MACROMEDIA FIREWORKS 8, Use Manual

Page: 226 / 472

226 Chapter 9: Layers, Masking, and Blending
Modifying a mask’s appearance
By modifying a mask’s shape and color, you can change the visibility of masked objects.
You change the shape of a bitmap mask by drawing on it with the bitmap tools. You change
the shape of a vector mask by moving the mask object’s points.
If a mask is applied using its grayscale appearance, you can modify its colors to affect the
opacity of the underlying masked objects. Using midtone colors on a grayscale mask gives
masked objects a translucent appearance. Use lighter colors to display the masked objects, and
darker colors to hide masked objects and show the background.
You can also alter a mask by adding mask objects to it or using the transformation tools.
To modify a selected mask’s shape, do one of the following:
■
Draw on a bitmap mask with any of the bitmap drawing tools.
■
Move the points of a vector mask object with the Subselection tool.
To modify a selected mask’s color, do one of the following:
■
For grayscale bitmap masks, use the bitmap tools to draw on the mask using various
grayscale color values.
■
For grayscale vector masks, change the color of the mask object.
To modify a mask by adding more mask objects:
1.
Select Edit > Cut to cut the selected object or objects you want to add.
2.
Select the thumbnail of the masked object in the Layers panel.
3.
Select Edit > Paste as Mask.
4.
Select Add when asked whether to replace the existing mask or add to it.
The object or objects are added to the mask.
To modify a mask using the transformation tools:
1. Select the mask on the canvas using the Pointer tool.
2.
Use a transformation tool or a command from the Modify > Transform submenu to apply
a transformation to the mask. For more information about using the transformation tools,
see
“Transforming and distorting selected objects and selections” on page 69 .
The transformation is applied to the mask and its masked objects.
NO
TE
Use lighter colors to display the masked objects and darker colors to hide the
masked objects.
NOT
E
You can apply a transformation to the mask object alone by first unlinking the mask
from the mask objects in the Layers panel and then performing the transformation.