Hello everyone! Today I would like to talk to you about quick mask.

 

In digital art, when we speak of "selection" we mean a feature that "selects" a specific area, and while that area is selected, we cannot paint or fill anything out of it. The typical tools to create a selection are the magic wand and the lasso, but "quick mask" is very handy when we want to create a selection from complex areas (AKA areas with lots of lines and closed spaces, like the hair here).

Let's see how a quick mask works.

Applying QUICK MASK.

First we go to the "Select" menu and we click on "Quick Mask".

You will see a new layer called "Quick Mask" is created on your layer menu. Everything you paint on this layer will be red, no matter what color you're trying to use (don't worry, this is normal!).

 

What we're going to do now is to fill with red all the area that we want to select "later" (it's not selected yet!). We can use the bucket to fill the area we want to select:

But we can also use the brush to paint the area manually (any brush! Even decoration ones or airbrush if you like).

If we want to erase some part, all we have to do is to select the "blank" color (or use the eraser):

We will color all the area we want to have selected with red, and once we're done, we go back to the "Select" menu and we click on "Quick Mask" again to deactivate it.

When we do this, a selection is created where it was red before, and the "Quick Mask" layer disappears from our layer menu.

Now we can fill, apply gradients or use brushes in this area without painting outside by mistake. Handy!

TRICK: saving selected areas for later.

One last trick!

 

Because we might need this selection later, there's a way to "save" it. Before you deselect the current area, go to the "Selection" menu and click on "Convert to Selection Layer".

The selected area will become green, but don't worry! This is just a visual aid like the red for the quick mask. You can hide this selection layer by clicking on the eye next to it.

So now when you want to reselect this area again, all you have to do is to right click on that layer (whether it's hidden or not, it doesn't matter), go to "Selection from Layer" and then "Create Selection".

This will reselect the same area again.

 

*[TIP ] You can create a folder for all your selection layers so you can access it quickly whenever you need it.

That would be it for quick mask! I am very happy if you liked this tutorial (^^) For more tutorials, you can check my YouTube:

Or my Patreon:

To simply check my art, you can do so on any of my social media:

Thank you very much!