Contrast mask?

GD
Posted By
glen_deman
Apr 14, 2004
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276
Replies
9
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Closed
In another post, someone mentioned using contrast masks and how it was complimentary to the new Highlight/Shadow feature. So, I did a google search on contrast masks, and found mostly older tutorials. So this is what I have so far.

You dupe the layer, desaturate it, invert it to get the negative, blur it a bit, and set the layer mode to overlay. This will brighten the shadows and darken the highlights. Then of course you can add a curves layer on top to fine tune.

It works okay; I find that it screws with the colors a bit (which isn’t surprising), which is fixed by adjusting opacity and the curves layer. Just wondering if I have all the steps right, and if y’all do anything else when you make contrast masks.
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MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Apr 14, 2004
Hi Glen,

I often dupe the Contrast Mask layer and set one to Overlay, the other to Soft Light, and then I blend the opacities to taste.

You can also use Advanced Layer Blending on the Contrast Mask Layer for greater control of the range affected.

Mat
GD
glen_deman
Apr 14, 2004
Thanks Mat, I’ll try that out. Always nice to learn new techniques.
RK
Rob_Keijzer
Apr 14, 2004
I also use contrast masking a lot. Indeed the colours are affected (they look a bit like the colours in a CMYK image where the K-channel is disabled).
But tweaking blend mode and blend amount can really open up an image.

Rob
GA
George_Austin
Apr 15, 2004
"…Then of course you can add a curves layer on top to fine tune…"

Why not just use curves to begin with. There is nothing that a contrast mask will do that can’t be done with curves, and curves can do even more because the curves action is not constrained to the algorithm of the blend mode used with the contrast mask (Overlay. Soft Light, Hard Light). To make the curves action resemble a contrast mask entailing the cited blend modes, just anchor the curves center point and reform the curve on either side of the center point. Typicaly, you’ll form an S curve if going for something like a Soft-Light contrast mask, or a Z curve resembling an Overlay or Hard Light contrast mask.

George
GD
glen_deman
Apr 15, 2004
Thanks for your input, George. I read up on and try using curves as much as possible, but I still have problems using it effectively (I can get decent results with levels) and grasping what it does. I do know that curves is much more powerful, but whenever I try to do multiple control points (anything beyond the standard S curve) the colors get all mucked up.

If you have time, could you post a pic of the type of curve you are talking about?
CK
Christine_Krof_Shock
Apr 15, 2004
Also try curves in LAB instead of CMYK or RGB. Lab curves work differently than RGB or CMYK being that you can work on the contrast(Lightness) without effecting color! And you can use each color channel (a and b) to tweak. Remember a and b are like a see-saw–in a you are adjusting color between Red and Green and in b between blue and yellow.
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Apr 15, 2004
You can also simply put a Curves Adjustment Layer into Luminosity blend mode.
GD
glen_deman
Apr 15, 2004
I’m going to play with curves in luminosity mode tonight. Still, I really like the results from the contrast mask and plan on using that often.
GA
George_Austin
Apr 15, 2004
Glen,

Strike my reference to a "Z" curve. A self blend in Overlay, Soft Light, or Hard Light is equivalent to forming an S curve from a set of S curves within a restricted envelope. The S-curve shape is unrestricted using the Curves feature which is, thus, much more flexible, giving you an unlimited choice of shapes, S or otherwise.

George

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