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Alpha Mask Import Plugin (2.0)


Illnab1024

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The_Lionhearted's post is dated May 31, 2007.

If you look at the PdN forum post for that Tutorial, you'd see that T_Lh has since posted there extolling the virtues of said Tutorial...

Yeah, we were all very aware when CMD finished that Tutorial.

Well I did a search for alpha masking last month when I was trying to figure out how to use it and nothing useful came up. So I assumed the results would be the same this month, and since the person asking the question didn't edit his post saying that he had found one I again assumed that he had NOT regardless of the date it was posted. And even if he had, I figured a link to that tutorial would be relevant in this topic seeing how it's using this exact plug-in. I thought if someone new (like me) had came across this plug-in and wanted to know how to use it that that link would be useful and convenient since it's now posted in this topic and they don't have to Google the web for it.

Sorry for wasting everyones time and precious posting space on this topic since obviously all of us (even us noobs) are all very aware of this tutorial.

Sorry if you didn't mean what you said as rude or sarcastic, but I took it as such, and I'm not in a good mood right now.

/end rant

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Sorry if I sounded a little rude. Please let me qualify my last statement...

Yeah, we (interested parties; including T_Lh) were all very aware when (back in Jun. 07) CMD finished that Tutorial.

------------

I agree that the tutorial should be linked in this post; but, it'd probably be best if a Mod plugged the link into the main post, for all to easily find?

 

Take responsibility for your own intelligence. 😉 -Rick Brewster

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Sorry if I sounded a little rude. Please let me qualify my last statement...
Yeah, we (interested parties; including T_Lh) were all very aware when (back in Jun. 07) CMD finished that Tutorial.

------------

I agree that the tutorial should be linked in this post; but, it'd probably be best if a Mod plugged the link into the main post, for all to easily find?

Sorry that I was rude, and yes I agree it should be plugged into the main post, along with the other two links people have supplied also showing what this plug-in does.

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I have found this plugin one of the most useful of all. I have a question/problem with it, though. I understand the concept of the plugin and am able to implement it. However, when I have a picture, apparently when the picture includes transparent pixels, the plugin does not seem to render the mask correctly. Consider my layer toolbox:

mask_prob_01.png

I have a blue background and a black layer with the text cut out by using the alpha mask earlier. So, where the text is, it is transparent. I applied gaussian blur to the black layer, creating a feathered look/inner glow within the text. I then use the alpha mask (a white background with black text; a png) and expect this:

mask_prob_02.png

Instead of that I get something like this:

mask_prob_03.png

Apparently, the pixels in the black layer that have any (or a certain amount of) alpha are just being rendered as without alpha and opaque. This is my conclusion based upon playing with the alpha mask. It seems to render a certain a pixel with a certain percentage of alpha (say less than 50%) as opaque and a certain percentage of alpha (say over 50%) as transparent. I am expecting the mask to keep the pixels that are to be shown exactly as they are on the layer, but that is not happening. I think this is a bug of sorts, or maybe just an oversight? Any input would be appreciated.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

-Jim Elliot

John 3:36

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi there! I really like this plugin, but in the update, the mix alpha feature confuses me. If I have a layer below the one I am masking, isn't it going to affect the one I am masking when checking off the mix alpha, or will an imported layer above the masked layer be affected? Sorry if this has been explained before, it is possible I didn't get it. :oops:

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Well, I don't consider this double posting, since it was a few days ago that I last posted, but experimenting with alpha mask 1.2, I discovered that I could mask a layer, and if the layer below was black, it could show through or be covered up, depending if the new feature was checked. I'll experiment more.

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  • 1 month later...

Dont know if your still hanging around but I use this plugin constantly, I would not be able to survive without it haha, thanks a ton!

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  • 3 weeks later...

quick question before I go requesting a plugin and look like an idiot in the General Discussion: If I was to set certain portions of an alpha mask transparent, would I be able to use the settings to only change the transparency of the image instead of deleting all Alpha pixels?

signature.png

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Mike Ryan, I was thinking about what you were saying and so I just tested this on your signature:

170896-Untitled.png

I feel kind of stupid not knowing you could use it for transparency like this! Well now I have good use for it :)

"By trying to reinvent the wheel every time we find very often with square wheels" ...X-blaster

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wow - this was the only feature I've ever found PDN lacking. If I knew C#, I'd just code it myself, but all of my development has been in unmanaged C++.

Thanks a lot!

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  • 1 month later...

@Illnab1024:

I should have said this months ago:

Most.Useful. Plug-in. Evah!!!

In my media classes, I get my students to do A LOT of image compositing - and this plug-in makes it a breeze...

If anyone is interested, I posted a Student Handout: (http://www.geocities.com/gerry_satrapa/Compositing.pdf)...

Is it worth a Tutorial (PM me if you think so)? I did search, but couldn't find a similar tutorial :|

[img]http://www.geocities.com/gerry_satrapa/PDNsig.jpg[/img]

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@Illnab1024:

I should have said this months ago:

Most.Useful. Plug-in. Evah!!!

In my media classes, I get my students to do A LOT of image compositing - and this plug-in makes it a breeze...

If anyone is interested, I posted a Student Handout: (http://www.geocities.com/gerry_satrapa/Compositing.pdf)...

Is it worth a Tutorial (PM me if you think so)? I did search, but couldn't find a similar tutorial :|

WOW. :shock: That is a great PDF. There has been a tutorial on it though, by CMD:

http://cmdsketchpad.com/tutorial.php?tutid=3

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Why have I to save the mask before I apply the mask?

That would require two images - the alpha mask and the image. Effects plugins can only access one layer of one image each time per-run.

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  • 4 weeks later...

First off I love this plugin and use it constantly but there is an issue thats starting to bug me about it.

It seems that after using the plugin to make a mask from an image there are left over pixels from the original image.

Original image and mask:

am1rb3.png

After using the plugin:

am2my8.png

As you can see there are leftovers from the original image. Is there a way to maybe edit the code and stop this from happening or is it just something I'm gonna have to deal with? Thanks

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@Jake2K: It seems, from your image, that the pixels left over are from when black meets white. Perhaps something to do with the Mix Alpha option?

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jake2k, the plugin only affects the Alpha channel. The other channels (Red, Green, and Blue) will be unaffected and therefore the color information is still there, just not visible. If you need to remove the RGB info, it's fairly simple to do so with Curves+ or even just the Delete key.

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