[Photo] When using vectors to mask, how can we feather the mask?

[Friksel]

I'm mostly using Designer, but now I need to cutout parts from a photo so I'm using Affinity Photo for this. I'd like to do this with a curve (already have created these), but it's too sharp to use for masking parts of the photo, so I'd like to feather the cutout mask.

This is how I mask now:

I tried to do this with layer effects by using gaussian blur, but then it blurs the fill as well and I want to only blur/feather the mask.

Is there a way to blur only the mask, or another way to feather the mask without bluring the image and without rasterizing the vector first?

[Dan C]

Hi @Friksel,

37 minutes ago, Friksel said:

Is there a way to blur only the mask, or another way to feather the mask without bluring the image and without rasterizing the vector first?

I would do the following -

• Unclip the Pixel layer from the Curve layer
• Select the Curve Layer, then navigate to Layer > New Live Filter Layer > Blur > Gaussian Blur
  This should clip the filter inside the curve layer.
• Adjust the Blur until you're happy with the amount
• Drag and drop the Curve over the thumbnail of the Pixel layer, to add this as a vector clipping mask
  The filter will no longer be editable, but the image should remain unblurred.

I hope this helps

[Friksel]

@Dan C Cool! That works! 😀

Thanks a lot for your quick and clear response Dan, even with video, wow! Very much appreciated. And I'm very happy now I don't need to rasterize these masks now! 

[thomaso]

… or nest them vice versa and apply a layer fx to blur the masking shape (non-destructively):

[Friksel]

2 minutes ago, thomaso said:

… or nest them vice versa and apply a layer fx to blur the masking shape (non-destructively):

Yes, that's what I do now. So basically the only thing changed compared to what I tried in the first place was the way I add the mask to the layer 🙂

[thomaso]

33 minutes ago, Dan C said:

The filter will no longer be editable,

Actually de-nesting this layer makes its applied filter layer occur again – and editable this way.

Do you know a reason why it was coded to work this way? For a certain advantage / purpose? I can't imagine a reason that a layer can't get unfolded if / as long it is applied as mask. – To me it feels like a bug, doing something unexpected, unnecessary, in particular when using a Live filter. In your sample de-nesting the curve unhides the applied filter again, so it is not really destructive. At least I would expect a visual indicator that it has a filter applied (contains a nested object itself) if it is nested as mask.

I tried with a group – but it is not unfoldable, too.

[Dan C]

20 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Do you know a reason why it was coded to work this way?

Apologies, I can confirm this is logged as a bug with our developers - as there should at the very least be indication that this filter is applied to the clipped vector.

I'll be sure to update this report now

[Lisbon]

7 hours ago, Friksel said:

Is there a way to blur only the mask, or another way to feather the mask without bluring the image and without rasterizing the vector first?

Something I learned recently.

Add a group set to Erase blend mode and Inside add a curves adjustment with the alpha channel inverted.

After this you can work non-destructively using as many masks as you want.

[Dan C]

9 minutes ago, Lisbon said:

Something I learned recently.

Thanks for sharing this Lisbon, as it's something I've just learnt and certainly an inventive workaround! 

[Lisbon]

Your welcome Dan.

This is the video where I learned this technique.
Graphical: Affinity Photo CLIP to a GROUP using Erase blend mode creatively (Knockout layers)
So all the credit to Graphical.

(Awesome!!! 😀)