Selections, Paths, Masks, And Channels

1 SELECTIONS, PATHS, MASKS, AND CHANNELS

(Based on Photoshop, but also works in other programs like The Gimp, which is a free program.)

Terms and concepts for working with selections, paths, masks, and channels.
Knowing the differences between each and also between these and layers.

The Rectangular and Elliptical Marquees are the simplest selection tools.
Click and drag in the Tools palette on the arrow in the bot-tom corner
of the Rectangular Marquee, or press Shift-M,
to change between the Elliptical and Rectangular marquee.

Before you can understand all the possibilities of how selections, paths, masks
and channels are used in Photoshop, you need to know the basic concepts.
What exactly is a selection and how do you make a selection using the Photo-edit tools?

What is a mask channel, how does a selection become a mask channel
and how do you edit a mask channel using different tools to allow you
to isolate the necessary parts of an image to achieve a particular effect?

This includes understanding what a selection feather or a mask blur is
and how these affect the edges of blended selections.
We will discuss the concept of opacity, which affects image blending,
and show you how to effectively use the Channels palette.
We will talk a bit about using paths,which are really just another form of selections.

Another basic concept you need to comprehend is that a selection
or a mask channel can also instantly become a layer mask for either a regular layer,
a fill layer, or an adjustment layer.
We will discuss how selections become layer masks in the coming parts.


The Magic Wand tool.
TIP:
Click a certain color in an image and automatically
select pixels based on that color.

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