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Selecting images with Fluid Mask 2 |
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(Page 1 of 4)  Fluid mask is a Photoshop (or any other Photo editing program) plugin enabling you to make selections of images. Vertus is boasting quickness of the selections process and good quality. We tried to test that and the tools offered by the program.
To do it yourself you can load a free demo version of Fluid Mask 2 at www.vertustech.com . It will allow you to see the use of all the tools but won’t let to apply the selection back in Photoshop.
InstallationThe installation process is easy and I didn’t endeavor any problems whatsoever. Interface  The Fluid Mask 2 interface is fine and easy to understand enough. After you’ve created a new layer and entered Fluid Mask through PhotoShop Filters menu you have the workspace window containing the image you are working on in the center of your desktop. The three tabs allow you to move between different stages of the selection process. The Source window shows the original image. You apply tools and create the selection in the Workspace area. And Output window shows the final stage, the created selection. You can easily go back to Workspace if the result is unacceptable and refine your selection. Or, if you want to start anew you should go to the Source and invert the selection you’ve made.
As your image appears in the Fluid Mask 2 Workspace window it goes through the analysis process. When this is over you see it again divided into segments by blue lines. The picture looks very much like stained glass now. The lines show edges of contiguous color areas and can be hidden (there’s a checkbox in the bottom) which is advisable nearer to the final stage – to see if you’ve taken in all the edges. There’s also a slider for changing the masks’ color transparency level.
All the Tools are visible on the Tools panel. Two sets of Brushes (the main selection tool of the program) help to create the selection. Clean, Smooth, Force Edge and Test Render tools allow to refine it. Regions tool can be used for working on specific areas and objects. It allows sorting the colors of the image into Keep, Drop, or Complex mask areas and can also be used when you want to work in a specific area without touching the rest of the image.
There’s also a usual set of Select, Erazer, and Zoom. You can zoom the picture with a slider in the Navigation Panel.
You can also change the background color for the masked image or make the background transparent. And there’s a button for the quick application of the selection.
On the left side there is an Options panel allowing the regulation of the active tool, an Edge Detection Options panel and a Navigator. You can use the Navigator panel to magnify the image. And you can change the transparency level of Keep and Drop masks using a slider in the bottom of the Workspace window.
Being a plugin Fluid Mask 2 is launched from the Filters menu in Photoshop and opens up on top of your desktop - Photoshop is minimised. This of course leaves all your desktop patterns, icons etc or other open applications as a distracting backdrop, it's a pity that Vertus could not have minimised all applications or better still apply a neutral backdrop.
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