Embarrassing Alpha Question...

I say 'embarrassing' because there's probably an answer somewhere on these boards but I can't seem to find it. Either that or I'm hoping for an 'easy button' where there is none. ^_^;

What I am trying to do is create a soft edge on some of my designs. For instance, on a choli I'm making that has a low sweetheart neckline I'd like to add a bit of shadow in the cleavage and around some of the edges in an attempt to create an illusion of depth and of the clothing resting on top of the skin.

Using Photoshop CS2, my general workflow is to create everything I want on separate layers, save and then save-as and flatten to begin the process of creating the alpha channel. This is where I run into problems. Usually I Ctrl-click the thumbnail of the working layer to make my selection. Unfortunately this pretty much fails to select anything but the most opaque pixels on the layer. Again, unfortunately, I'm not familiar with selection methods well enough to know of any suitable alternatives.

I did try painting on the Alpha Channel itself but the result was less than satisfactory since I had a difficult time judging where the shadows would work best. Of course, in the long run it did, at the very least, soften the edges so the garment looked less painted directly on the avatar. It was just rather more crude than I'd hoped.

So am I missing something very obvious or looking for a non-existent 'easy button'?

Any advice or pointers to appropriate threads/tutorials would be most welcome! Thank you!

Hi Merry!

Control clicking the thumbnail is the "easy button" you are looking for. It selects everything according to the opacity of those pixels. You won't be able to see the Marching Ants on anything that's less than 50% opaque, but you will see the pixels as shades of gray on your Alpha Channel.

So, to get your soft edge, just paint what you want, in the shadow colors you want, on the lowest layer of your document.

Then go ahead with your normal workflow, make the Alpha Channel, and then run the Flaming Pear Solidify filter on the document. (Since you're working on a copy, you don't need to make a separate layer to run the filter.) That will ensure that the shadows will remain dark, instead of being flattened onto white, and forming a light gray layer, instead of a black one.

If you're not using those filters yet, they are part of the Free Plugins pack available from Flaming Pear's downloads page. You can use Solidify A, B, or C. I usually use B, because it's a little faster, but it's entirely up to you.

Hope this helps!

(I also hope it makes sense. I'm pretty sick right now, and probably shouldn't be answering questions, but there you go. Remember; the brain is the first thing to go.)

Oh, thank you Robin!

So I was doing it right but was being mislead by the ant-outline. I should have just followed through instead of panicking! ^_^;

I picked up those Flaming Pear plugins a couple days ago per the advice in one of your invaluable tutorials. I haven't used them yet but I will now!

Thank you again! And if I could I'd zap you some of my herbal bath bombs which are good for colds I would in a moment. When do we get the matter transference beams? ^o^