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Luminosity masks redux
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allan.konopka@...
I am just catching up with the interesting discussion on Luminosity masks started by James Gray on Oct 10 within the Yahoo group.
Thanks to James and others for pointing out Tony Kuyper's TK7 panel. I *think* that another way to get to the same end(s) of varied luminosity masks is Know How Transfer's MASK Equalizer plugin for Photoshop https://www.knowhowtransfer.com/photoshop-professional-plugins/mask-equalizer/ It contains sliders for 7 different 'zones' of luminosity, plus sliders for Feather, Contrast, and Density. I have found this a pretty quick way to generate a layer with luminosity to my tastes, that can then be used that as a mask in an adjustment or other type of layer. I would be interested in hearing from any TK7 panel users on what additional capacities TK7 might provide me beyond this Best regards Allan Konopka |
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James Gray
Thanks for bringing this up again. Let me say that I have not acquired the TK7 panel. I do have several actions that create a set of luminosity masks. I recently acquired a tiny free panel from Greg Benz who sells Lumenzia. The only thing the free panel does is create 19 luminosity masks. I have not done very much with them yet. Here is another source I have not acquired this however, I have purchased other plugins from fixelalgorithms and CC-extensions. The ones I have seem to fit into the PPW. I do not really have a good understanding of how to use luminosity masks effectively. I too would be interested in hearing from users who have worked with TK7 or any of the other approaches. James Gray On Mon, Nov 11, 2019 at 3:28 PM <allan.konopka@...> wrote: I am just catching up with the interesting discussion on Luminosity masks started by James Gray on Oct 10 within the Yahoo group. |
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Frank Jarratt
There is another Photoshop luminosity mask extension, Lumenzia. TK is very good, but I settled on Lumenzia several years ago. Both seem to be under active development. Good time for the technology. Frank
On Monday, November 11, 2019, 04:28:54 PM CST, <allan.konopka@...> wrote:
I am just catching up with the interesting discussion on Luminosity masks started by James Gray on Oct 10 within the Yahoo group. Thanks to James and others for pointing out Tony Kuyper's TK7 panel. I *think* that another way to get to the same end(s) of varied luminosity masks is Know How Transfer's MASK Equalizer plugin for Photoshop https://www.knowhowtransfer.com/photoshop-professional-plugins/mask-equalizer/ It contains sliders for 7 different 'zones' of luminosity, plus sliders for Feather, Contrast, and Density. I have found this a pretty quick way to generate a layer with luminosity to my tastes, that can then be used that as a mask in an adjustment or other type of layer. I would be interested in hearing from any TK7 panel users on what additional capacities TK7 might provide me beyond this Best regards Allan Konopka |
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Mike Weis
I once tried the TK extensions, I don’t know what happened to my install of them but somewhere after that I stumbled on InstaMask and then Raya Pro. Can’t say I’ve really exploited it, but last time I played with it it seemed to have potential for me to experiment. Decent video tutorials for it.
