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From: dohduhdah on 21 Nov 2009 09:26

Hi.

In photoshop cs4, I find the keyboard shortcuts for the layermask to
be a bit confusing.
I know that Ctrl-2 and Ctrl-\ can be used to switch back and forth
between the layer mask and
the layer. I also know that Ctrl-3, Ctrl-4 and Ctrl-5 will let me view
the individual Red, Green and Blue channel (in RGB mode). When I save
a selection, I can can use Ctrl-6 to view only that saved selection in
the channels pannel.
But how do I ensure that only the layermask is visible?
I can use the /-key to toggle visibility of the layermask, but somehow
it seems I can't find a keycombination that will toggle off the
visibility of all other channels, so that only the layermask is
visible.

I've tried all key combinations, but I can't find the keycombination
that will ensure that only the layer mask is visible.
I've noticed that Ctrl-Alt- {2,3,4,5,/} will result in loading any of
the channels as a selection (or a luminance mask for Ctrl-Alt-2).

Does anyone know if there is a keycombination that will allow me to
toggle on the visibility of the layer mask while simultaneously
turning of the visibility of all other channels?
Or would it perhaps be possible to assign it as a custom keyboard
shortcut somehow?

Kind regards and thanks in advance for any suggestions, Niek
From: dohduhdah on 21 Nov 2009 10:29
On 21 nov, 15:26, dohduhdah <dohduh...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi.
>
> In photoshop cs4, I find the keyboard shortcuts for the layermask to
> be a bit confusing.
> I know that Ctrl-2 and Ctrl-\ can be used to switch back and forth
> between the layer mask and
> the layer. I also know that Ctrl-3, Ctrl-4 and Ctrl-5 will let me view
> the individual Red, Green and Blue channel (in RGB mode). When I save
> a selection, I can use Ctrl-6 to view only that saved selection in
> the channels panel.
> But how do I ensure that only the layermask is visible?
> I can use the /-key to toggle visibility of the layermask, but somehow
> it seems I can't find a keycombination that will toggle off the
> visibility of all other channels, so that only the layermask is
> visible.
>
> I've tried all key combinations, but I can't find the keycombination
> that will ensure that only the layer mask is visible.
> I've noticed that Ctrl-Alt- {2,3,4,5,/} will result in loading any of
> the channels as a selection (or a luminance mask for Ctrl-Alt-2).
>
> Does anyone know if there is a keycombination that will allow me to
> toggle on the visibility of the layer mask while simultaneously
> turning off the visibility of all other channels?
> Or would it perhaps be possible to assign it as a custom keyboard
> shortcut somehow?
>
> Kind regards and thanks in advance for any suggestions, Niek

(corrected some mistakes in the above)

I know that, via the layers panel, it's possible to keep the Alt key
pressed and clicking with the mouse on the layer mask, to view only
the layer mask, but it would be nice if there was a keycombination to
do this.
Same goes for turning on/off the application of the mask (where the
red cross appears over the layer mask when it's not being applied),
which can be achieved by keeping the Shift key pressed while clicking
with the mouse on the layer mask. Again, it would be helpful if there
was a keyboard shortcut to do this.

One odd behavior is that when you ensure the layer mask is visible
(with the \ key), and you go to the channels panel and press ctrl-2 to
view all channels while having the layer mask deselected. Now if you
press ctrl-3, 4 or 5, to view the red, green or blue channel, it
doesn't turn off the visibility of the other channels, but it does
select only the red, green or blue channel.
When, on the other hand, the layer mask is not visible, and you press
ctrl-2 to view all channels. Now ctrl-3, 4 or 5 will ensure that only
the red, green or blue channel is visible (and selected). Also, just
turning off the layer mask visibility (with \ ) is not enough to be
able to view isolated color channels with ctrl-3, 4 or 5. You first
have to press ctrl-2 again for that to work.

Kind of illogical behavior.. or at least hard to grasp/
counterintuïtive.
From: Mike Russell on 23 Nov 2009 05:33
On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:29:23 -0800 (PST), dohduhdah wrote:

> On 21 nov, 15:26, dohduhdah <dohduh...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi.
>>
>> In photoshop cs4, I find the keyboard shortcuts for the layermask to
>> be a bit confusing.
>> I know that Ctrl-2 and Ctrl-\ can be used to switch back and forth
>> between the layer mask and
>> the layer. I also know that Ctrl-3, Ctrl-4 and Ctrl-5 will let me view
>> the individual Red, Green and Blue channel (in RGB mode). When I save
>> a selection, I can use Ctrl-6 to view only that saved selection in
>> the channels panel.
>> But how do I ensure that only the layermask is visible?
>> I can use the /-key to toggle visibility of the layermask, but somehow
>> it seems I can't find a keycombination that will toggle off the
>> visibility of all other channels, so that only the layermask is
>> visible.
>>
>> I've tried all key combinations, but I can't find the keycombination
>> that will ensure that only the layer mask is visible.
>> I've noticed that Ctrl-Alt- {2,3,4,5,/} will result in loading any of
>> the channels as a selection (or a luminance mask for Ctrl-Alt-2).
>>
>> Does anyone know if there is a keycombination that will allow me to
>> toggle on the visibility of the layer mask while simultaneously
>> turning off the visibility of all other channels?
>> Or would it perhaps be possible to assign it as a custom keyboard
>> shortcut somehow?
>>
>> Kind regards and thanks in advance for any suggestions, Niek
>
> (corrected some mistakes in the above)
>
> I know that, via the layers panel, it's possible to keep the Alt key
> pressed and clicking with the mouse on the layer mask, to view only
> the layer mask, but it would be nice if there was a keycombination to
> do this.
> Same goes for turning on/off the application of the mask (where the
> red cross appears over the layer mask when it's not being applied),
> which can be achieved by keeping the Shift key pressed while clicking
> with the mouse on the layer mask. Again, it would be helpful if there
> was a keyboard shortcut to do this.
>
> One odd behavior is that when you ensure the layer mask is visible
> (with the \ key), and you go to the channels panel and press ctrl-2 to
> view all channels while having the layer mask deselected. Now if you
> press ctrl-3, 4 or 5, to view the red, green or blue channel, it
> doesn't turn off the visibility of the other channels, but it does
> select only the red, green or blue channel.
> When, on the other hand, the layer mask is not visible, and you press
> ctrl-2 to view all channels. Now ctrl-3, 4 or 5 will ensure that only
> the red, green or blue channel is visible (and selected).

Yep, that's the vanilla channel selection behavior. Adobe moved these keys
around on CS4, something I'm reminded when I reach for ctrl-1, 2, and 3 for
the individual channels.

> Also, just
> turning off the layer mask visibility (with \ ) is not enough to be
> able to view isolated color channels with ctrl-3, 4 or 5. You first
> have to press ctrl-2 again for that to work.

I wonder if anyone can imagine a use for this? I can't.

Here's something that I found: activating the channels palette, and
pressing / simply tells Photoshop "show me the mask as a colored overlay,
but don't alter the selected or active channel. Once / has been pressed,
selecting ctrl-2, 3, or 4 hides the mask and does the usual thing of
changing the selected /visible channel.

> Kind of illogical behavior.. or at least hard to grasp/
> counterintu�tive.

Yes, it is illogical. I've also found no pattern to the various
combinations of modifier keys for free transform.
--
Mike Russell - http://www.curvemeister.com
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