Separate/isolate elements of a pixel layer

[ebeeson]

Please forgive me for not really knowing how to properly ask about this...

 

I have a photograph that I want to break up into 3 different layers; something like background, near foreground, and deep foreground. I want to separate them so that I can independently adjust effects on the different layers, and so that I can insert additional elements in between the layers.

 

I know that the Selection Brush is great for chunking off the bits that I want in each layer. I started banging away with the Selection Brush and a Mask, but it quickly got unruly trying to tweak the Masks across 3 different layers.

 

I'm fantasizing about some way to do something like having a single mask with multiple colors, where each color is the mask for a different layer... Or something like that. Just some way to manage the boundaries in a single place, rather than across 3 different masks as I was originally starting to do.

 

Is my question making sense? I searched around for "compositing" and "layer separation" and "background removal" and "rotoscoping", but nothing seemed to address the problem I'm having. There's a good chance I'm just not asking the right questions here.

 

Is there a trick to this? My naive approach has me managing 3 different masks, and trying to keep them all in sync when I want to adjust a boundary seems like a daunting task. I feel like there must be a better way. I don't need a step-by-step tutorial, I'm just hoping that someone could get me pointed in the right direction.

 

Thanks for any guidance.

[toltec]

I'm not sure if this will do what you want ?

 

Each third of the scene has a separate (masked) adjustment applied.

 

 

I made a selection of one third, then applied an adjustment layer. Repeated this for the other two thirds. Each third now has a separate adjustment layer.

 

 

The adjustment layers are nested in the image to keep it tidy.

 

To edit the top third adjustment. Double click on the layer thumbnail.

To edit the middle third adjustment. Double click on the layer thumbnail.

To edit the bottom third adjustment. Double click on the layer thumbnail.

 

You can Ctrl + Click on the thumbnail to edit the selection area (mask).

 

Not 100% sure about your inserting between layers? You could use the selections to split it into three separate layers. Make a selection each time (from the thumbnail) and press Ctrl J to get a separate layer. The adjustment layers would still be there as a targeted selection area for each separate layer. Although I cant see any point in doing that.

 

If you add something (composit) it would be selected (masked) on its own layer and fit on top of the stack ? It would have its own adjustment. Although you could put it under the adjustment layers and they would affect it according to their own mask.

 

 

 

If I put the boat below the black and white adjustment layer, it would turn B&W. The other layers would not affect it in that position due to their masks. 

[R C-R]

I am not sure this would work for what you want to do, but what I would do is start by duplicating the photo layer as a backup, & hiding & locking it. For reference I will call this layer "backup."

 

Next, duplicate the photo again & erase everything in this duplicate that is part of the desired background, leaving everything that should be in the near & deep foreground. For reference, I will call this layer "near+deep." Then duplicate this layer & similarly erase everything from it that should be in the desired deep background, leaving only what should be in the near foreground in that layer. For reference, I will call this layer "near."

 

You can use the various selection tools & maybe a small amount of feathering along the edges of the transitions to make it easier to erase the appropriate parts.

 

Stack the layers "near" on top, "near+deep" below it, & the original "Background" layer below that. You can then adjust each layer independently without the need to mask anything.