kirkt

I understand and appreciate the distinction you are making, but all of that can be done in 3DLC. Lattice is a nice tool as well and is useful for manipulating transforms and creating new ones based on color models and tone curves - I especially like the ability to write expressions to define transforms. 3DLC permits manipulations of LUTs (although not with the expression-driven Lattice-like approach) as well as its ability to edit color and tone with its unique set of tools. In this sense, I think it offers more than simply saving image edits in a LUT format. AP already will permit much of the Lattice-like LUT transform (input to output) in the form of OCIO support in an adjustment layer. It would appear (and I could very well be wrong) that the OP is looking for the color correction tools in 3DLC, not an explicit LUT editor like Lattice. kirk

3DLUT Creator creates 3D LUTs based on all of the tools and corrections within the application. Have you ever used it? I'm not sure I understand your characterization of it here. Care to elaborate? kirk

3D LUT Creator is a very powerful color editing and LUT generating tool. It is not simply a color selection and manipulation tool. Watch the collection of videos on YouTube detailing the various functions and features of 3DLC and I think you will find that to try to incorporate it's functionality into AP is not possible. Give the application a trial too - you might find it is worth the investment. kirk

I'm not sure if this solution is exactly what you are looking for, but you can use LUTs based on the HALD identity image to simulate various color blind modes, similar to the soft proofing in PS. You need to grab the HALD identity image and the modified HALDs that simulate various color blind modes - they can be found here: http://www.daltonize.org/search/label/ColorLookupTable then use AP's LUT adjustment layer and use the "infer LUT" mode - it will ask you to load two images. The first image should be the identity image (the reference image) and the second image should be the modified HALD that simulates the color blind mode. This LUT will display your image similar to the soft-proof mode in PS. You can use the color picker and the info panel in AP to see how the colors remap - if you apply the LUT to a standard color wheel, where you know the color you are looking for, maybe you can use the LUTs to remap the reference colors and figure out how to find the appropriate new color that works. There is also this set of LUTs: https://github.com/nelas/color-blind-luts which purport to use transforms for color blind friendly colors for presentations, etc. This may also help guide your color choices. Good luck, kirk

A mask in AP is a child element of a layer in the layer stack. If you click on a layer to target it (to tell AP that you want to add a mask to it, for example) and then you add a mask, the mask becomes a child of the parent layer. What is sort of ambiguous in the AP layer stack is that when you perform this operation, the parent layer appears to become unselected (i.e., it is no longer highlighted) - what actually happens is that the mask is now selected (active, targeted) but it is not highlighted in the layer stack, so it is not explicitly clear what is active after you add the mask (child) to the layer (parent). However, when you add the mask, it appears that the dev decided that the mask should, by default, get focus because you presumably want to edit the mask you just added - hence it gets selected as soon as it is created. When you are recording a macro, after you have added the mask, you must select the parent layer (click on it) to return focus to that layer (the dialog will come up asking if you want to select the parent of the mask, implying that the mask is currently selected) - yes you do. Once you have done that and the parent layer is active, you can select another layer and the dialog will come up asking you which layer specifically you would like to select (in relative or absolute terms, as usual). So there is one extra step to navigate your way back to the parent level of the layer stack. I assume this helps AP keep track of where you are in the layer stack for purposes of working out logic in the macro. Think of the layer as a directory in a file system and the mask as a file in the directory. To navigate from the file level to the directory level, you need to ".." your way up one level in the hierarchy to return to the folder level of the file tree. The "bug" may be that the mask (child) does not get highlighted to indicate explicitly that it is the targeted (active, selected) element in the stack after you add it. kirk

My guess - none of those applications support 32bit PSD files. kirk

This might also be helpful: https://cameramanben.github.io/LUTCalc/LUTCalc/index.html kirk

What is the working color space that your AP (beta) is currently using (set in the Preferences > Color Profiles? I ask because it appears that AP will (convert?) to this color space when the Document mode is changed from 32bit to 16bit - i.e., it does not preserve the 32bit color space (embedded in your file) and make the necessary gamma conversion, it changes to the specified working space you set up in the Preferences. If that is the case, then you should specify (in your case example) AdobeRGB as the RGB working space and AdobeRGB (linear) as the 32bit color space. Then everything will be in alignment for your workflow in AdobeRGB. I made the LUTs in Lattice, specifying AdobeRGB as the color space and specifying a linear to gamma 2.2 transform. The LUTs i linked for download are 32x32x32 (about 1.3MB for each LUT file). Here: https://db.tt/cVBVIIDWRi is a link to a 64x64x64 LUT (about 10MB) - you can use this one and compare its rendering to the lower res LUT to see if your display can render any noticeable difference between the two. You may also be able to do the display transform using the OCIO adjustment layer and the appropriate OCIO configuration. See: http://opencolorio.org/downloads.html This might give you more flexibility in how your display transform is constructed (to avoid clipping, for example, that might occur using a LUT). Good luck. kirk

