Step 6
Now it's time to put that new Channel to work. First we need a new Layer. Open up the New Layer Dialog Box (Layer>New>Layer or Shift>Ctrl>N). Name the layer 'water' and give it an Opacity of 100% and a Mode of Normal. Fill the layer with white by using the following steps. Select the layer in the Layers Palette to make it the active later. Hit the 'D' key on your keyboard to reset the Foreground and Background Colors to Black and White. Hit the 'X' key on your keyboard to reverse the Foreground and Background Colors, bringing white to the Foreground. Fill the layer with white (Alt/Option+Backspace).

Next, load the 'water 2' Channel as a selection by doing one of two things. Either open the Load Selection Dialog Box (Select>Load Selection) and choose Channel: water 2 as in figure 11, or go to the Channels Palette and drag 'water 2' in to the 'Load Channel As Selection Icon' as shown in figure 12.

Once your selection is loaded, select the 'water' layer again to make sure it is the active layer. Hit the 'D' key on your keyboard to make black the Foreground Color again and hit (Alt/Option+Backspace) to fill the selection with black. Remove the selection (Select>Deslect or Ctrl/Command+D). Your image should now look like figure 13.

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Load Selection

Figure 11
The Load Selection Dialog Box. Use it to load channels as selections in your image.

Figure 12
An alternative to the Load Slection Dialog Box is to drag your channel into the Load Channel As Selection Icon at the bottom of the Channels Pallete.

Water.psd (water)

Figure 13
The water layer, black text on a white background.