Dear Debbie. . .

Anyone Else Confused By Masks?

Dear Debbie,

In your Digital Toolbox column (Save Those JPEGS, March 2007) you describe a way to adjust certain areas of a photo. You say "paint the mask." Nowhere do you describe how to do that! I am brand new to Photoshop and am trying to demystify it. I think you pros all think we novices know as much as you do!

I tried just doing things hoping the mask would "paint itself" and I could figure out what I did. No luck. Please describe in detail how to get the mask painted so I can proceed.

Thanks,
Unmasked 

Why Can't I Tone My Blacks?

Dear Debbie,

I have always been a fan of Ansel Adams and I learned that he sometimes used selenium toner to get the cold blue-blacks in his images.  I have tried using Photoshop CS2 with some tone applied as your article in the November issue shows, but I can't seem to get the blue cast into solid black areas.  I use a Canon Pixma 5000 with 4 ink cartridges.  Is there a 3rd party black ink that might help, or some other solution?

Signed,
Black and Blue in Cold Spring, KY