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brush opacity - I'm missing something

Jim Hughes
When I use the brush to create a layer mask, it seems that even if I have Opacity set to 100%, the resulting mask isn't solidly 100% on a first pass. I find I have to go back and brush repeatedly until I've "scrubbed" the entire mask to 100%.

I understand that Hardness is a factor, but in my mind a Hardness of less than 100% should reduce the opacity around the edge, not the center.

What am I missing?
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14 Kommentare

Datum Stimmen
  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter
    I agree that hardness is nothing to do with it. The opacity of the mask you draw is affected by both the Opacity and Flow sliders. If you want 100% opacity with only one stroke of the brush you need both set to 100.

    Ian
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  • Jim Hughes
    Thanks, I'll check out 'flow' - have never known what it was about.
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  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter
    [quote="NN635790973675498599UL" wrote:
    Thanks, I'll check out 'flow' - have never known what it waa about.

    All explained here

    Ian
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  • Jim Hughes
    Ok I get it now.

    Although, I'm at a loss as to why these sliders are labelled as they are. It seems like "Flow" should be "Opacity" and "Opacity" should be "Opacity Limit".
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  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter
    [quote="NN635790973675498599UL" wrote:
    Ok I get it now.

    Although, I'm at a loss as to why these sliders are labelled as they are. It seems like "Flow" should be "Opacity" and "Opacity" should be "Opacity Limit".

    I think (though I am not a PS user) that PS uses "flow" and "opacity" of brushes with the same meaning as Capture One does. So there does seem to be a sort of standard terminology across apps here.

    Ian
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  • Robert Whetton
    [quote="NN635790973675498599UL" wrote:
    Thanks, I'll check out 'flow' - have never known what it was about.

    flow is like using an airbrush.. the longer you leave the spray on an area, the more paint is left..
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  • OddS.
    [quote="Bobtographer" wrote:
    ...flow is like using an airbrush.. the longer you leave the spray on an area, the more paint is left..


    Really? I have seen applications that have that kind of funcionality where mask or color density (opacity) builds up with time. Activate and hold the trigger on the "airbrush" or "spray can" and watch the mask density increase with time. I can not remember seeing that in Capture One, but I may have overlooked it.

    My observations are

    - Brush opacity sets the maximum mask density. Once a mask has been built to brush opacity, the mask will not become more opaque no matter the number of additional strokes (or time used).

    - Brush hardness sets a radial distance over which the mask density/opacity is gradually reduced to zero

    - Brush flow sets the maximum mask density/opacity added per brush stroke (not a function of time). Low flow value means it takes more strokes to arrive at the set brush opacity

    - Layer opacity sets the that layer's mask opacity relative to the mask opacity created by a brush (or other means for creating a layer mask)
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  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter
    [quote="Bobtographer" wrote:

    flow is like using an airbrush.. the longer you leave the spray on an area, the more paint is left..

    I don't think so. There is a separate check box in the brush settings dialog for airbrush (which means that just by holding the brush in the same place the opacity of the mask increases over time). To use that you can set the flow to some low figure and see the mask build up over time. But with the airbrush box unselected, flow just governs how much of the maximum opacity you get by going over the same part twice.

    Ian
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  • Benjamin Liddle
    Opacity is the maximum "density" of the mask laid per click/drag
    Flow is the speed at which the opacity value is reached.

    By default, the flow is proportional to the speed at which the brush cursor is moved to paint the mask. Multiple passes in a single stroke (ie one "click and drag") over the same area will build incrementally by the flow value until it reaches the opacity value. Multiple strokes (ie multiple clicks) over a single area will build up to a maximum of 100% opacity.

    The airbrush option toggles the Flow from a motion-based factor to a time-based factor; clicking and holding over an area will build up the opacity of the mask at that spot by the flow rate until it reaches the opacity value.
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  • Ian Leslie
    I am watching a webinar that I missed on layers and the questions about how the settings for the brush work are covered in the first part of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YgL31JhmiA
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  • Jim Hughes
    It all works, but IMHO the 'airbush' terminology is obsolete and just confuses most users.
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  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter
    [quote="NN635790973675498599UL" wrote:
    It all works, but IMHO the 'airbush' terminology is obsolete and just confuses most users.

    I think whether the airbrush feature is useful probably depends on your pointing device. If you are using a Wacom tablet and a pen (which I don't) it may be quite useful.

    Ian
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  • Ian Leslie
    [quote="NN635790973675498599UL" wrote:
    It all works, but IMHO the 'airbush' terminology is obsolete and just confuses most users.


    Can you suggest a different real world analog? Just curious.
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  • SFA
    [quote="NN635790973675498599UL" wrote:
    It all works, but IMHO the 'airbush' terminology is obsolete and just confuses most users.


    I would imagine that those who already have a use for it know what it is and how to use it.

    For the rest of us it's a bit of a curiosity that might be useful one day.


    Grant
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