Masking - powerful but missing basics?
Answered
Hi ... I am a new but enthusiastic user of Luminar 4, now 4.2. I am fairly impressed with some of the masking tools but I feel like the basics just aren't there. There seems to be nothing like the selection capability in PS -- no snapping to boundaries, no marquee or lasso, etc. etc. Topaz also has tremendously powerful AI-ish masking but I can't find anything like that in Luminar.
Am I missing something? Are they hidden somewhere? Am I the only one who feels this way (and others find the current tools to be fully what they need)?
thanks.
Dave
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davemarcus/
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Hi Dave,
Thank you very much for your feedback! Our main aim is to bring our customers innovative and unique tools that were never seen before. We are constantly updating our software to improve the stability of it and to make the user experience better. So other additional functions are yet to come.
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Hi Elena,
I get it But this seems so very very large and basic a gap—and masking supports so many of your features. I can put a giraffe on my deck in a snap, but I can’t get a good mask of the deck — all the deck, hard edges, nothing but the deck except with what seems like an arduous process
Dave
but I will add that copy and paste of masks is great, once you have it
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Dave, I too would like to see more powerful masking features. The brush tool in Luminar is OK, but seems clumsy to use for fine selections or for making a graduated selection. I do understand that Skylum has many areas they are working on, so hopefully masking features will be addressed in the near future.
I have been experimenting with the Topaz Mask software, and it works like magic. I also really like the control points that are used in the Nik software (Color Efex, etc.).
In Luminar, I know that there is a luminosity-based masking technique, but I have not been able to figure out how to use it properly. Perhaps I need to check that out some more.
Charlie
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Charlie, the resource I found for. luminosity masking is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBTqPye2NLA
Jim uses an older version but it all seems to apply. This seems fairly nifty. Worth pointing out that combining it with the layer's Adjustment Amount control would give more control.
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See Jim Nix's luminosity masking video on Luminar 4 (current version) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF0UbjIailE
Really, the Luminar luminosity masking tool has not changed since Jim's previous video, but thought that I would add the updated link.
The Luminar luminosity masking tool is very basic and doesn't allow for any user input, but can still be super useful. Jim explains his approach very well. I see that Jim Nix has other Luminar 4 videos on masking techniques (brush, radial filter, gradient) that are very well done (Jim is excellent). I use all of those masking techniques frequently, but I find it still helpful to watch the videos, as I tend to get into a rut on how I use the tools and ignore some of the features. For instance, the Luminar masking has "feather" and "density" features that I had looked at initially, but then promptly ignored.
By the way, I see that Jim Nix also has instructional videos on Topaz products, which I have started using in conjunction with Luminar.
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Dave, I just purchased the Topaz products (Studio 2, Adjust and Denoise) a couple of weeks ago, so have not yet had time to figure stuff like that out. I am at this moment looking at Jim's videos on Topaz, and I see where he shows where you can access other Topaz products as plug-in layers from Studio 2. That is a great feature.
I have not ever tried to use Luminar as a base for plug-ins, as my normal workflow is to use Photoshop and then Luminar/Topaz etc. as plug ins from there. For sure there might be better ways of combining the tools. Lots of possibilities.
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I've been using Topaz AI Clear for several months and am impressed how it cleans up noise and artifacts in most images beautifully. Their new denoise and sharpening software are also good. The issue is integrating these programs together as part of one's independent workflow. Any ideas or suggestions out there? I'm new to Luminar 4 and haven't worked all this out, but I like different aspects of each different piece of software. A smooth interaction within my workflow would be ideal.
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Your mileage may vary, but I have found that all my Topaz progras* are installed as plug-ins for Luminar 4.2, under Edit > Plugins > Other. (After I use each the first time, it moves so that it is directly under Plugins.)
*I have Studio 2, Lens Effects, Sharpen, Mask, Adjust, DeNoise, and B&W. I have tried about half of them via Luminar (incl Studio 2) and they work seamlessly.
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