limitations on adjustment layers

Jim Hughes

• September 29, 2015 16:24

I'm a Lightroom user now trying out C1 and looking closely at ways in which it might be better. At first glance it looks like the Curve and Levels tools can only act on the entire image and can't be applied selectively via a layer. Is that true?

EDIT: I found some old posts making it clear that Levels and Curves can't be used with layers and masks. Very disappointing as this was exactly what I was hoping C1 would be able to do. If this were possible, it would really set C1 apart from Lightroom.

I do see that I can use masks with the Color tool, which is good.

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  Ian Wilson

  Moderator

  • September 30, 2015 19:30

  

  It's true that the Levels and Curve tools don't work on adjustment layers. But you do have other things you can use that might achieve the result you are looking for such as Brightness, Contrast and the HDR tool.
  
  Ian

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  SFA

  • September 30, 2015 21:21

  As Ian says, there are other options available for local adjustments.
  
  For what it's worth before I started to use C1 regularly I used another application that offers local adjustments for everything in its tool set (just about) and the tool set is quite extensive.
  
  It ceased to be a commercial product and has subsequently re been revived as open source. It's a great application despite the enforced low level of development for the past 6 years.
  
  However C1 is easier and faster to use and and right from the start seemed to offer more for less effort with the majority of images. Very very rarely do I miss having the full set of tools and their adjustments available. 999.99% of the time I just don't need them.
  
  The remaining .01% .... can be fun to play with but the images should probably have be put out of their misery at an earlier stage in the selection process.
  
  I'm not sure that localised Levels and Curves are especially meaningful in the context of a "balanced" image. Other tools are probably better options. But if you want to go wild with a look and are not too worried about stepped visual changes then total availability of all relevant tools as local adjustments can be an interesting experience.
  
  
  Just my thoughts, for what they are worth.
  
  
  
  Grant

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  Jim Hughes

  • October 01, 2015 17:47

  I used Nikon Capture NX2 for years, until Nikon abandoned it. NX2 could do things that LR and C1 users can only dream of. One of those was selective curve adjustments, and I used it a lot. It's much more powerful and targeted than contrast, brightness, highlights and shadows adjustments.
  
  After trying it out for a while, I'd say C1 has a couple of real strong points as compared to LR. One is the "Structure" tool, and the other is selective color adjustments. On the other hand, C1s spot removal/clone/heal capability seems to be a total fail, being limited to one source region per layer. In other respects, C1 has parity with LR. I'd say C1s UI is more sophisticated and has a number of useful, but small, advantages - like naming layersz.
  
  It almost seems like PhaseOne stopped deliberately short of creating something that would be a compelling upgrade for LR users. C1's biggest selling point seems to be, simply, "it's not Adobe". If Adobe ends its standalone (non-subscription) version of LR, then I'll think seriously about moving to C1 but until then, I'll just wait and see if C1 continues to evolve.

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