Luminosity masks in Affinity Photo

[Depa]

Hi,

 

In addition to the tutorial by Team Affinity on masks.

Affinity Photos offers 3 types of masks: highlights, midtones and shadows. In some cases, this is not enough and it is possible to create graduated masks which allow more precise adjustments.

That's what I did and that I present on this screen shot.

Sans titre 3.tiff

[Optikz]

ok, looks good but how did you select different graduations of highlights and shadows to make the spare channels?

[Depa]

Hi,

It’s not easy to explain with my « poor » English but here is a step by step .

 

First for Highlights (TC1)

- shift/cmd/click on the layer thumbnail in the layer palette  for create a selection. Then in the Pixel selection, right click and create a spare channel, rename it (for me TC1)

 

Second for Highlights 2 (TC2)

- on spare channel TC1, right click load to Pixel alpha. With the pixel layer selected in the layer palette, shift/cmd/click on it to make a selection, then go to the pixel selection, right click and create a new spare channel rename it (for me TC2)

 

for other highlights … repeat the second step …

 

For Shadows (TF1)

- Right click on the spare channel TC1, choose load to Pixel selection and invert the selection.

Then right click on the Pixel selection choose create a spare channel, rename it (TF1)

 

Second for Shadows 2 (TF2)

- Right click on the spare channel TF1, choose load to Pixel alpha; then on the pixel alpha, right click and choose create a mask layer; on the alpha channel, right click and choose create a spare channel, rename it (TF2 in my case) and delate the mask created in the layer palette … ouf (lol)

 

For the next Shadows 3 and others, repeat the step Shadows 2 ..

 

I think there is a simplest way with the intersect add and subtract with or from pixel selection ..?

 

Good luck !!! :)  

 

and the result :

graduate.tiff

[Optikz]

Works great, and explained well. Thank you!

[dhayton]

This is great. Thanks for the tip. Now if I could just become better at using luminosity masks…

[dublin906]

Hi Guys, I am new to Affinity Photo and trying to make it works instead of Photoshop.

 

Just read these instructions:

 

 

First for Highlights (TC1)

- shift/cmd/click on the layer thumbnail in the layer palette  for create a selection. Then in the Pixel selection, right click and create a spare channel, rename it (for me TC1)

 

Second for Highlights 2 (TC2)

- on spare channel TC1, right click load to Pixel alpha. With the pixel layer selected in the layer palette, shift/cmd/click on it to make a selection, then go to the pixel selection, right click and create a new spare channel rename it (for me TC2)

 

 

And first point works for me: I can shift/cmd/click on layer and create selection then save as a spare channel.

But second step makes troubles. I can load selection (Pixel alpha) and then when I am clicking (shift/cmd/click) on selected layer nothing happens. I mean selection stays the same. Tried this on simple gradient as well as on photo and I am stuck in that point. It seems Affinity is unable to create selection of highlights inside my active selections.

 

What am I missing there?

[dublin906]

Seriously nobody knows the answer?

[dhayton]

I'll create a short video later showing how I get it to work (unless somebody beats me to it). Stay tuned.

[p_mac]

Post deleted by member as Depa's explanation is much clearer in his video's following.

[Depa]

Hi Guys, I am new to Affinity Photo and trying to make it works instead of Photoshop.

 

Just read these instructions:

 

 

First for Highlights (TC1)

- shift/cmd/click on the layer thumbnail in the layer palette  for create a selection. Then in the Pixel selection, right click and create a spare channel, rename it (for me TC1)

 

Second for Highlights 2 (TC2)

- on spare channel TC1, right click load to Pixel alpha. With the pixel layer selected in the layer palette, shift/cmd/click on it to make a selection, then go to the pixel selection, right click and create a new spare channel rename it (for me TC2)

 

 

And first point works for me: I can shift/cmd/click on layer and create selection then save as a spare channel.

But second step makes troubles. I can load selection (Pixel alpha) and then when I am clicking (shift/cmd/click) on selected layer nothing happens. I mean selection stays the same. Tried this on simple gradient as well as on photo and I am stuck in that point. It seems Affinity is unable to create selection of highlights inside my active selections.

 

What am I missing there?

Hello,

 

Sorry but it works for me  :) Are you sure the layer is selected in the layer palette when you "shift/cmd/click "on the thumbnail ? I don't see what is wrong ...

I am not a PS user, but a friend is and we have the same result, it's just a little more difficult with AP :D

 

Regards 

[Depa]

I have made a video 

...... but it is too big  :(

[Depa]

Hello,

Here is a link

https://www.dropbox.com/s/twbl7m8yfahi4uy/L.M1.mov?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pt5gy6bsfjsqg7n/L%20M2.mov?dl=0

regards

[anon1]

or you can use blend if (see attached video) to target a specific range 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/17364-blend-if-blend-ranges/?p=79182

[Depa]

or you can use blend if (see attached video) to target a specific range 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/17364-blend-if-blend-ranges/?p=79182

Thanks  ;)

Yes it's a very useful feature !!! but how to turn the result on a mask for other adjustments ?

