Help needed with mask brushes

[Pryce56]

There are lots of great mask brushes out there but I can't seem to figure out how to use them to frame pictures. Can anyone give me some clues as to how to use these. Also when i want to have a different color or gradient as the background. Thanks for your help!

[TonyW]

Lots of ways to use them but it takes some understanding of layers and blend modes. Try this:

Add a new layer filled with white, set the blend mode to lighten, use a "blend mask" brush set to black on the white layer and the background image will show through with a white border.

Or add a gradient layer, use a "blend Mask" brush with the eraser and click once on the gradient layer.

Any brush will work the same - it's just that blend mask brushes are designed for framing effects. You can also turn the shapes that come with Elements into brushes and use those as Blend Mask brushes if you want too.

Tony