Refine Mask without an overlay?

[AllAppsUser]

Layers > Refine Mask

The dialogue I get is called "Refine Selection" - I assume this is just an Affinity inconsistency and means nothing?

I want to preview the original without the red overlay.

The options I see in the drop down list next to 'Preview':

• Overlay (Red devil)
• White Matte
• Black Matt
• Black & White
• Transparent

 Is there a setting somewhere I'm not seeing that will let me do this?

The red overlay is great for many cases. Where you have a really dark image though, it's not.
 

 

[GarryP]

Just out of interest, can you describe the process you are using during which not being able to see what is being masked would be preferable?
In other words, by not having the mask visible in any way you would just be looking at the original image, so how do you know if the mask is correct, if you can’t see it?
I’m not saying that you are doing anything wrong, I’m just trying to understand what benefit you would get from not being able to see what you are doing.

P.S. The Refine Selection dialog is shared by the Selection Brush Tool and the Refine Mask function so the name is just a little bit ‘unfortunate’; they are the same thing, as far as I know.

[AllAppsUser]

Thanks @GarryP. Don't mind the question at all. This is creative work so there's often no right or wrong to the path to the desired result.

In PhotoShop, you can preview Refine Mask without the overlay.

I find it especially useful when feathering masks. The more subtle end of mask work.

Red overlays do not always communicate the nuances of graduated/feathered masks well.

A black and white view of the mask often does this the best. It's the way to work when there's graduation/feathering mask work I find.... mostly. Sometimes, however, you need to see the feather in combination with the original image.

- - - - - - - - - -

EDIT: Uh-ho ! ! ! ! ! !

In Photoshop the preview is "live". I think I've just registered that it isn't in Affinity Photo (It has to be 'apply'ed to see it).

So you "apply" a feather mask refinement... uh-ho.. too much... gahhhhh, can't do a minus feather!!! Un-do.. start guessing... loads of back and forth here that isn't necessary in Photoshop.

See attached... in theory I'm testing a feather setting of 0.4px.

Because it's not 'live' can you judge how the feather will play out? If you're going to end up simply with a softened halo effect? Can you judge how big a feather to make it without ending up with an unfortunate dark edge instead? Utter blind guessing isn't it.. and you see how the black and white preview won't help here will it?

Of course this is where Shift Edge in Photoshop wins hands-down. Is that available in AF Photo at all? I've not been able to find it.

- - - - - - - - - -

How do you do this Garry?

 

So summary:

• A red overlay is not great at helping communicate feather on masks
• Affinity's refine mask appears not to be 'live' ???

[GarryP]

Thanks for the answer.
Unfortunately you’re using techniques that are ‘above my pay grade’ and, as such, I don’t have any answers.
Most of the masking that I do is very simple so I’m not the best person to ask.
Even with my simple work I have often found it difficult to see what the resultant image will look like so this thread will still be of interest to me.
There are lots of experts in the forums so you (and I) will probably get good advice from someone else.

[R C-R]

12 hours ago, ProDesigner said:

In Photoshop the preview is "live". I think I've just registered that it isn't in Affinity Photo (It has to be 'apply'ed to see it).

For me, any changes made in the Refine Selection window are updated in the workspace window without having to apply them. But depending on the selection & how much of a change I am trying to make, I may get a progress bar at the top of the workspace window that has to fill up & disappear before anything can update.

On my old 2012 low end iMac, it could take as much as several minutes for that progress bar to disappear in documents with large or complex selections; on my new & far more powerful 2020 iMac, I rarely see a progress bar at all, & even when I do it usually fills up in just a few seconds.

So while it is not exactly "live" I do not have to apply it to see it.