjustment layer, and then make goup of it, and then mask it by pressing alt & mask button, I get white mask, not black, why?

[@OlivioSarikas]

this might have changed since i made this video. select the mask and go to the menu layer->invert or CTRL+i

[@steven__stark2502]

can make on adding graphics to complex perspectives in affinty

[@lazvaldes2857]

On using the 'pen tool' to create a layer: you can , once you ahve made 1 adjustment layer as Olivio explains, 'duplicate' the curve layer, move the duplicate all the way to the top of the stack, add another adjustment layer (as in the first adjustment process) and then 'mask to below' again with the new adjustment and create an new masked adjustment on top of the original masked adjustment. I tried using a 'group' but the 'mask to below' would only affect 1 single adjustment layer. I there is a way to use the same 'mask' from the pen tool selection, please post

[@serwoschamutzki]

Vielen Dank für dein mega Tutorial!!!

[@OlivioSarikas]

Danke Serwo :)

[@irelana2650]

Great Stuff - What's the best way to select sky and make it a lush blue when it is a little blown out? - or better to just replace sky

[@OlivioSarikas]

Hi Anthony, check out these 2 videos if they help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYmcq2OVmpiBrLM and kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooa0qHadip5nZ6s

[@pjclarke2336]

Hi Olivio, I’m trying to find a simple layers method for real estate “window pulls” in Affinity Photo. Any help or direction appreciated. And thank you for your tutorials.

[@Goldmangun]

Some great 'sauce' here thank you!

[@OlivioSarikas]

That’s very kind of you, Gold :)

[@markrobinson3563]

Hi Olivio, I'm an Affinity Photo newcomer, which videos of your's would you recommend I watch. I stumbled across this one, fantastic content, but it kinda blew my mind! Help.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Hi Mark, i have named some videos "Essentials" they explain some basic things. You can also search my channel for the word "basics" that brings up may good video to start with. Other than that, i would simply suggest you look through the titles and simply select what you need at the moment :)

[@markrobinson3563]

@@OlivioSarikas Thanks very much Olivio. In the meantime I've purchased your Black Friday special which I'm looking forward to using. Talking of which, have you done a video on how to use them or get the best out of them. Many thanks Mark

[@40MileDesertRat]

Bravo!

[@PoulBruun29]

When you have closed the shape, (6:13) then click on the 'mask' button next to `choice, it's easier :-)

[@OlivioSarikas]

Thank you, Poul. That's very smart way to do it too :) It's important to have the shape right above the layer you want to mask for that to work (which is not immediately obvious), or it will ent up on another layer :) - probably a technique for a bit more advanced users :)

[@ronnyb5890]

thanx olivio,great mask video,hey this rhymes :-)

[@OlivioSarikas]

Thank you, ROnny, it does :)

[@FifaInspected]

Olivio...I really appreciate your channel. In designer how would I create a shape that would expose a transparent background through the layer below? Think of a circle on top of a square - on top of a transparent background... I want a hole in the square. Thanks.

[@OlivioSarikas]

You create a square, then a circle on top and select both, subtract the shapes and you now have a square with a hole in the middle. set the document to transparent background and export it as a png ;)

[@FifaInspected]

@@OlivioSarikas Thank you so much!

[@JyrkiGrohn]

Draw a rectangle, then draw a circle and group them together. Select the circle-layer and change it’s blend mode to erase. Now the circle makes a hole in rectangle.

[@FifaInspected]

@@JyrkiGrohn thanks!

[@paultaylor6531]

the small checkerboard thumbnail labelled curve appeared when you started using the pen tool at 6:10 into the video I followed the exercise ok up to this point but no thumbnail appears when I start to draw my selection so I had to use a fill layer instead for my selection to fill with black I followed the remainder of the exercise and can brighten and darken my selection but now the nodes on the selection are missing so I cannot try out the node tool

[@OlivioSarikas]

Are you sure you are using the pen tool and not something else? Also make sure that you are not clicking on any other curves while using the pen tool. Other than that i can't imagine what went wrong. Did you curve make appear as a child layer to another layer? (the little triangle that let's you look into groups)

[@paultaylor6531]

@@OlivioSarikas Thanks for replying to my problem I started the exercise again and where I went wrong was when I finished my selection I clicked on the selection button adjacent to the fill button which made the curve layer disappear . The nodes stay put now .

