Using a digital greyscale?

[Leslie Bohoss]

Hi!

1. Start a new picture e.g. 1000 * 200 pixels.
2. Switch on the Color Wheel panel to L-a-b mode. (usually it is RGB at start)
3. Set L=0 a=0 and b=0 (very important!)
4.with the Select tool make a selection e.g. 50*200 pixels.
5. Fill it with the Fill tool.
6. Move your selection 50 pixels to right. (easily and accurate with the arrow buttons.)
7.Set your L to 5. (theoretically you can make a 100 stripe scale, but you want 20)
8. Fill your selection again.
9. Move it 50 pixels again and so on.. till L=100 (what white is)

I hope it helps, otherwise I can record it and send to you per mail.

cheers Leslie

PS the hole problem... I'm working on it.

[Allan Rahbek]

Thank you Leslie,

I

[Leslie Bohoss]

Problem solved Allan

At "start new picture" you should choose the "transparent" option!
(the options are : white, background color and transparent)

Now make your 20 stripes as I wrote before.
Go to select tool : "Ellipse" and make a circle in the middle of a stripe. Hit the "Del" button. Move your circle to the next one and hit Del again etc...
Now you can save your greyscale as a PSD file. (not JPG, very important!)
Load your BW picture and add your greyscale as a new layer. You can move it, scale it, etc.. but you will see always through the holes.
See photo:

cu

[Allan Rahbek]

Wow Leslie,
a piece of cake for those who knows how. Thank you very much.

I guess that it is easy to number the scale as well. That would be practical if I chose to make a long scale.

While working at a painting I will have a premixed ten steps gray scale of oil paint on my palette. Now I can use the 20 steps digital scale to judge the values on the reference.

I think that I will number the digital scale like this : 1 - 1

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Leslie, I had a value scale I used with Photoshop, but until now it had no holes. I immediately followed your easy instructions and voila!This is great, thanks!

[Leslie Bohoss]

Freut mich Enzie

The funny thing is: I don't use such tools for paintings, only 2: making BW for underpainting and posterprint for sight sizing.

(I was 3d animator for some yrs. but painting is a much more difficult task, sometimes drives me crazy, even like the computer stuff before . )

Another similarity: you can never say: Now, I know all stuff about it! )

bye.

[Garth Herrick]

Leslie and Allan:

Interesting practical topic! We all seem to be inventing in the same direction at once. Here is a view of a grayscale wheel I made.

Garth