Masking paths

Masks are used to select specific elements of an image, so that individual areas of an image can be edited separately from each other. The huge advantage is that the original image is alwys preserved under the masks. Due to this, maskings are often used to create several color variations of the same object. With the aid of masking paths, products or particular elements of an image can be recoloured. Moreover, professional image editors use masks for clippingg and montage since you can integrate image content into the masked area of another picture.

Masking techniques

There are two main approaches to masking in digital image processing. First, there is the possibilty to create grey scale channels, that add an extra channel with image information. Every layer containing a mask obtains an own channel, whose opacity can be adjusted from completely transparent to completely opaque. Using grey scale channels the masks always have the samel resolution as the image itself and can contain partial and half transparencies. Thus, this masking technique produces fluent transitions.

The second technique makes use of layers that are based on vectors. Unlike grey scale channels they are completely independent of the image's resolution or the output device. Therefore, they produce sharp transitions. 

We combine both techniques to provide you with perfect results at any time. With every new picture individual demands and challenges come along that our experinced partners recognise and fulfill unerringly. 

Decide for yourself which tasks you want to transfer to our Bildschliff experts. We can provide you with masking paths that you can use for further editing steps – or we sette the whole editing for you, including colour correction, retouch and more.