Posted by Wick Smith on September 28, 2009 at 8:31 AM
I'm having an issue trying to use Tony Kuyper's luminosity masks. It all goes great through every step to apply a mask to an image. Once I take the last step to create an adjustment layer to save the mask, the image has a strong red tint to it. I have to save then close the image, then I can re-open it & it looks fine. It does this on CS2 on a desktop, and on CS4 on my laptop. Both are Windows XP PCs. Are my graphics cards not up to the task? Anyone else had this problem?
Posted by John Mumaw on September 28, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Sounds like you may be in 'Quick Mask' mode?
Try pressing the 'Q' key and see if the red overlay doesn't disappear.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on September 28, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Definitely sounds like the QuickMask. Wick, which of Tony's masks are you trying? I'll have a go at the same one and see what happens. I've purchased his masks but haven't really gotten to apply them all yet, this gives me a good excuse.
Posted by Wick Smith on September 28, 2009 at 12:56 PM
I was in the early stages of using the steps outlined in the tutorial just to get the hang of what he's doing. I've not gotten his automated actions yet. It's not the quick mask - I tried that with no impact. I did try other things, and when I click on the adjustment layer's thumbnail photo in the layers pallet, the red disappears. The issue I have at this point is the entire photo is impacted by the edits I make to curves, not just the "lights". Thanks in advance for any help. I've been through the instructions a bunch of times & don't see any steps I'm missing...
Posted by Brian Snyder on September 28, 2009 at 6:01 PM
When I first started using the Luminosity Masks I ended up with the same thing, so I contacted Tony about it. He told me to go into channels at the end and trash that mask/level. Doing this removes the red tint. Then save your picture.
Posted by John Mumaw on September 28, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Once you get the actions installed and you choose to use the Curve Adjustment layers (not Channels), there's really nothing to using them. Extremely intuitive and powerful.
Posted by Adam Kavalunas on September 30, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Here is my process. Make sure the actions are installed correctly. Then when you want to generate a mask, select that action, and press play at the bottom of the palette. This generates the mask, and dumps it into the channels palette. Assuming you want to use that mask, then open up the channels palette and ctrl-click the mask, this will then give you the marching men and your mask will be selected without the red. Then you make your adjustment layer, curves, levels etc.....whatever your preference and the mask will automatically be used on that layer.
Adam
Posted by Tony Kuyper on October 2, 2009 at 11:37 PM
Sorry for coming to this late, but I don't visit here as often as I should.
Once you create a mask on the Channels palette, you need to be careful to NOT turn on the eyeball on the left side of the channel. Doing so creates a magenta quick mask of the selection defined by that channel (non-selected pixels turn magenta). This will be clearly visible as a magenta cast in the image window. Closing an image and then reopening it turns off the eyeball that was causing the problem.
The issue I have at this point is the entire photo is impacted by the edits I make to curves, not just the "lights".
Actually what you're seeing is the feathering effect of the masks. If you're using the Lights mask, the feathering of the selection extends well into the darker pixels, though they are only partially selected, and to a much lesser degree than the lighter pixels. It just appears that the whole image is being affected by the adjustment because the feathering is so subtle and, depending on which mask you're using, allows the adjustment to happen to some degree in the darker pixels as well.
Here's something to try. Create an adjustment layer with one of the masks, like Lights, in place to filter the adjustment, and then make whatever appears to be an appropriate adjustment. Now Shift+click on the mask itself. A red "X" will appear on the mask indicating that its masking effect is turned off. Once this is done, you'll see the full force of the adjustment on the image as it is unfiltered by the luminosity mask, and it'll definitely be more pronounced. As I mentioned, the Lights mask actually allows most adjustments to affect even the darker pixels, but not to as great an extent as the lighter pixels. The feathering of the mask makes it hard to tell where the adjustment begins and ends, so it might look like the whole image is being affected. If it appears that the darker pixels are affected too much, try one of the more restrictive masks, like Light Lights or Bright Lights. Either of these will confine the adjustment better than the broader Lights mask, and you'll see an even bigger difference when you turn off the mask with the Shift+click maneuver.
I hope this is helps. It's hard to get everything into the tutorial.
Posted by Wick Smith on October 8, 2009 at 7:22 AM
Thanks Tony - I was under the misguided assumption that the adjustments I made only impacted the areas surrounded by crawling ants. After playing extensively, I finally figured out what you listed above - that it impacts the entire image, just more so in the lighter mask areas. I've downloaded your actions & they are great! I can see the difference when I use the other "lights" actions with more impact just in the lighter areas. Thanks for all you do!
Discussion
8 repliesTry pressing the 'Q' key and see if the red overlay doesn't disappear.
Adam
Once you create a mask on the Channels palette, you need to be careful to NOT turn on the eyeball on the left side of the channel. Doing so creates a magenta quick mask of the selection defined by that channel (non-selected pixels turn magenta). This will be clearly visible as a magenta cast in the image window. Closing an image and then reopening it turns off the eyeball that was causing the problem.
Actually what you're seeing is the feathering effect of the masks. If you're using the Lights mask, the feathering of the selection extends well into the darker pixels, though they are only partially selected, and to a much lesser degree than the lighter pixels. It just appears that the whole image is being affected by the adjustment because the feathering is so subtle and, depending on which mask you're using, allows the adjustment to happen to some degree in the darker pixels as well.
Here's something to try. Create an adjustment layer with one of the masks, like Lights, in place to filter the adjustment, and then make whatever appears to be an appropriate adjustment. Now Shift+click on the mask itself. A red "X" will appear on the mask indicating that its masking effect is turned off. Once this is done, you'll see the full force of the adjustment on the image as it is unfiltered by the luminosity mask, and it'll definitely be more pronounced. As I mentioned, the Lights mask actually allows most adjustments to affect even the darker pixels, but not to as great an extent as the lighter pixels. The feathering of the mask makes it hard to tell where the adjustment begins and ends, so it might look like the whole image is being affected. If it appears that the darker pixels are affected too much, try one of the more restrictive masks, like Light Lights or Bright Lights. Either of these will confine the adjustment better than the broader Lights mask, and you'll see an even bigger difference when you turn off the mask with the Shift+click maneuver.
I hope this is helps. It's hard to get everything into the tutorial.