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Selections & the alpha channel

Selections can be saved then reloaded from the alpha channel. this is useful when you need to deselect an image to perform a certain operation and then need to restore the selection to perform others. The example below shows how this is accomplished.

	Create your selection for this example I used the shift key to create multiple selections as was demonstrated in tutorial 22 (Selections II). Then filled it with different colors.
	Select SELECTIONS > SAVE TO THE ALPHA CHANNEL. Click OK to save the selection to the default channel.
	Click OK to use the default channel name. * It is possible using a different channel & name to save more than one selection from a given image.
	Using the text tool I placed some text over the image & deselected it.The original selection no longer exists.
	Select SELECTIONS > LOAD FROM THE ALPHA CHANNEL. * Selection can also be loaded into different images than the one in which it was created from.
	Effects, Filters etc. can then be applied to the reselected image. Here I used the cutout tool to add shading & highlighting. Although the advantages to this might not be readily apparent it can come in very handy if you wish to place text or another image on top of an image then apply a filter or effect to the image without affecting the background. Especially if the image is multicolored or shaded and not easily reselected with the magic wand.

Paint Shop Pro Tutorial #23