For what it is worth, I cannot replicate this in v 1.5. I can make a 32bit AdobeRGB (linear) image in Photoshop, save it as a TIFF, bring it into AP and change the document mode to 16bit and it will just convert the image to AdobeRGB (normal AdobeRGB, gamma 2.2). You can try to work around the AP 16bit linear limitation by using LUTs. Load the linear 16bit image that you have into AP - it will assign the working color profile to the image. So far, assuming that your working color space in AP is the same as the color space of your image file, that does not really matter other than your image will look dark and not display with the gamma transformation that the linear profile would instruct AP to perform for display. The color numbers are still linear because the working profile was assigned. Add a LUT adjustment layer and load an AdobeRGB linear to Adobe gamma 2.2 LUT. This will transform the image for display but once you are finished your image editing you can turn the LUT off (delete it from the layer stack) to save your work in linear numbers (flatten your work without the LUT if you are saving to a format that does not support layers). Then export the result as a 16bit TIFF -in the TIFF export dialog hit the "More" button at the bottom of the dialog and uncheck the "Embed ICC Profile" option. Now you will export and untagged image that has linear AdobeRGB numbers that do not have the normal gamma 2.2 profile embedded. When you open the image in another color managed application, ASSIGN AdobeRGB (linear) and you are back on track. Here are Dropbox links for a couple of LUTs that may help: AdobeRGB linear to gamma 2.2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sf09acotl1x1hda/AbobeLin-g22.cube?dl=0 AdobeRGB gamma 2.2 to linear: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gzbefiacn6qtujw/AdobeRGBg22-lin.cube?dl=0 Hopefully this kludge will help until proper linear profile support is included in AP. kirk

If you want to convert a colored background to white - convert the document to grayscale and adjust the white point in the levels to make the light gray background white. kirk

Maybe try frequency separation to isolate the small details like textures on the paper, sports and blemishes, etc. You need to use pretty extreme values, with Feature Protection enabled. Then you can do your inpainting to remove creases and folds, etc. and a Levels adjustment to set the overall black and white points. Use Lab mode in the Levels dialog and adjust the black and white points of the lightness levels. You can adjust the opacity of the high-frequency layer to restore some of the texture, or turn it off completely to remove all of the texture. Have fun! kirk

But you can make a macro to set up the two layers and apply a Gaussian Blur effect to the white, rounded corner shape. At least those steps can be automated. Too bad you cannot even Group layers together in the Macro recorder. kirk

As a workaround, once you make your new layer mask (that is all white) select the mask in the layers panel if it is not already selected and Invert it (CMD-I). Then it will be all black and fully negate the layer. The color of masks in 32bit mode, as reported in the info panel, is sort of strange. Even in "Edit Mask" mode, the colors read in the info palette (the 8 bit color) and in the color chooser (32bit color using the eyedropper to sample the document) indicate some intensity/color values from the image or some source that is not uniformly white or black across the mask that is supposed to be uniformly black or white. If you use the 32bit preview tool to adjust display exposure, there is no image where the color readings in the info palette suggest there is data in the mask - that is, the mask appears uniformly white or black. So something is not quite right or I am not exactly sure what the color readings are supposed to mean when in edit mask mode. kirk

Also note that the Chain Bridge and Marble Hall image sets contain data was artificially created in Adobe Camera Raw from source raw files - that is, the exposure for a source raw was adjusted in ACR to make a new, artificial exposure at a higher or lower EV level. I do not think this is advisable, especially if you use ACR's PV2012, where all sorts of automagic hanky-panky is going on without your ability to control it - mostly in the highlights. This can lead to all sorts of problems in the areas where the data are not what the merger and tone mapper expect (based on the EXIF, or an estimation of the exposure and gamma curve for each source image). Use your own source raw files and try using the full set of Tone Mapping persona tools. That said, there are better tone mappers out there, mostly in dedicated HDR applications. However, AP is somewhat unique in that most of its set of editing tools is 32bit compatible, so you can manually tonemap your 32bit data in AP where other image editors might not be able to handle 32bit operations. kirk

Try using all of the tone mapping tools, especially the amount of compression, the exposure and most importantly for what you are complaining about, Curves. The Curve dialog will help you move specific tonal regions around. It would be nice if, in the Tone Mapping persona, there was a 32bit color readout to help identify where the unbounded pixel values are on the tone curve so it is easier to isolate them on the Curves adjustment. I find that the black point and contrast sliders in the Tone Mapping persona are way too sensitive and crush the shadow values with very little adjustment away from zero. Another approach is to do your merge and DO NOT automatically go to the Tone Mapping persona. This way you can make adjustments to the 32bit data (with Curves or any other 32bit tool) and manually compress and remap the values before committing them to the Tone Mapping persona. kirk

