So here I am looking at the Dissolved circle from the previous exercise. Now the problem with it even though it's surrounded by this interesting dithered noise pattern is that I can't back off the effect, because after all I applied Gaussian Blur as a static modification. So I can increase the Blur value if I want to, just by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F or Command+Option+F on the Mac to revisit the Gaussian Blur dialog box, and I could take the Radius value up to let's say 100 pixels to really blast things out and then click OK.
But now I've applied another static helping of Gaussian Blur. Some other day when I'm working inside this file I can't back off the effect. What if you want to dissolve a layer dynamically? Well then you need to resort to a Layer Mask, and here's how. I'm going to turn off this Circle layer and I'm going to turn on the Mask layer which is a layer of solid white inside of a Layer Mask, so I'll go ahead and click on that Layer Mask thumbnail in order to select it and I'll once again switch from the Normal Mode to the Dissolve Mode and that will give us that slight amount of diffusion around the edge there.
Then I'll bring up my Masks Panel by going to the Window Menu and choosing Masks and I'll increase the Feather value. So I'll take the value up to a 100 pixels for example in order to blow that effect away, and then later if I change my mind all I have to do is return to the Masks Panel and set the Feather value to something else, such as my original Radius value of 25 pixels, in order to achieve this effect here. Between you and me I consider this an extremely good way to work. I do want you to know however that while it works for pixel-based layer masks this technique for whatever reason does not work with vector masks.
So I'll go ahead and turn off that mask layer, and I'm going to collapse my Color Panel just to give myself a little more room, and then I'll turn on the vector layer, click on its mask thumbnail in order to select it, change the Mode from Normal to Dissolve. Notice that we don't see any changes around the edges of that circle. Even if I increase the Feather value to something extreme such as let's say 100 pixels we still end up with some very smooth transitions. So that's just my way of letting you know that if you want to work with Dissolve then you need to be working with the pixel-based layer or in this case a pixel-based Layer Mask.
In the next exercise I'll show you how to use the Dissolve Mode to create an interesting text effect.
Author
Released
11/28/2011- Assembling dynamic Dissolve effects
- Filling and stroking with Behind and Clear
- Cleaning up and compositing scanned line art
- Understanding the darken, lighten, and contrast modes
- Refining a mask with Multiply and Screen
- Creating a glowing, soft-focus effect
- Blending images with textures
- Comparing two seemingly identical images
- Creating type that inverts everything behind it
- Colorizing artwork with layers
- Achieving greater control with the Blend If option
Skill Level Intermediate
Duration
Views
Related Courses
-
Deke's Techniques
with Deke McClelland155h 53m Intermediate -
Photoshop Masking and Compositing: Fundamentals
with Deke McClelland11h 35m Intermediate -
Photoshop Masking and Compositing: Hair
with Deke McClelland3h 6m Intermediate
-
Introduction
-
Welcome1m 43s
-
-
1. The Power of Blending
-
When in doubt, blend2m 20s
-
27 blend modes, 6 groups4m 23s
-
Opacity vs. Fill Opacity4m 41s
-
The "Fill Opacity Eight"4m 59s
-
Blending adjustment layers4m 43s
-
-
2. The Revelation of Blending Math
-
Contrast mode formulas7m 28s
-
3. The Normal Modes
-
4. The Darken Modes
-
Darken vs. Darker Color4m 25s
-
The Multiply and Burn modes6m 27s
-
Cleaning up scanned line art7m 30s
-
Colorizing comped line art5m 15s
-
Masking with a darken mode3m 59s
-
-
5. The Lighten Modes
-
Lighten vs. Lighter Color2m 29s
-
The Screen and Dodge modes4m 35s
-
Making dark line art bright5m 11s
-
Refine, filter, and blend6m 39s
-
-
6. The Contrast Modes
-
The amazing Hard Mix mode3m 51s
-
Turning flesh into stone4m 48s
-
7. The Inversion and Cancelation Modes
-
8. The Component (HSL) Modes
-
9. The Luminance Sliders
-
Conclusion
-
Next steps48s
-
- Mark as unwatched
- Mark all as unwatched
Are you sure you want to mark all the videos in this course as unwatched?
This will not affect your course history, your reports, or your certificates of completion for this course.
CancelTake notes with your new membership!
Type in the entry box, then click Enter to save your note.
1:30Press on any video thumbnail to jump immediately to the timecode shown.
Notes are saved with you account but can also be exported as plain text, MS Word, PDF, Google Doc, or Evernote.
Share this video
Embed this video
Video: Making a dynamic Dissolve effect