[anon1]

I can´t currently think of an easy way of doing so....but the creation itself is faster and more flexible so you might just do it over again.

 

- speaking of masks - another quick tip:

1. you can use non destructive filters on masks (although the "merge" button does not work here)

2. you can use levels and curves non destructively on masks, just make sure you operate on the alpha and not the master channel

[Depa]

Your Quick tip 2 is great !!! before I had to work on a greyscale layer, apply a level adj. and then rasterize to mask ..

[p_mac]

Thanks for the videos Depa. Makes your method so much clearer. My reply was a little off track.

[dublin906]

Depa thank you for videos it helps me :)

[smadell]

A friend introduced me to Luminosity Masks about a week ago. Since then, I have been fascinated by them and by the power they provide. I started looking for ways to create gradations of Light, Dark, and Midtone selections/masks. Why should the Photoshop folks have all the fun? I found this thread, and started playing around with Affinity Photo. I have finally found a way to create light, dark, and midtone selection channels in 3 different grades each.

 

For those of us who have been confused by all this, I wrote down step-by-step instructions to create 9 different Spare Channels. (Honestly, I'm not sure I could re-create all this without a cheat sheet either!). Here goes...

 

Duplicate background 2 times.
Name the 1st duplicate “Light Temp”
Name the 2nd duplicate “Dark Temp”
With “Dark temp” layer selected, choose Layer > Invert

Select layer “Light Temp”

In Layers panel, Command-Shift-Click on layer icon to create luminosity selection
In Channels panel, right click on Pixel Selection and choose Create Spare Channel.
Rename this channel Lights 1
Deselect the selection.

In Channels panel, right click on Lights 1 and choose Load to Light Temp alpha
In Layers panel, Command-Shift-Click on layer icon to create luminosity selection
In Channels panel, right click on Pixel Selection and choose Create Spare Channel.
Rename this channel Lights 2
Deselect the selection.

In Channels panel, right click on Lights 2 and choose Load to Light Temp alpha
In Layers panel, Command-Shift-Click on layer icon to create luminosity selection
In Channels panel, right click on Pixel Selection and choose Create Spare Channel.
Rename this channel Lights 3
Deselect the selection.

Delete layer “Light Temp”

Select layer “Dark Temp” [remember - this is the inverted version of the background layer]

In Layers panel, Command-Shift-Click on layer icon to create luminosity selection
In Channels panel, right click on Pixel Selection and choose Create Spare Channel.
Rename this channel Darks 1
Deselect the selection.

In Channels panel, right click on Darks 1 and choose Load to Dark Temp alpha
In Layers panel, Command-Shift-Click on layer icon to create luminosity selection
In Channels panel, right click on Pixel Selection and choose Create Spare Channel.
Rename this channel Darks 2
Deselect the selection.

In Channels panel, right click on Darks 2 and choose Load to Dark Temp alpha
In Layers panel, Command-Shift-Click on layer icon to create luminosity selection
In Channels panel, right click on Pixel Selection and choose Create Spare Channel.
Rename this channel Darks 3
Deselect the selection.

Delete layer “Dark Temp”

In Channels panel, right click on Lights 1 and choose Load to Pixel Selection
In Channels panel, right click on Darks 1 and choose Intersect with Pixel Selection
In Channels panel, right click on Pixel Selection and choose Create Spare Channel
Rename this channel Midtones 1
Deselect the selection.

In Channels panel, right click on Lights 2 and choose Load to Pixel Selection
In Channels panel, right click on Darks 2 and choose Intersect with Pixel Selection
In Channels panel, right click on Pixel Selection and choose Create Spare Channel
Rename this channel Midtones 2
Deselect the selection.

In Channels panel, right click on Lights 3 and choose Load to Pixel Selection
In Channels panel, right click on Darks 3 and choose Intersect with Pixel Selection
In Channels panel, right click on Pixel Selection and choose Create Spare Channel
Rename this channel Midtones 3
Deselect the selection.

 

Obviously, the introduction of the Macros Persona will make this process much more tolerable.

 

Also, I have not been able to figure out how to create the selections without actually saving the spare channels. The existence of these extra channels bloats the size of the file considerably. [For instance, I opened a JPG and immediately saved it as an .afphoto file. The original JPG was 11.7 MB and the new Affinity Photo file was 12 MB. After I created the 9 luminosity channels, I saved again, and the new file was now 124 MB.]

 

Also, I can create the 3 Lights channels without creating the others. I can also create the 3 Darks channels without creating the others. But, at least with the method I've come up with, I have to create both the Lights and the Darks in order to come up with the Midtones.

