Layer masks in Photoshop

[jdemott]

I've been experimenting with the new Capture NX software developed for Nikon by Nik Software (available as a pre-release demo from Nikon).  One of the interesting features is a "control point" technique for making selective adjustments to color and contrast.  Briefly, clicking on an area in the image creates a selection (mask) of nearby areas having similar color and texture--the desired adjustments are then applied to the selected areas.  This allows one to quickly make adjustments to separate areas in the photo, such as sky, foreground, foliage, rocks, etc.  What I found impressive is how good the masks are.  The transitions are very smooth so that adjustments look very natural, without any halos, unnaturally sharp edges or other artifacts.  I've often had to spend quite a bit of time in Photoshop with selection tools, soft-edged brushes, blurring, layer blending options, etc. to get equivalent results.

Can anyone recommend any plug-ins, actions, techniques, etc. to accomplish something similar in Photoshop?  Not necessarily point and click, but an easier path to better layer masks for selective adjustments?

[Lisa Nikodym]

The PS plug-in "Color Mechanic" does something very similar.  I use it occasionally.  I think Michael had a review of it on this site a couple of years back.

Lisa

[Chris_T]

clicking on an area in the image creates a selection (mask) of nearby areas having similar color and texture
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=71783\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Making a selection based on color or tone is one thing, but I have yet to come across any that is based on "texture". Can you clarify?

[Hermie]

See also Uwe Steinmueller's recent article "Workflow Buzzwords: Nondestructive, Non-modal, Selective, Layer/Operation-stacks"

http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_a101/essay.html

Hermie

[jdemott]

Making a selection based on color or tone is one thing, but I have yet to come across any that is based on "texture". Can you clarify?

"Texture" is one of the words used in the documentation for NX to describe how the control point technique works.  Apparently the selection (masking) algortihm looks at not only color and brightness, but also variation in color and brightness.  For example, if you click in an area of clear blue sky, the program will select other areas that are light blue with very consistent color (i.e., little texture).  If you click in an area of dry grasses, it will select areas that have quite a bit of variation in  tonality, with colors that vary from green to brown (i.e., more texture).   The documentation says that the selection routine is designed to allow you to select "objects" by evaluating color, brightness, texture, proximity, and boundaries.  The only user selected variable is the radius within which the selection occurs.  In practice, I find that the best results can be obtained by choosing "View Selection" which gives a monochrome display of the mask, and then moving the control point and radius until the mask looks about right.