#Shaped gradient mask

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

feral tinsel
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Hi folks.

I’m hoping someone can give me some guidance on how to achieve something I feel should be simple, but is seemingly beyond my feeble skills and brain.

I want to create an outline mask such that the edges are 0% opacity, and closer to the middle, it becomes 100% opacity. Ideally, I could control the “ramping” curve so I can place the mid point (50% opacity) where I like.

Here’s the catch.

I want the gradient to be relative to the shape of the object. Ideally, I’d like to avoid manual editing if I can.

An example attached showing the outer and inner shapes - what I want is the larger image to be at 0% opacity at the edges and the smaller one to be 100% opacity. I hope I’m explaining it well enough.

Things I’ve already tried:

  • Gaussian blur
  • Contour outline
  • Radial gradient
  • Manual editing
  • Feather and refine selection

Grateful in advance for any advice. 🙏🏻

image.png
cold tulip
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Hi, do you have illustrator? A blend would help. https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/blending-objects.html

but a step and repeat ( https://photoshoptrainingchannel.com/tips/repeat-transformations/ ) of the shape with a screen blending mode could be a start for your blurring if you only have Photoshop.

Blend objects
Photoshop Training Channel
Isabelle Alvarez
Repeat Transformations

After you perform a Free Transform, Ctrl T (Mac: Command T), on a layer; you can select another layer and press Shift Ctrl T (Mac: Shift Command T) to repeat the same transformation. If you hold

feral tinsel
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Hey. Thanks for the quick reply!

No, I don’t have illustrator sadly.

raven quest
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Is that what you would want to do?

image.png
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The issue is that you want two shapes and Photoshop will only blur one shape, you could try a shape based blur, but it wouldn't look exactly how I think you want it

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of course you would need to create your shape first (Instead of the wild cat we got here)
and save it as a custom shape.
So create a vector heart, save it as a shape, use the shape created initially in a raster layer (since we can't blur vector shapes)

image.png
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so that means either rasterising itor converting into a smart object, then apply a shape blur with the exact same shape you've created.
As you see, it's not super conclusive here

image.png
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But it's maybe because I am using too complex a shape? You might try with yours

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There would be another method, which would be to use "radial blur"
The trick is to place your design exactly at the center (I didn't do it for that screenshot 🙂
Again, we're not mixing two shapes, just bluring one.

The heart I shared first is done with Illustrator using the method @cold tulip shared, which is the common way to do this kind of stuff. It's unfortunately not easy to do in Photoshop,

image.png image.png
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Before (with settings) and after

image.png image.png
cold tulip
feral tinsel
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Thank you for the very detailed reply. I will try the things you’ve suggested and see how I go. I really appreciate your response and the time you took to go into such detail with screenshots and all

cold tulip
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What if you created a few copies at various grey levels then used blur several times if needed on each copy?

feral tinsel
keen basinBOT
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Gave +1 Creative Carma to @cold tulip (current: #15 - 161)

limber kettle
feral tinsel
keen basinBOT
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Gave +1 Creative Carma to @limber kettle (current: #17 - 139)

limber kettle
feral tinsel
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Thank you for the help, @limber kettle @cold tulip and @raven quest ! I think I have it figured out.

Here's what I did:

  1. Created the heart shape and rasterized it.
  2. Selected the shape, and shrink the selection by 20px
  3. Duplicate the selection onto its own layer
  4. Repeat a few times
  5. Lower the opacity of each layer so it gradually transitions to the target
  6. Group the layers
  7. Apply a Gaussian Blur to blend between the layers

And, the result is like the image attached.

I thought all of you would like to know this technique for future reference.

It certainly had me perplexed for a while - but a combination of @cold tulip's inspiration and my own shower thoughts got me there eventually. But I want to acknowledge the excellent help from everyone here, without which I may never have stumbled on the solution! Thank you!

image.png
keen basinBOT
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Gave +1 Creative Carma to @limber kettle (current: #17 - 140)

feral tinsel
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The nice thing about this solution is it is largely non-destructive, too - so you can adjust it after the fact. Including the graduation and placement of the transitions themselves. You can also rasterize the result or create a Smart Object and use it as a mask. 🙂

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My question / task now is to see if I can automate this process somehow! Haha