Must be missing something, but why can’t you just select the black and delete it?
The problem I’m having is with selecting the black.
Say you start with solid black and then paint white onto it ranging from 30% to 50% opacity, then flatten. How would you then isolate just the 30% to 50% opacity white on its own layer?
The problem I’m having is with selecting the black
Magic wand, then Select Similar?
Dox,
If I understand your situation correctly, here’s what I’d do…
Use the magic wand to select all the black outside the object you want to keep, and delete it, (the black).
Now to get rid of the underlying black in your kept area, duplicate the layer and move the new copy below the original in the stacking order. Lock the layer’s transparency and fill it with neutral gray, (128, 128, 128). Set the top layer’s blend mode to Lighten. Merge the two layers. Adjust opacity as desired.
This is theoretical, and assumes that the area you want kept consists of colors that are all lighter than 128, 128, 128. If not, fill with a darker gray, (darker than all the colors you want preserved).
I think this will give you what you want.
John
No, actually I want to keep ALL non-black colors, but only as their difference from black. For example, if one pixel’s color could be described as "black with 25% red added," then that pixel should become "transparent with 25% opaque red added."
White remains white, black becomes transparent, and shades of gray or color become the same hue with value and saturation translated into an opacity of full value and saturation.
Ok, I did realize that what you want as an end result is the same as what you’d have if your object layer had never been merged with the underlying black, and I won’t say it’s impossible to get there, but there’s no universal method for achieving that…and certainly no "conversion," in the true sense of the word. I was trying to get you close via what really amounts to trickery and compromise.
Depending on the nature of the image, (remember you’re the only one who has seen it), and with some work, it may be possible to isolate each color one at a time and rectify the effects of it having been merged with black.
There’s no easy answer to your problem, otherwise you would likely have already gotten it here.
If there was an easy answer to my problem, I wouldn’t have registered in these forums. 🙂
I figured out an acceptable conversion that is at least artistically similar to what I’m looking for:
In Blending Options, spread the left end of This Layer completely. Copy Merged and paste to a new layer. Adjust Levels, drag the left end of Output Levels most of the way to the right.
Have you tried a Luminosity selection? Ctrl+Alt+Click the RGB Composite Channel’s thumbnail to load the lumiosity as a selection. Copy/paste to a new layer or use the selection to create a layer mask remove the black.
Chip
Dox,
You will need to merge down and then delete the surrounding black. The layer needs that black beneath it for the blending mode to be able to blend to that colour.