[@BillHendricksShadowmason]

Hi... I am wondering how best to set up my Wacom and pen for painting with Affinity Photo Desktop. I'd love to see a tutorial on that and painting on a clipping mask.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Hi, Bill. I would rather suggest that you use krita for painting which is free and then use Affinity photo for finishing the work with nice effects. Other than that I would suggest that you set your walcom to use the screen resolution and ratio, so it is equal to your hand movement. Try it by seeing if circles you paint on your Wacom are also round in the software.

[@BillHendricksShadowmason]

@@OlivioSarikas Thanks for taking the time to answer. I am watching your comparison between Affinity Photo vs Krita now. Very thorough. : )

[@FlameRat_YehLon]

For digital illustration that are mostly hard lines it might be a better choice to purchase CSP or SAI (they are solely for digital drawing with minimum image processing capability), but that's up to you. Clipping mask wise, in Affinity Photo I don't think there's any way to "clip to alpha", which means you have to either raster to mask or only clip to solid shapes. For Krita I also can't find it. So basically, if you need raster clipping groups both Affinity and Krita aren't for you. I would suggest CSP or SAI (the former has more features but is harder to use and is a nightmare to set up, the latter is much easier to use but can become a nightmare when the project is complicated enough with the lack of nondestructive workflow support, and is more expensive). Alternatively if you only need super basic stuffs there's a free version of FireAlpaca available (which has proper clip to alpha).

[@oliash2109]

Hi trying to follow this and other similar tutorials but I can't seem to get the masking to work. For some reason even when I select the mask layer and try to paint black or white onto it, nothing shows up... I have followed this tutorial to the letter but it still doesn't work for me. Any Ideas? I can only paint black or white to reveal background/foreground on the bottom pixel layer.

[@OlivioSarikas]

Please make a screenshot and post it with your question in my facebook group, so we can take a look: facebook.com/groups/oliviotutorials.superfan

[@oliash2109]

@@OlivioSarikas Thank you I have sent a request on FB to join your group :).

[@OlivioSarikas]

@@oliash2109 thank oyu. I already added you :)

[@matthewcheung5136]

Masking didn't work for me! My subject is back lit and I want to bring out some colours. I don't have the two white circles, I have 1 white and 1 black. I tried both and neither one worked.

[@paultaylor6531]

Cannot find the mask below command for iPad version any ideas ?

[@thechosenone2823]

Still no mask below function.

[@AugustoANouelP]

Do you know what, Olivio? For filtering/adjusting details, I'd rather use my old technique: Select... Copy... Paste... Adjust/Filter. Just working on the details directly... no masks needed.

[@OlivioSarikas]

You can do that, but if you want to change the area later on, you need to do all of that again, while with a mask you simply change the mask :)

[@autoauto2000]

whats wrong with olivio.......yes, no cap🙂

[@clumein2]

Way too fast for me... not for beginner... but I love your channel!

[@OlivioSarikas]

Hi Cliff, you can slow down the video and watch parts multiple times. Does that help? This videos is probably a bit more advanced and not really suited if you just get started. It's best to get a better understanding of layers and masks first. Have a look here, if that helps: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJrEpo1jha-FbM0

[@davidpringuer3553]

"Make it stronger than you need it and this will enable you to see where you are painting" WHAT A RIDICULOUS WORKFLOW!!!!!! Why not enable a translucent mask layer so that you can see where you are painting your mask.Incredibly clunky.

[@matrixate]

I'm sorry but I find myself getting more frustrated the longer I watch this tutorial.