Why is my Affinity Photo masks sometimes transparent?

[CRWillow]

Hello gurus,

Foolish mortal here can't figure out why my masks aren't always fully opaque. My wet edge is off, color is 000000, the brush is 100% hard, all layers are 100% opacity, mask layer is selected, blend is normal. I've looked and looked to discover what I'm doing to cause this, because I'm sure it's user error, but I just can't think or find anything else to check. I used it about an hour before this and it worked fine.

I did find that duplicating the mask layer seemed to hide it but I'm not sure how well it would export.

I'm not sure if this is anything, however, I think I noticed that sometimes (maybe it does it all the time and I haven't noticed) when adding a mask the color panel changes to grayscale away the RGB  color wheel. The black is still 000000 when I doubled check.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

Edition    Windows 10 Home
Version    22H2
Installed on    ‎4/‎6/‎2021
OS build    19045.3086
Experience    Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0

Edition    Windows 10 Home
Version    22H2
Installed on    ‎4/‎6/‎2021
OS build    19045.3086
Experience    Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0

AMD Radeon (TM) Vega 8 Graphics
AP V 2.1.0

 

[R C-R]

All I can tell you is from your screenshot it appears you have been painting on the mask layer (as indicated by the brush icon on the right edge of the mask layer in the Layers panel). Do you remember doing that? If so, it would appear you were painting on it using black, which will erase the mask where you are painting, thus making that part transparent. 

If that sounds like what you did, just change the brush color to white & paint over the transparent part again to remove it.

[CRWillow]

I'm trying to mask, hide some of the dots to see how it looks with fewer of them, I click the mask icon, the white block appears, I use a 000000 black and it doesn't mask the dots fully, their transparent like I've used a grey instead of full black. When I paint white over black solid dots on the mask if changes nothing. Painting over the transparent dots exposes them which is the opposite of what I'm trying to do.

Well I figured it out, it doesn't make sense but it works- I hit D to use the white and as I said it just demasks what I had painted over, I then clicked X and it changed to the default non total black of #231F20. This makes the mask opaque hiding the dots fully. I'm at a loss why it does but as long as I remember not to use real black I'll be set. Thanks for the help.

[R C-R]

7 minutes ago, CRWillow said:

I use a 000000 black and it doesn't mask the dots fully...

What layer are the dots on? Regardless, if you are painting on the mask layer, pure black will remove (make transparent) the mask wherever you paint with it.

[CRWillow]

The dots are on the parent layer - the one above the mask.

I selected that layer then clicked the mask icon, it appears as a child layer.

[R C-R]

Well, all I can tell you at this point is I can't duplicate this issue with any file I have to test it with.

Perhaps if you could attach a simplified version of your file, with just the Group with the 2 pixel layers & the mask, someone can help you figure out what's going on.

[CRWillow]

 

I saved as and deleted all but two pixels and the mask. The history disappeared, so I deleted the mask and redid it at 000000 black as I did before and saved history with document in case you needed it. 

skull moon serif.afphoto

[R C-R]

15 minutes ago, CRWillow said:

I saved as and deleted all but two pixels and the mask.

It would have been better just to delete everything but the group & not delete & reapply the mask, but regardless I have no idea why you cannot fully hide those dots, nor why I can't either.

Maybe someone else can figure out what the problem is.

[CRWillow]

OK

[NotMyFault]

The document is in CMYK color format. 
it looks like one of the rgb / cmyk color conversion issues I think there are similar bug reports open.

You need to switch the color panel to cmyk mode, and use „rich black“, moving all cmyk sliders to 100%. If you use grey or rgb mode, black gets converted to K only black 0/0/0/100 which does not create pure black on mask layers (which only have one channel, and the conversion of brush colors is wrong)

 

i rate this as bug.

to be brutally honest, I rate the representation of colors and transparency in CMYK mode as badly designed/illogical (when you try to use the layer thumbnails, or switch through channels panel). 

[NotMyFault]

 

[CRWillow]

Thank you so much, this is a help. I would love to work only in RGB but it will end up as printed material like paper and I prefer to see it as it might be instead of thinking it is vibrant and clear only to print drab and well drab. I have the document as CMYK but the color panels keeps popping to other color choices. I usually add documents making sure their all the same but it does as it likes.

I'll definitely add you above advice to my Affinity book of do this not that.

 

Thank you again.