Mike Weis |
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Max
I am using Tony Kuyper's TK panel since several years. It has a lot of features, apart from Luminosty Masks. You can get an idea here Sean Bagshaw produced several videos and courses on Photoshop Tecnniques with TK panel. Tony started to work with luminosity masks in 2006, and since then his panel received a lot of improvements. In my opinion it is better than other similar panels. Massimo Calvani
-- =================================== mobile: 0039 3485523203 home: 0039 049603505 |
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Davide Barranca
allan.konopka@... wrote:
I guess I might jump in as well, since I have collaborated to the actual production – i.e. the panel development – of Know-How Transfer Mask Equalizer, NBP Lumizone, TK Infinity Mask, and Fixel Algorithms Zone Selector (for some of them I'm not involved anymore) I also know Greg Benz, the developer of Lumenzia, and I've been in touch with Jimmy McIntyre, who is behind Raya Pro. Even though, and funnily enough, I'm not a big fan of Luminosity masks per se, meaning that I don't build my entire workflow based on them. Speaking of the multitude of available products on the market, I tend to prefer those that are less complicated to use: without naming names, there are some that look like an airplane dashboard. Usually, they imply a rather strict workflow, which in a sense forces you to follow pre-determined steps (or at least this is my understanding). Marketing wise, the most successful are the ones who bundle, or offer, tutorials on the side – panels business, I can tell first hand, needs supplements. Some of them claim to build the mask with more accuracy than others – which is true – but the actual difference between a mask that is calculated 32 bit compared to one that is 8bit is debatable. One difference that I've noted is that luminosity masks workflow people rarely blur them (or very very slightly). Davide Barranca |
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Joshua Ziff
I, too, have been using TK panel for awhile, and find it useful for the luminosity masks and other tools. I agree that Sean Bagshaw's videos are an instructive, good overview. I see luminosity masks as a useful tool in the second (once for contrast) step of Dan's three step process. Using them deviates from the quick processing goal of PPW, though, and once you are willing to start expanding the tools and time you are willing to put into contrast enhancement, there are, needless to say, many options. Amongst those, I find luminosity masking quite useful for the selectivity and feathering. Another excellent contrast manipulation is KnowHowTransfer's WOW, tool. There are many times when I do find myself saying, "wow," after using it. Another is Plugin site's ContrastMaster. As always with the contrast enhancement manipulations, you have to be wary of color damage, so be ready to use luminosity blending. Josh On Tue, Nov 12, 2019 at 3:32 AM Massimo Calvani <max.calvani@...> wrote:
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Ronny Light
I bought and tried a number of luminosity mask options and settled on TKActions. I’ve been using it for a number of versions.
In addition to luminosity masks, it has a long list of easy-to-use procedures that are found elsewhere—frequency seperation, Orten effect, etc.—or are unique to TKActions. It also has one-button access to a lot of often used Photoshop procedures.
TKActions is constantly under development and Tony Kuyper is very responsive to user questions or problems.
Like Photoshop, it can be a steep learning curve and Sean Bagshaws’ third-party tutorials are indespensible.
TKActions has become my most used add-on to Photoshop.
Ronny 5010 B Wilkerson Dr., Nashville, TN 37211
From: colortheory@groups.io <colortheory@groups.io> On Behalf Of Massimo Calvani
I am using Tony Kuyper's TK panel since several years. It has a lot of features, apart from Luminosty Masks. You can get an idea here
Sean Bagshaw produced several videos and courses on Photoshop Tecnniques with TK panel. Tony started to work with luminosity masks in 2006, and since then his panel received a lot of improvements. In my opinion it is better than other similar panels. Massimo Calvani
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allan.konopka@...
Thanks, Josh. Yes, I am looking for tools that assist me with Dan's second step, contrast enhancement, because I feel rooted in this mentality that was noted by Gerald Bakker in his excellent discussion of PPW Contrast, "channel blending feels like black magic."
I agree re WOW, although I often use it as a last step after Color Boost to provide some 'sparkle' (and use Masks to selectively apply its features to certain photo elements) Recently, I've been using KHT Shape as a 'quickie' means to increase contrast, emphasizing either the local or global level in different images Allan |
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James Gray
Davide, I appreciate you jumping in. I would be interested in knowing what other plug-ins, filters, or tools you use instead of luminosity masks. I know you may have reservations about recommending tools on this list that you have a vested interest in. At this time, I quite like Fixel Detailizer 3. However, it seems to be more a sharpening tool that would be used after the MMM+CB step in the PPW. I am also impressed with ALCE 3. However, I do not think I have fully figured out how to use the multiple radiuses well. I am also glad to see your comment about blurring. Thanks to Gerald Bakker's input I have substantially revised my view of blurring masks. Clearly blurring really helps the false profile-mutiply layer step in the PPW. Probably that is somewhat unique to it being a multiply layer. Certainly using the R, G, or B channel on the multiply layer is using a luminosity mask. I will mention that I often use the K channel instead of one of the RGB channels. I will try to do some testing, but it seems possible that a blur might help on a curve layer with a luminosity mask where the curve is an inverse S. James Gray On Tue, Nov 12, 2019 at 2:40 AM Davide Barranca <undavide@...> wrote:
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Joshua Ziff
Allan, Thanks for the tip on Shape. I had stopped using it when Wow was released, believing its results would be covered within what Wow produced. That was a wrong assumption. KnowHowTransfer's spatially-based contrast adjustment tools are unique, I think. Josh |
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allan.konopka@...
