Applying a mask on grouped adjustment layers doens't work anymore

[timo906]

Hey y'all!

Ever since the update to 1.8 the way the opacity slider acts on mask layers changed. I can try to explain it using words, but I made some screenshots to show you what changed.

 

As you can see in the last two panes; the way the opacity slider behaved in the new and old version changed completely. Now, I now that applying different shades of gray on the mask can achieve the same thing (which I used to make this example) but I loved how the slider worked in the previous version. Especially when using various degrees of grey on the mask. With the slider you controlled the entire mask. 

Anyone know how to fix it or a workaround? Or should I hope it'll be patched in the next update?

 

Thanks!

[MEB]

Hi timo906,
Thanks for your feedback. I'm passing/logging this to be looked at and will get back to you as soon as i have some news. Thanks.

[MEB]

Hi timo906,
This change in behaviour is intentional. Actually it was broken in v1.7 (with Metal acceleration enabled) and has been fixed recently so it's now working as intended (controls the whole layer opacity). We are considering adding an additional slider later to control the mask opacity (density slider) so you can "fade" it as in previous v1.7.

[timo906]

Hey MEB, 

Thanks for the quick reply!

Good to know. The additional mask opacity slider would be a great feature; when you have multiple shades of grey on a mask (as in; multiple levels of opacity) the slider's great to adjust the overall level of the effect without painstakingly having to adjust the 'greys'. 

Do you know if there's a (temporary) workaround, or a way to 'break' it again? I used it to dial in effects on certain parts of the image, using the slider to fine tune it. 

[IPv6]

4 hours ago, MEB said:

Hi timo906,
This change in behaviour is intentional. Actually it was broken in v1.7 (with Metal acceleration enabled) and has been fixed recently so it's now working as intended (controls the whole layer opacity). We are considering adding an additional slider later to control the mask opacity (density slider) so you can "fade" it as in previous v1.7.

>density slider

Wow. this would be very handy indeed

[Murfee]

Hi @MEB, will this density slider work similar to the PS layer fill and be available for all layers? I hope so, the Special 8 blend modes are crying out for this...so are some of us 😀

[MEB]

Hi everyone,
Please note i said it is being considered as an improvement for a future version - there's no definitive decision yet.

@Murfee
No, this is not the same as the Fill layer opacity in Photoshop (if i understood you correctly). It would be the equivalent of the density control/slider in the Properties panel when you have a mask selected (in Photoshop).

[Murfee]

Ok thanks Meb, it has been a few years since I used Photoshop, I can’t remember all the features, I prefer the Affinity way 😀 It would be so good if they did add a layer fill option, I have some creative ideas using the special 8 that I can’t find alternative methods for 😀

[MEB]

Hi Murfee,
The Fill layer opacity was already requested a few times too: see here and here. feel free to bump them/add your comments there.

[lepr]

17 hours ago, timo906 said:

Do you know if there's a (temporary) workaround, or a way to 'break' it again? I used it to dial in effects on certain parts of the image, using the slider to fine tune it. 

Yes, you can nest a Levels adjustment or Curves adjustment in the mask, set the adjustment's target channel to Alpha and lift the adjustment's output.

Lift a Levels output by dragging the Output Black Level (the fourth slider) to the right.

Lift a Curves output by dragging the bottom left node upwards.

Edited March 12, 2020 by anon2

[timo906]

20 hours ago, anon2 said:

Yes, you can nest a Levels adjustment or Curves adjustment in the mask, set the adjustment's target channel to Alpha and lift the adjustment's output.

Lift a Levels output by dragging the Output Black Level (the fourth slider) to the right.

Lift a Curves output by dragging the bottom left node upwards.

That is a great fix! Thanks!