To elevate your image editing skills, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with neural filters. Start by navigating to Filter > Neural Filters and enabling Depth Blur. Select Focus Subject and Output Depth Map Only, then set the output to a new layer. This foundational step is crucial for creating sophisticated masks and the process is as follows – after which we have created a Mind Map.
Accessing Channels: Open the Channels panel by going to Window > Channels.
Creating a Selection: Press Cmd/Ctrl + Click on the RGB thumbnail to select visible pixels, effectively converting your depth map into a selection.
Applying Adjustment Layers with Precision
Adjustment Layer Creation: Return to the Layers panel and create an adjustment layer, such as Curves or Hue/Saturation.
Masking: The depth map selection automatically becomes a layer mask, allowing for nuanced adjustments.
Understanding Mask Logic
Visibility/Effect:
White: Fully visible (100% edited)
Black: Fully hidden (0% edited)
Gray: Partially visible/edited
Advanced Mask Control Techniques
Inverting Masks: Use Cmd/Ctrl + I to switch focus between background and foreground.
Refining Masks with Levels:
Select your mask.
Press Cmd/Ctrl + L.
Adjust Black Point to reduce background effect and White Point to expand affected areas.
Direct Mask Viewing
Alt/Option + Click on the mask thumbnail to view it directly.
Color Targeting with Depth Maps
Hue/Saturation Layer: Create a new Hue/Saturation layer.
Reusing Depth Maps:
Enable your Depth Map layer.
Cmd/Ctrl + Click on RGB in Channels to select it.
Apply this selection to your Hue/Saturation mask.
Fill with black using the Fill Tool and invert if necessary (Cmd/Ctrl + I).
Refine using Levels (Cmd/Ctrl + L).
Best Practices
Smooth Transitions: Ideal for achieving natural background/foreground transitions.
Natural Contrast: Enhances contrast adjustments.
Depth-Aware Grading: Elevates color grading with depth awareness.
Avoid Harsh Edges: Prevents unnatural, harsh selection edges.
By integrating these advanced masking techniques into your workflow, you’ll unlock new levels of precision and creativity in your image editing projects. Whether you’re aiming for subtle enhancements or dramatic transformations, mastering these tools will significantly expand your artistic capabilities.
A ‘Cheat Sheet’ which you may print as an aide-memoire is available here – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wbNX1GASVD2ibIRh4F_kc4xnkdgLI_0s/view?usp=sharing