Tutorial ~ using mats in Paint Shop Pro

Have you ever envied PS users with their clip to layer abilities? Have you tried using mats the way I do, using the wand to select the mat>invert selection>delete on your paper layer that you wanted to have take the shape of the mat? Are you tired of getting a very rough edge by doing this? Well then check out this tutorial I’ve written just for us PSP users!

1)

Open up your mat file, I’m using one from Melissa Bennett’s Oh My Mat set, and open the layout file you’re working on. Select the paper layer that you want to have conform to the mat shape. My layout file is 4×6 because it’s my latest recipe card I designed last night.

2)

In my PSP version (8) I go to Layers>New Mask Layer>From Image…

3)

A little window called Add Mask From Image will open, make sure to select Source Opacity option and use the drop down menu to select your mat filename. Click OK.

4)

And tada! Now you can see how the paper layer I had selected has taken on the shape of the mat and you can now see the background paper underneath! *Kit used in this tutorial is called Love N’ Junk by Melissa Bennett.

As another option, you can select Invert Mask Data back in step 3 and you will get a different look like this:

I hope you found this tutorial to be of some use! Do you have another method for using mats in PSP? Write your own tutorial, link me up in the comments and I’ll update my post to include a link to yours! Don’t have a blog? Would you like to publish your tutorial on my blog? Then send me an email at mpdesigns[at]live[dot]ca with your tutorial, and any other info about yourself that you would like me to include and I’ll post your tutorial on my blog as a guest post!

See you all back here tomorrow when I post the newest recipe card that I made last night!

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