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luminosity masks tutorial


Getting the Actions

If you've made it this far, hopefully you have a better appreciation, and perhaps some excitement, about what luminosity masks can do for your pictures. I encourage you to experiment and play with the techniques discussed here and hopefully find some new ways to develop your images.

Since it takes multiple mouse clicks and keystrokes to actually create the luminosity masks, Photoshop actions are the logical way to make them. Actions allow the user to save a series of keystrokes that Photoshop executes when the action is "played." Photoshop actions quickly perform the multiple steps needed to create any of the luminosity masks with only a couple clicks of the mouse. They are an extremely convenient way to build luminosity masks on-the-fly from anywhere in your workflow. If you're new to using Photoshop actions, this tutorial will explain how to load and use them.

While it's possible to construct a set of actions from the descriptions in the tutorial, I also make the actions I use to create the luminosity masks in Photoshop available to other photographers. If you have found this tutorial useful, I hope you will consider using the "Special Offers" link below to purchase them.

Special Offer link

The downloadable action sets work in Photoshop versions CS through CS5, on both Windows and MAC platforms, and in 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the program. Information is included that explains how to load the actions into Photoshop, how to "play" them, and examples of what the actions do.

I periodically update the actions based on my experience using them and feedback from other users. Compared to the descriptions provided in the tutorial, the current version incorporates the following changes:

  1. The intermediate alpha channel called "Alpha 1" described in the tutorial has been eliminated. Since "Alpha 1" is the default Photoshop-generated name for a new mask on the Channels palette, having the actions avoid its use insures that the actions run smoothly if a channel called "Alpha 1" is already present.
  2. Some of the masks are now generated by a new method. While it's slightly different than what is described in the tutorial, the masks retain the same names and target similar ranges of tonal values. The difference is that the masks for the light and dark tones are now more symmetrical to each other with respect to the tonal mid-point. This makes it a little more intuitive when it comes to figuring out which mask to use for a particular adjustment.
  3. The new method of generating the masks has made possible three new masks which are not discussed in the tutorial: Expanded Lights, Expanded Darks, and Narrow Mid-tones. The Expanded Lights and Expanded Darks masks add more mid-tone values to the tones masked by the Lights and Darks masks respectively, thereby expanding them a bit. The "Narrow Mid-tones" mask is similar to the "Basic Mid-tones" mask but produces a less dramatic change with the backwards Z-shaped curve in a Curves adjustment layer (See Figure 14 in the section Different Masks for Different Tones). The new masks expand the options for choosing the appropriate tonal range for a particular adjustment. The actions make it easy to experiment to find out which mask works best.

In response to suggestions from other users, there are now two action sets (Figure 18), which are described below.

Figure 18
Figure 18

The first set, called "TK-LumMasks(Channels)," performs all the steps to create each luminosity mask and place it on the Channels palette (Figure 19). You then load the mask as a selection from the Channels palette as described in the Using the "Lights" Mask section of the tutorial and you're ready to make an adjustment with it. This set of actions lets you explore possibilities of combining different masks, such as adding and subtracting them.

Figure 19
Figure 21

The second set, called "TK-LumMasks(Layers)," actually creates an unadjusted Curves adjustment layer with the chosen luminosity mask in place as the topmost layer (Figure 20). When these actions finish running, just double-click the Curves icon on the adjustment layer to bring up the Curves dialog box and make your adjustment. Often you'll have a good idea which mask is needed for a particular adjustment. This set of actions quickly creates the adjustment layer so you can make an adjustment, and then move on.

Figure 20
Figure 22

Below are comments from photography blogs, newsletters, web posts, and personal correspondence from photographers that have reviewed the tutorial and used the actions:

Additionally, here are some comments regarding the initial release of this tutorial and the action set in November 2006 on Nature Photographers.net.

Thank you for taking the time to read and study this tutorial. I hope you will find it useful and that you will be as enthusiastic as the first people who read it. Please feel free to with your comments, suggestions, and questions. I've also added information on some other very useful Photoshop techniques to this website. Please visit the tutorials index for a complete list.


Introduction
The Basic Mask—"Lights"
Understanding Masks
Using the "Lights" Mask
Different Masks for Different Tones
PREVIOUS—Experimentation is the Key
YOU ARE HERE—Getting the Actions