Paint Shop Pro Tutorials by Karen

Masking images is fun, and you can get many interesting or even beautiful results with different masks, patterns and pictures. I think masked photographs can be especially good for making your own unique greetings cards etc...and it is really quick and simple to do! Here`s how I make a basic masked patterned image which I use for cards and graphics alike.

Open the image you wish to work on. Go to layers / duplicate then masks / view mask. Now go to masks / load from disk and select a mask, click on it`s name and click open (fig 1)... you will notice the shape of the mask shows as a red area, this is normal. (fig 2)

EASY~PEASY MASKED IMAGE WITH PATTERN FILL BACKGROUND

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial which was written for P.S.P V7, but should adapt for other versions.

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You will need a picture or photograph, a mask and a fill pattern. I am going to use my photo of a local lake, which I added special effects filters to, my own fill pattern and a mask I made from a clipart image. You can right click my photo and fill pattern below and save to your computer if you like, and you can download the mask HERE, but remember to extract the zip into your psp masks folder. To use the fill pattern, open in psp and minimise it (click the minus sign at the top) it will then be available to use from the patterns pallette.

Now go to effects / texture effects / sculpture and select a fill pattern then click ok (fig 3)

Your pattern should now show up around the masked photo area. Now go to masks / delete... answer yes to the popup box (fig 4 / 5)

That`s it...easy~peasy! Why not try different photos, masks, fill patterns... add borders or frames, and there are many more things you can do when you know the basics!