In a number of tutorials I have written, there is a requirement to use an action to isolate the mask.
First, we need to prepare our work space to handle actions.
Go to Window > Actions.
This will open a panel for your actions. You will see a few already in there. These are the default Photoshop actions. They may be of some use to you later, so you can just leave them for now.
Up in the top right corner of the panel, you will see 4 vertical lines. Click on those for your panel settings. Choose “Load Actions” from the list.
When the “Open File” dialog comes up, navigate to where you saved the action I provided in the tutorial. You did unzip it, right?
Once you have the action loaded, you will see a new folder in your actions panel. The folder is just an organizer, so you won’t be doing anything with that. If the folder is closed, you will need to expand it using the little arrow icon beside the folder thumbnail.
Once expanded, you will see the Remove Black Area action.
Now you are ready.
Open the mask you want to use for your tag.
Highlight the Remove Black Area action. Click the play button at the bottom of the actions panel. This will remove the black from your mask. It will leave a bit of a darker “shadowy” area around the mask, but it will not affect your tag at all.
File > Save As…
Save your newly isolated mask in a safe place.
Once you have it saved, you can now use it in your tag!
Enjoy!