Agree re KHT's tools.
I grapple with how to use WOW -- there is a lot of complexity under the Decompose hood to 'play' with. But I've taken Dan's message to heart that it is just as good to do multiple versions 'quickly' and blend them to taste, as to spend a lot of time on one version. So, I mostly have just used the presets to see if I like the effect. When I was doing a series of flower macro pictures, I did find a couple of setting combinations that I thought worked well, outside the presets. Allan |
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Davide Barranca
Joshua Ziff wrote:
Shape and Wow! both work in the frequency decomposition domain indeed. Wow! (especially the pro version), could be thought as, if you will, a modern re-interpretation of the old Kai Power Tools Equalizer. On one hand, it's quite easy to work with equalizer-like sliders, on the other hand the decomposition (e.g. Base + 5 Detail layers) is quite powerful for retouching and contrast boost as well. In addition, it works with either a Gaussian or Bilateral (aka Surface Blur) kernels, that have been re-implemented on a plugin level for accuracy and performance reasons. Public disclosure: I've contributed to the products development, but my shares are so low that this shouldn't be seen as advertising or a personal plug :-) Davide Barranca |
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Joshua Ziff
Davide, many thanks for your work on Wow! and the other KHT plugins. Allan, here is how I use Wow!. Dan, please step in if you do not want this to be too much about a tool other than PPW. The Portrait, Beauty, Boost presets do not work for me, either. I rarely use decompose, just because of the time involved, and because the results without it are nice. However, there is one simple, powerful adjustment only available from decompose, and that is adjusting the Opacity of the Base layer that is produced from the Decompose operation. That only gets a casual mention in the User Manual, but it is powerful. My basic use of Wow! is to build on the Landscape preset from the first version of Wow!
I start with 3, 2, 1, 2, 4, in going from left to right for the high frequency adjustment to low frequency adjustment band amounts. I run this with Medium frequency setpoints and then judge the result. Usually, any needed adjustments are at the low frequency ends and require reductions, e.g., 3, 2, 1, 1, 2. Sometimes, if there is too much high frequency influence band 1 will get lowered. Less often, band 2. The usual changes are with bands 4 and 5. Sometimes band 4 will get adjusted negative, to reverse contrast and keep some shadows from getting too dark or to lighten them. I also will run another layer with the Large or Custom frequency setpoint and choose which one is best. I use the histogram to judge how much masking is needed. You will develop a feel for that. If there is too much clipping I will adjust the mask sliders to reduce or eliminate it. I do not blur this mask. I have a Nikon D500 with a 20.9MP sensor. Other resolutions will likely require other settings. Josh |
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This seems a great free one ...
- Robin Whalley | Fantastic Free Photoshop Luminosity Masking Tool (2019) http://youtu.be/KeQ1CfEgwf8 - Interactive Luminosity Masks http://svenstork.com/interactive-luminosity-masks - - - And this one comes across as very appreciated and just $40 ... https://adppro.com/ - - - More in development. |
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allan.konopka@...
Thanks, Josh. Totally agree with all comments re Decompose, and particularly Base layer. Learned the latter via correspondence with Roberto Bigano.
I primarily use landscape, with quick 'test' of Wow and Boost presets. I admit that rather than adjusting frequencies, I'll just adjust opacity of one I like, in interests of time. Recently I've been using Wow! as a finishing step, after generating 3 versions of PPW contrast step (channel blending, NEXT, and Shape), followed by PPW of a hammer (if necessary), MMM Finetuned and Color Boost. Then blend versions and apply Wow! For flower pictures, I found these 2 rows of frequency adjustments to produce nice effects on some images WOW
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Mike Weis
FYI. As a registered user of Raya Pro, I received this announcement of a new 32 bit luminosity mask plugin.
https://www.shutterevolve.com/lumi32-powerful-32-bit-luminosity-mask-plugin/ I will likely buy it at the upgrade price and try it when it comes out next week. Mike Weis |
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