Luminosity Masks

Topaz does not seem to have any plugin to create a luminosity mask. That surprises me a bit, and I wonder if anyone other than myself would have any interest in a Luminosity Mask plugin from Topaz.

Each adjustment in Studio has a mask associated with it and luminosity masking one of the options in creating a mask.

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I was actually thinking about a Luminosity Mask app similar to ReMask, but perhaps this will work just as well.

Thanks for letting me know.

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Also if you have a set of adjustments (or a preset) you can apply an overall mask that I think also offers the luminosity ability for selection, so you don’t have to do masking individually for each adjustment.

Yes, but again, I was thinking about masking for use in the pixel editor, not in Topaz Studio. That is, a luminosity mask separate from any adjustments in TS.

As far as I can understand, there is a big difference. With Remask, I can create a mask that can later be used in Photoshop. Using any of the Studio adjustments, the mask is used exclusively in that context. That is not what is intended. The question that has been asked is pertinent: How can we create a luminosity mask using a Topaz plugin or ther is a way of export the mask created by the Studio adjustment?

Thank you. I thought I was alone in wanting something like this.

Luminosity masks are valuable enough to be used in any pixel editor and it seems to me that there would be more general use for them in pixel editors than plain masks. Topaz has created ReMask that allows me to create a selection mask so it would be nice if Topaz had some way to create a luminosity mask in the same sort of way to also be used in a pixel editor other than Studio.

All Pixel editors can create luminosity masks…

I do not see the relevance of that statement. All pixel editors can create selection masks, but Topaz markets ReMask.

As for Luminosity Masks, I am not aware of any way to create a Luminosity Mask in PhotoLine and there are no easy ways to create one in Affinity Photo and once created, it can not be adjusted for use.The process of creating and limitations of Luminosity Masks in Photoshop are enough for Greg Benz to have been able to create a marketable product called Lumenzia to create those masks in Photoshop. Given that, I do not see why Topaz would not have a product to do that.

I really only use AP now and there are easy ways to select Midtones, Highlights and Shadows from the Setect → Tonal Range, editing the mask is simple as you just right-click on the mask and select Edit Mask.

I haven’t used the latest versions of PS as I stopped with CS6 but the issue with CS6 was that you could only select the individual RGB channels. AP is far superior on selection and with blend options you can select via curves in & out.

@AiDon

> there are easy ways to select Midtones, Highlights and Shadows

Sure, but those are selection masks based on tonal values, not luminosity masks. The differences are that luminosity masks are automatically feathered and can be adjusted so to include more or less of the luminous values. Selection masks can not be. They contain hard edges, not soft feathering.

I have used the tonal masks in Affinity Photo and Photoshop, but they are not nearly as flexible as luminosity masks.

Take a look at Raya Pro which should be able to do anything you need. https://www.shutterevolve.com/raya-pro-the-ultimate-digital-blending-workflow-panel-for-photoshop/

I think a simple solution to the original question/request would be for Topaz to allow masks created in Studio to be saved/exported as a TIFF. Then it could be used in any software that allows importing layers and supports blending.


Isn’t the manual way to make basic luminosity masks to desaturate your image, invert it (make it a negative), and then apply it with overlay blending mode? And you apply blurring or feathering, curve adjustments, etc. as desired. You can also pre-process the original before desaturation for more control.

This could be a possible solution in many programs that don’t offer luminosity masks directly. It has worked for me in the past in that case.

Best regards

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> Take a look at Raya Pro

I currently use Lumenzia which does this sort of thing very well, but it only works with Photoshop and thus I have no practical way to produce Luminosity Masks with any other pixel editor. Raya looks interesting, but it seems to have the same PS restriction. That is why I asked if Topaz could do this.

> for Topaz to allow masks created in Studio to be saved/exported as a TIFF

Yes. That would solve my problem and, I suspect, make life easier for others as well.

> the manual way to make basic luminosity masks

I have never tried this, and I will, but it would be best implemented as an action in an editor since it sounds like it takes quite a bit of effort.

Ok I see, you don’t want to be tied to Photoshop.

@Artisan-West

More like I don’t want to have to be tied to Photoshop.

I like PS and I use it frequently. I have no plans to terminate my subscription but I want to be able to do so if I decide I no longer want it, and I do not want to lose the ability to use luminosity masks easily if I decide I want to move to Affinity Photo or PhotoLine or any other full featured pixel editor.

If anyone is using Affinity Photo here is a link where they have other links to how to create Luminosity masks but really that is old school when you can use ‘blend ranges’. Check out both methods on the forum here:

Here is a Youtube video showing how to create and use Luminosity Masks in Affinity Photo. A macro is provided with a link to Dropbox. After clicking on the link, close the sign in pop up and then click on Download and save the file. You can then import it into Affinity. - YouTube

Personally, I prefer using tone mapping either in Affinity or with Topaz Adjust.

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