It is the place to read FP color values too. I'd like the FP values to be displayed under the cursor or with color targets in the info panel. Kirk

To bring up the 32 bit color chooser, double click on the circlular color patch in the chooser to bring up the dialog in the image I posted above. Kirk

I responded in the thread you linked to in your above post. Kirk

To experiment with this feature of the Curves adjustment, try the following: Make a new document - 32bit. This gives you an unbounded (not constrained between 0 and 1) working document. Now, use the rectangle tool, or whatever, and make a box and then use the color chooser to make boxes with various exposures. I have made one for you - you can download the .aphoto file here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8l13orpca6xr8x1/Unbounded.afphoto?dl=0 The example file has a large rectangle that is 0EV and four rectangles below 0EV (-1, -2, -4, -8) and four above 0EV (+1, +2, +4, +8). In 32bit color, you can express these values in "intensity" (like log photographic exposure or stops) or in floating point (FP) values. Normally, a bounded working document has all values between 0 (black) and 1 (white). An unbounded document can have any intensity values - presumably even negative ones. The 32bit document is linear, so doubling the FP value doubles the intensity, equivalent to increasing by 1 photographic stop, or EV. The Color Chooser in AP takes on a special form in a 32bit document, permitting you to choose "color" (RGB values) and intensity (in Stops). You can also dial in both using the FP values. The relationship between EV and FP values is: FP Value = 2^(EV). To visualize values beyond the display range, you can use the 32bit preview tool (Studio > 32bit preview). Slide the Exposure slider to adjust the range of values displayed in your 32 bit document. You will see that the current document shows you the rectangles that are in the range between 0 and 1. Dial in negative exposure and you will see the upper +EV rectangles appear. In the document I provided, there is a curves adjustment layer at the top of the layer stack. You can use the min/max input values to specify what range of FP values you want to comprise the lower and upper bounds of your curves adjustment. Try setting the max input to 0.25 and pulling the white point node down to the horizontal axis (0 output). Notice that only the squares that have a FP value <=0.25 are affected. Etc. This way you have a true 32bit curves adjustment that you can control the range of input values that get affected in 32bit mode. Totally cool!

Yes, you can scale the effect in the equation with a constant - you could even make one of the three parameters (a, b or c) the scaling factor and expose that also, allowing a user driven range for the slider max! I sort of forgot about this thread I was so busy last week. Glad I stumbled back into it! kirk

A 16 and 32-bit color readout option in the info panel would be terrific and work hand-in-hand with the unbounded input min and max feature in the Curves adjustment. kirk

This technique is a very clever use of AP's ability to use both pixel-based and vector-based content seamlessly in a single working environment. Very nicely done and the video makes it very easy to understand the concept and all of its features and powerful adjustments. This technique could be extended to make any number of dodge and burn vector-based masks that would complement the available raw developer gradient adjustment, without the need for brushing in an edit. A library of mask shapes could be made with each having its own macro to generate the initial shape. The user could then modify the shape to their liking for the specific application. The example in the video of the vignette being converted to a curve to conform to some of the landscape features is a good example of taking, say, a gradient adjustment (a graduated neutral density filter, but in post) and adapting its effect to the landscape. Etc. Have you tried creating a Macro to build the basic structure of the vignette, with some of the controls exposed to the user? It may be an ad-hoc way to provide the tool in a semi-automated manner to users. Nice work! kirk

I'm glad you are able to edit it! Yes, this implementation of Macros will make for some interesting extensibility of AP. kirk

No problem. I probably should have removed those things, but this way the user, at least at this stage in the development, is cued to recall the default value - in case they forget and want to go back to the default. Can you edit the macro? If so, you can click on the gear icon next to each control I exposed to bring up the rigging controls. Click on the eye to un-expose the control, then click on it again to re-expose it - this should give you the opportunity to rename to control that appears in the dialog. This way you can customize the control names. Have fun! kirk

Note that I have found that the default values for the Gaussian Blur live filter changes automatically with the size of the image when you first run the macro. That is, if you load a large (say full-res dSLR) image, the blur radius is larger than if you load a smaller res image. You can always change the blur radius during the macro dialog or after the fact, as the GB layers are live filter layers. Also, when working on an image, I would suggest working on it at final export size. Play around with getting the look you want and then changing the document size to see how that affects the grain. You can experiment with stamping the stack prior to resizing - this will create a pixel layer with the look burned in - the grain will get resized during image size changing. You can also leave everything live, resize, and then adjust the GB layers accordingly to reestablish the look at the smaller size. Then export. I found this approach worked better. kirk