 

I am really looking forward to the Beta of version 1.5 - still said to be "a few weeks" away. I know the developers want to get Symbols into this one - I'm more eager for an implementation of Macros and Batch processing. That will make my daily work SO much easier.

[MJSfoto1956]

Because AP has advanced layer blend options that are not available in Photoshop, there is no need for traditional "luminosity masks". One can very precisely restrict any filter or layer to ANY range of luminosity with any kind of falloff (be it hard or soft, shallow or steep). Below is a screenshot that demonstrates how to do luminosity masks the fast and easy way using blend options -- in this case restricting the levels layer to only affect the midtones. This should serve as a reminder that if you are going to use a new tool, it pays to avoid trying to fit a square peg into a round hole! YMMV 

 

[alecspra]

Thanks MJSfoto1956! I had been reading about Luminosity Masks and was a bit unmotivated to try it on AF due to the apparent complexity of the process. What you suggest is so much simpler and if it works just as well as the more complex process, it is definitely a big incentive to experiment with it.

[DannyBCreative]

Because AP has advanced layer blend options that are not available in Photoshop, there is no need for traditional "luminosity masks". One can very precisely restrict any filter or layer to ANY range of luminosity with any kind of falloff (be it hard or soft, shallow or steep). Below is a screenshot that demonstrates how to do luminosity masks the fast and easy way using blend options -- in this case restricting the levels layer to only affect the midtones. This should serve as a reminder that if you are going to use a new tool, it pays to avoid trying to fit a square peg into a round hole! YMMV 

 

Restricting a filter is one thing.  But blending multiple images, such as in HDR type processing, luminosity masking is essential.  Using luminosity masks will (in my opinion) always produce better looking images and more natural looking images than the over processed HDR applications/filters.

[DavidMac]

It pays to avoid trying to fit a square peg into a round hole! YMMV 

 

Now that is very clever. Thank you!!!

[Vicks]

and that's why everybody used blend if in PS instead of proper Luminosity masks right? oh wait, no, your statement is laughable at best.
Please don't take it personal but let's not sell a non feature as a replacement for an awesome one that AP severely lacks.
A luminosity mask is better in any way shape or form, and being a mask is intrinsically a selection, blend ranges can't even come close to that.

Smadell has been the single most proficient helper for anybody using AP for advance post processing that seeks the versatility of using LM.

Still AP lacks the foundamentals for that kinda workflow, like previewing the mask itself AND clamping it or editing it with levels and curves without resorting to nesting adjustement levels and using alpha components as it currently is (which prevents preview of the mask range).

Seriously this and some other little usability tweaks are the one things that prevents me from using AP for any kind of serious work or suggeting the program to anyone.

Would've preferred Serif concentrate on this kinda problem instead of making Light UI the focus of an entire update

[Wetterhoun]

12 hours ago, Vicks said:

and that's why everybody used blend if in PS instead of proper Luminosity masks right? oh wait, no, your statement is laughable at best.
Please don't take it personal but let's not sell a non feature as a replacement for an awesome one that AP severely lacks.
A luminosity mask is better in any way shape or form, and being a mask is intrinsically a selection, blend ranges can't even come close to that.

Smadell has been the single most proficient helper for anybody using AP for advance post processing that seeks the versatility of using LM.

Still AP lacks the foundamentals for that kinda workflow, like previewing the mask itself AND clamping it or editing it with levels and curves without resorting to nesting adjustement levels and using alpha components as it currently is (which prevents preview of the mask range).

Seriously this and some other little usability tweaks are the one things that prevents me from using AP for any kind of serious work or suggeting the program to anyone.

Would've preferred Serif concentrate on this kinda problem instead of making Light UI the focus of an entire update

 

Yep. In PhotoShop you NEED Luminosity Masks, because "blend if" is rather limited in PS. In Affinity Photo "blend if" is way more advanced, thanks to the way you can manipulate the blend graphs for the blend ranges and the underlying layer. In AP you can have several peaks in a blend graph if you want it, i.e. a peak in the middle of the highlights, the middle of the midtones and the middle of the shadows. In PS you that’s not possible with "blend if". In PS you can only have one peak (if you would think of it as a graph in PS) with "blend if", i.e. in the highlights or midtones or shadows.

 

I have not needed LM in AP so far for my photos, although I blend most of my images because of the high dynamic range I most often shoot in. The AP "blend if" has worked for me so far. IMHO PS LM are too cumbersome to use and over-complicated and it takes way too much time to do it well. Then again, I am no Jimmy McIntyre or Greg Benz either. I love to blend my images, but I want it fast and simple. AP does that for me. PS LM not as fast and simple. But I am not against having LM in AP. The more room for creativity the better.