About using filters and masks with particles
You can apply filters or masks to an emitter. (However, you cannot apply filters or masks to the cells in an emitter.)
Filters
When you apply a filter to an emitter, the entire particle system is transformed, including every element in the onscreen pattern.
Note: Although you cannot apply a filter to an individual cell, you can apply a filter to the image source of a cell (the disabled layer in Layers list used to create the particle cell).
For more information on applying filters to layers in your project, see Filters overview.
Masks
You can apply masks to the image source of a particle cell. The effect of the mask on the cell source is carried through to the emitted particles.
You can also apply masks to the emitter object itself.
For more information on working with masks, see Masks and transparency overview.