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Invert mask representation (red = unmasked, clear = masked)

Comments

9 comments

  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter

    You can already change the mask colour and density in Settings here.

    Ian

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  • Sönke Droß

    Ah! Thank you!
    Now just inverting please ;) So that the red or green mask covers the protected areas…

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  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter

    You may find that not everyone agrees that reversing the function of the mask is a good idea. It seems logical to me (possibly because that is what I have been used to in Capture One for years) that the red* shows where you are applying the adjustment. Especially if you are gradually building up an effect by brushing with a low flow, it seems to me helpful to see the red gradually appear as I brush. If it were the other way round, the whole image would be red, and where I was trying to brush in the effect would be not quite full red. I think I can fairly easily see where I have perhaps brushed in 10% red compared with nothing, but I doubt whether I could easily see the difference between 100% red and 90% red.

    Ian

    * or green if you prefer.

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  • Sönke Droß

    That may be the case if you are used to it that way. But if you work a lot in Photoshop in masking mode, you are used to seeing the area that is later affected by the corrections. Now I have to permanently fade in and out the area with the M key to see the image content without the red or green mask. Inverted, i could "paint" the area free.
    Of course it is a question of getting used to it.
    But it would be great if every user could set it up the way they are used to.

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  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter

    And I suppose that the reason I find it confusing in Photoshop is that I am used to it the other way round from years of using Capture One!

    But being able to choose might be good, I suppose, though there is a danger of confusion if you forget which way you currently have it set.

    Ian 

    1
  • Sönke Droß

    ;) Yes everybody is tethered to his habits…
    All "older" collegues that are used to retouch pictures manually worked with that red masking films called rubylith or ulano film. that was a red film that could be peeled of from its clear base carrier film. And together with orthochromatic b&w films the red color protected all areas that should not be affected with the grading or other corrections.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYaF-WWSz6w

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  • Marcin Mrzygłocki
    Top Commenter

    Maybe this feature should be set with contrasting colours? For example green for mask coverage, red for areas outside mask, so that it would be possible to recognize viewing mode without checking if inversion is applied or not.

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  • Sönke Droß

    Hmmm... I think this is getting too much. My intention is to see the areas I want to work on clearly and to see what is protected by the mask. If now a complementary colour covers these areas again, I won't gain anything but just another colour that covers the picture for me.
    I think there is no danger of getting confused once you have set it up for yourself. A stranger might stumble at first and wonder, but that is the case with all programmes that can be customised.

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  • Marcin Mrzygłocki
    Top Commenter

    I should clarify that I meant using only one color at the moment, but this color would depend on the semantics intended, so that it would be possible to switch repeatedly from one mode to the other and not have to remember which way was the last switch.

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