How do I fill in an image in the areas I selected via selection tool?

[DKGroup]

I've been trying to find out how I can fill in/place an image within the selection areas I picked out via selection tool.

See below.  I am trying to put a low opacity flag in that selected area where the sunset skies are.  Make sense?

Any help is appreciated.  Thank you!

[smadell]

1) Use Place... to put the second image (the flag) in a second layer, above the sunset layer.

2) Click the New Mask button at the bottom of the Layers panel. That will put a mask on the Flag layer so that only the area corresponding to the selection will show. You can Deselect now.

3) Lower the opacity on the flag layer to let some of the sunset (in the layer beneath it) peek through.

Note: you might want to Feather the selection before creating the mask, so that it fades in and out at the edges.

[DKGroup]

17 hours ago, smadell said:

1) Use Place... to put the second image (the flag) in a second layer, above the sunset layer.

2) Click the New Mask button at the bottom of the Layers panel. That will put a mask on the Flag layer so that only the area corresponding to the selection will show. You can Deselect now.

3) Lower the opacity on the flag layer to let some of the sunset (in the layer beneath it) peek through.

Note: you might want to Feather the selection before creating the mask, so that it fades in and out at the edges.

I'll try that - thank you!

What I was able to do was this.

1) Use Place and put the image where the sunset layer is.

2) Invert the selection tool then use the Eraser tool to eliminate the excess that goes into the mountains and water.

3) Then lower the opacity of the image.  Voila!

See attached - it turned nice pretty nicely.  I have never really used Mask before (don't fully understand it yet) so I will try your way and play around with it.

Thank you for the tip!

[smadell]

First things first - your result is really nice.

Using Erase to get rid of the portions of the flag that don’t overlap the sky is a fine solution, but it is “destructive.” That is, those pixels are gone forever. Using a mask is a “non-destructive” way of doing the same thing; the difference is that all of the flag layer is still there, but part of it is hidden.

Your solution certainly works (and, as noted, your result speaks for itself). But, if you’re going to use Affinity Photo you really should spend the time figuring out Masks. Take your time; it is admittedly a bit of a mind-bender early on. But it opens up so many possibilities that it’s well worth the effort.

[DKGroup]

2 minutes ago, smadell said:

First things first - your result is really nice.

Using Erase to get rid of the portions of the flag that don’t overlap the sky is a fine solution, but it is “destructive.” That is, those pixels are gone forever. Using a mask is a “non-destructive” way of doing the same thing; the difference is that all of the flag layer is still there, but part of it is hidden.

Your solution certainly works (and, as noted, your result speaks for itself). But, if you’re going to use Affinity Photo you really should spend the time figuring out Masks. Take your time; it is admittedly a bit of a mind-bender early on. But it opens up so many possibilities that it’s well worth the effort.

Thank you!  Glad you liked the result.

Thank you for explaining why Mask is better than using Eraser - it makes sense.

Do you happen to have a video that explains how Mask works?  I suppose I could YouTube it, but wanted to see if you have a video you liked.

Thank you again for your help.

[smadell]

Here is a really simple explanation of what a layer mask is. It is 8 years old, and uses an old version of Photoshop. But, it gives you a good explanation for just what a mask is and why it is preferable to just erasing pixels. Also, remember that there will be differences between Photoshop and Affinity Photo – the Layers panel is laid out differently, showing and hiding masks works slightly differently, etc. But the basics are there.

Now, here is an Affinity Photo tutorial. It's one of the "legacy" tutorials (the ones that were available prior to version 1.7). It, too, is a pretty basic overview, but it gives some pretty good examples of masks applied to Pixel and/or Image layers, Adjustment layers, and Live Filter layers.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/130972598

[DKGroup]

2 hours ago, smadell said:

Here is a really simple explanation of what a layer mask is. It is 8 years old, and uses an old version of Photoshop. But, it gives you a good explanation for just what a mask is and why it is preferable to just erasing pixels. Also, remember that there will be differences between Photoshop and Affinity Photo – the Layers panel is laid out differently, showing and hiding masks works slightly differently, etc. But the basics are there.

Now, here is an Affinity Photo tutorial. It's one of the "legacy" tutorials (the ones that were available prior to version 1.7). It, too, is a pretty basic overview, but it gives some pretty good examples of masks applied to Pixel and/or Image layers, Adjustment layers, and Live Filter layers.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/130972598

Awesome, thank you so much!

I will check it out during my free time.

[DKGroup]

22 hours ago, smadell said:

1) Use Place... to put the second image (the flag) in a second layer, above the sunset layer.

2) Click the New Mask button at the bottom of the Layers panel. That will put a mask on the Flag layer so that only the area corresponding to the selection will show. You can Deselect now.

3) Lower the opacity on the flag layer to let some of the sunset (in the layer beneath it) peek through.

Note: you might want to Feather the selection before creating the mask, so that it fades in and out at the edges.

Just tried it - your way was better & easier.

Thank you again!

[smadell]

Glad to have helped you. Masks were always hard for me to wrap my head around; once it started to make sense, though, it really became second nature. The mental gymnastics you go through to get comfortable with creating masks is worth the time.