Using the Transparency Brush to Trim and Soften the Edges of Copied Objects in PhotoPaint

When you’ve masked off and copied a piece of a picture to use in a collage, paste it in as a new object (not as a new selection).

You’ll usually notice two defects:

• Unless you’ve made the mask extremely carefully, you’ll likely have bits of the background along with what you meant to cut out. (and if you try to cut too close you may cut into the part you want)
• Depending what the background is like where you place the object on the collage, the edges may look harsh and jagged

These can both be addressed by using the Object Transparency Brush. Its icon & settings are pictured below for versions 8 & 12:

Overview

When you paint on the selected object with the Object Transparency Brush, you can make the object more or less transparent where your brush passes over it. A transparent /opaque setting of 0 means completely transparent, while 255 returns it to opaque.

A moderate brush size combined with a higher “soft edge” setting (40 – 80) means the brush has more effect in its centre than at the edges. This lets you soften the edges of your object, so they fade to transparent over a few pixels rather than abruptly.

Process (see list of steps below)

1. Original – make mask, then copy 2. Pasted object, untrimmed

3. Trimmed, not softened 4. Soft edges – no harsh edges

1. Mask off the object you want from the original file a little bit big i.e. leave a few pixels extra rather than shaving too close.
2. Copy it and paste as new object into the collage (#2 above)
3. Shrink the object if necessary (never expand), position it and set its order (behind or in front of other objects: Object menu, Arrange, Order)
4. Zoom way in
5. Trim away unwanted parts with the Object Transparency Brush, transparency = 0, soft fuzzy edges (low or 0 in version 8), brush size depending how small the area is. (#3)
6. To smooth jagged contrasting edges (e.g. skin against a dark background), use a medium size soft brush. Then run smoothly along the edge, just grazing the edge with the outer (soft) part of your brush. You should see the edge pixels lighten. (#4)
7. Use short brush strokes. Then if you make a mistake, just use Ctrl-Z (undo) to go back a step. SAVE OFTEN!!!