@swmurray and …
I had to read your post a few times and I think you worked it out.
There are several possibilities to learn and understand.
- user guide
- video
- experiment
Personally, I’m not a big fan of written user manuals for software, but I use them as a (necessary) fallback to look up details and/or when something is completely new to me.
The quality of the video content depends very much on the presenter, on whether he/she is competent and can convey the content in a didactic and “simple” way. Then I’m all in.
When it comes to understanding and “acquiring” information, I prefer hands-on experience. Since I’m active in this forum, I pick up on questions and examples from other users and try them out. And if they prove ‘worthwhile’, I share them.
- check e.g. "Invert Shape" - bug or user error?
. about different Local adjustments (something ‘basic’)
. how to get a blurred background (w/ inverted gradient)
. and another about background …
… and placing it above the AI subject mask …
The new submasks are displayed at the top by default, making them easier to find in a full stack as well as in the non-scalable local customization window. But you can place your submasks in any order as long they belong to the same Mask.
The Mask and it’s submask contain the same set / combination of adjustments.
What “invisible” means was not clear to me.
You don’t see the effect.
When a specific submask is created an intensity value is created reflecting the amount of the LA adjustment that is “revealed” for each pixel. Where the intensity value is 0, or low, the effect is is not really “concealed”, but rather a “neutral” in that it allows the intensity values from any underlying sub mask(s) to “pass through”.
Yes. In PhotoLab, you can adjust the opacity of the mask as well as individual submasks. The latter involves an overlay, whereas layers in a pixel editor can typically be combined in modes such as Multiply or Soft Light etc.
The “Invert Mask” toggle inverts this action but keeps “reveal” and “pass through” behaviors.
Invert mask applies your settings to the part not covered by the initial submask.
The “Invert Shape” tools toggles the “reveal” to a true “conceal” in that it blocks, or does not “pass through” the adjustment intensity values from the underlying layers.
Invert shape hides / excludes the submask from the selection, regardless of other settings. In DxO speech: “it protects” a certain area.
When both the “Invert Shape” and “Invert Mask” are used in combination, the effect is to block (conceal) the adjustment intensity values from the und(erl)ying layers for the non-selected mask areas.
Yes.
This works clearly when the sub mask edges are distinct as in most AI masks. But how to take advantage of this using masks that are more graduated (i.e. CP, CL, GF, Luminosity, Hue) is a work in progress for me.
It’s the same. Apply “negative” (= Invert shape !) CP, CL, GF e.g. on top of a submask (e.g. with exposure adjustments …) and you obtain soft(er) edges from your exclusion. – Btw, negative CP and CL can be added directly by holding down the ALT key (Windows). If the GF for some reason appears in a new Mask, use Invert shape on it and move it into the Mask you have been working on.
→ Here an example with a “negative” GF
→ Here (first screenshot) I excluded the man’s hand with a “negative” CP from the underlying CL (unfortunately not so obvious with the colored mask overlay).
With Luminosity mask I just tried … You can also tackle e.g. the blue of the sky and turn down the exposure, while applying a new mask to the white clouds and excluding them from the generously selected sky (= Invert shape).
In that case you work with two different luminance mask selections, e.g. if for some reason you didn’t set it up correctly from the start (yes, a bad example).
With Hue masks you should be able to do similar stuff. Experiment yourself (to complicated to descibe here). – Remember, that you can combine all different LA tools.
The “reveal” and “conceal” interactions only apply to the submasks within an individual "Mask. Separate “Masks” is not affected.
Each mask 1, 2, 3, etc., is a individual container for its submasks. You can enable/disable the container instead of the individual submasks. When you move the mouse pointer over the container, the effective mask for it’s submasks is displayed.
Remember, each Mask (container) can hold one common set / combination of adjustments.
You can duplicate the “container” to enhance your customizations. Or you reuse carefully edited submasks / selections to then experiment with different adjustments.
→ Here …
Just experiment …
(ed)