A rchive Date
[ 13-06-2000 ]
Category
[ Information Technologies ]
sub-Categoy
[ Adobe ]
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[Creating "torn" edges with a layer mask
by Peter McArdle
September 1999
Versions: 4, 5
Operating systems: Macintosh, Windows
If there's any single feature in Photoshop that's changed the look of graphic artists' work the most, it's layer masks. You see the results of designers using Photoshop layer masks in every magazine and publication. Layer masks allow you to decide how different areas within a layer are concealed and how they're revealed. You can use a layer mask to apply different special effects to a layer without really changing the pixels on that layer, and then, if you're satisfied with the mask, you can make the changes permanent, or discard the mask without changing your image. This has opened a whole world of graphical effects to artists that never existed before, or was too difficult and time-consuming to accomplish.
In this article, we'll show you how to use your scanner and a layer mask to create an authentic torn-photo look, like the one on the cover of this issue. You'll find, however, that with a little imagination this technique can be used to create many different shaped layer masks.
Ripping it up
The first step is to tear up a sheet of colored paper and scan in the pieces as grayscale on your desktop scanner. (If the inside cover of your scanner is white, which most are, you need the torn pieces to be colored to contrast with the background.) Once your torn pieces are scanned into Photoshop, go to Image>Adjust>Threshold. In the Threshold dialog box that's displayed, simply click OK to make the image black and white. Then choose Image>Adjust>Invert to make your torn pieces of paper appear white on a black background.
Choose Show Channels from the Window menu and then hold down the [z] key ([Ctrl] key in Windows) and click on the Black channel in the Channels palette to select the white areas of the image.
Preparing the photo
The next step is to prepare the photo you want to "tear." Open a photographic image in another window and press [z]A ([Ctrl]A in Windows) to select the whole image. Then choose Layer>New>Layer Via Cut. In the Layers palette, your photo appears on Layer 1 with the Background layer underneath it. To see the torn effect, the Background layer needs to be larger than the photo, so go to the Image menu and choose Canvas Size to increase the dimensions of the canvas then click OK. Or to reduce the size of the image, select Layer 1 and choose Free Transform in the Edit menu (in Photoshop 4, the Free Transform command is in the Layer menu).
Applying the mask
Now go back to your first image of the scanned torn pieces. If you haven't closed the window, the white areas should still be selected. Use the Move tool to drag them into your photographic image. The white pieces come in on their own layer, Layer 2, and you can reduce their opacity in the Layers palette to see where you want them to go. Use the Move tool and the Free Transform command to change their size and get them into position. Then [z]-click ([Ctrl]-click in Windows) on Layer 2 in the Layers palette to select them.
Now select Layer 1, the layer your photo is on, and click the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers palette. The layer is masked by the selected torn pieces in the layer above it. If you're happy with the shape and position, delete Layer 2 by selecting it and clicking the Delete Current Layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette.
That crumpled look
One of the finishing touches that we used on the cover image was adding the crumpled look to our ripped-up photo. There may be a way to create this effect with Photoshop's native filters and features, but, frankly, we don't know what it is. And we don't need to know, either, because of an amazing set of filters called Xenofex from Alien Skin Software. One of the filters in this set is called, appropriately enough, Crumple. And as you can see in the Crumple dialog box, shown in Figure A, it has a wide variety of settings and several presets, including one called Rumpled Photo.
You can download this set to demo the filters for free from Alien Skin's Web site at http://www.alienskin.com/.
Finishing up
To complete your image, double-click on the Foreground/Background Color icon at the bottom of the Toolbox and choose a color from the Color Picker that's displayed. Select the Background layer and fill it with this color by going to Edit>Fill and choosing Foreground Color from the Use dropdown menu. Then, with the Background layer still selected, choose Filter>Texture>Texturizer, and in the dialog box that's displayed, choose a texture you like and click OK. Finally, select Layer 1 and apply a drop shadow by choosing Layer>Effects>Drop Shadow (if you're using Photoshop 4, you'll have to create a drop shadow the old-fashioned way, which we don't have space to describe here!).
Conclusion
The neat thing about this kind of technique is that you can modify it to suit your needs, and apply layer masks with all types of shapes. In this article, we showed you how to create a torn paper mask, and use the technique to make a photograph look as if it's been ripped to pieces.
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Copyright © 1999, ZD Inc. All rights reserved. ZD Journals and the ZD Journals logo are trademarks of ZD Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of ZD Inc. is prohibited. All other product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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