Info on using masks please

Hi All I was just wondering if there is any info out there on using masks layers.. I read and tried the tutorial, but I guess I still don't understand there use and point of them.
Thank you for your time

If you search on deviantart.com you can find quite a lot about this.
Here's a few links:
Basic Masking-New Users Guide
Basic Masking - Chat Log
Quickie Masking Tutorial

Otto Magus Thank you for the info and I will check it out

Once you get used to masking it becomes second nature so don't be afraid of trying to understand and learn how to do it. It's really worth the time taken to get your head around how it works. I use masking all the time and couldn't imagine working without that option as my style of art relies so much on it.

The point of masking is that it allows so many more creative possibilities such as creating and isolating special or unusual shapes and texturing specific parts of a design. For instance you might want to add some cloudy texture to an area of sky in a landscape or space art design you are working on. Or you may want to add a crescent moon or large pitted and textured planet to the scene. All rather difficult to achieve without some form of masking to remove unwanted elements.

A few tutorials of varying skill levels can be found here: Ultra-Fractal-Redux gallery
Even if you don't "get it" just yet the tutorial there that I wrote on creative masking will show you a range of possibilities which you might find interesting.

If you or anyone else reading is serious and/or deeply frustrated by this subject I can highly recommend Janet Parke's e-tutorials which you can find out about and purchase here: Link. One of the three courses is all about masking. For me these were key to my understanding and I learned in weeks what would have taken me years to work out for myself. I am just a satisfied student, no affiliation.

I hope these notes help.

Thank you Velvet-Glove for the info and I already got her classes so I will review them more. just have not got to the part where she talks a bout it I guess

Thank you Velvet-Glove for the info and I already got her classes so I will review them more. just have not got to the part where she talks a bout it I guess

Excellent! It's the whole of the second course that covers masking, in some detail, so that should really help you.

As a new user I had difficulty with the subject too but these lessons really helped sort it out for me. Well, I was struggling with everything actually, not just masking! I think I might have given up on UF altogether if it hadn't been for these courses.

Thank you again Velvet. I am far from giving up on it that is for sure I am hear for the long haul. the world of fractals is to wonderful to give up on it for sure.. And I am not just talking a bout the program it just opened my eyes and put the pictures in my mind of all I had been reading... Before I found this program was reading abought Sacred geometry.
I am by know means a numbers kind of person but like the relationships and the art those numbers create. WOW Have always been a big fan of organized chaos.