Why Can't I Paint Over the Dust and Scratches Mask?

In article ,
maria wrote:

I have an image in an unlocked layer.
I duplicate the layer and I apply the Dust and Scratches filter on the new layer.
Then I hide this new layer by holding the Alt Key and clicking Add a Layer Mask.
Why can't I paint over the mask with the history brush, or the regular brush?
All I get with the regular brush is painting with the foreground color.

You are on the wrong layer. You want to paint IN THE MASK, not in the layer.

Look very closely at the Layers palette. The new layer you created will have two icons next to it. The first icon is the layer. The second icon is the layer mask. You must click on the icon for the layer mask, THEN paint.

If I try the history brush, I get

"... the history state does not contain a corresponding layer".

Of course. The History brush paints backward in time to the way the layer used to be. If you have just created a brand-new layer, the History brush will do nothing on that layer, because the layer has no history--you just created it.

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