Lightroom Masking

[David Eichler]

Karl’s piece is IMHO, the best Adobe white paper ever published and one of the best on photography, perception, photo history, digital imaging. The guy is brilliant.

Seems to me this paper just addresses RAW processing versus in-camera rendering to jpeg, not pixel-editing programs such as Photoshop. So, my question remains, what is the technical basis for the assertion that, once you have done some basic RAW processing to an image, there is still a significant qualitative advantage to doing further editing of color, contrast, brightness, etc, in a RAW processor, versus a pixel-editing program such as Photoshop? Again, the question assumes the need to use Photoshop for reasons other than adjustments of color, contrast or brightness, so it will be part of the process, one way or another.

[digitaldog]

Seems to me this paper just addresses RAW processing versus in-camera rendering to jpeg, not pixel-editing programs such as Photoshop. So, my question remains, what is the technical basis for the assertion that, once you have done some basic RAW processing to an image, there is still a significant qualitative advantage to doing further editing of color, contrast, brightness, etc, in a RAW processor, versus a pixel-editing program such as Photoshop? Again, the question assumes the need to use Photoshop for reasons other than adjustments of color, contrast or brightness, so it will be part of the process, one way or another.

It's all there actually. Again; baked rendered pixels in an RGB Working Space not the same as unrendered sensor data that be baked from that data. Karl does cover this while concentrating on a camera JPEG as specifically as well. Also helps to understand raw data, scene referred vs. output referred. My contribution:
http://www.color.org/ICC_white_paper_20_Digital_photography_color_management_basics.pdf

[Rajan Parrikar]

I realize there is already a thread on the new Lightroom masking feature. However, I want to ask about this feature in relation to Photoshop specifically. I have only just started using the new LR feature and might not yet realize its full potential. That said, since I already tend to process many of my photos with Photoshop, I wonder whether there are any specific reasons to prefer using the masking capabilities in LR that seem to overlap with what PS does, for images that need PS for other reasons. I routinely use LR to do the basic processing, and usually some local adjustments, before sending to PS for more advanced processing and retouching.

The ACR/Lightroom masking that everyone is talking about was long overdue. Those of us who use Panels in Photoshop such as the one by Tony Kuyper were long used to mask generators & mask calculators that enable precise targeting based on luminosity, colour, etc. Adobe's capabilities in Lightroom/ACR are still quite primitive but moving in the right direction and there is cause for enthusiasm for what is to come. Hopefully in the next year or two they will get to where the pixel based masks currently are.

[kers]

I cannot do what i want without photoshop; i need layers, sometime many layers... and all kinds of masks, need to retouche a lot...need multiple curves, sometimes per layer... al basic photoshop.
i have very large files but who cares with the speed of computers and the price of 0,2$ per gigabyte for storage...

I use LR to develop the basic RAW file and that is it.

PS
The all-in-one-catalogue is also not something i can use, i want to move my photos around in the finder without having to go to LR.
My system  is flexible and was developed in the 1980's and still workse  fin. I can find any photo in 5 minutes ...

[Brad Smith]

I think the new masking feature in LR is a good first step, but it has a ways to go to be more useful. For example, if the initial "select subject" is incomplete and needs to be supplemented with a brush, there appears to be no easy way to invert the combined mask to more easily work on the resultant background. Another example is there appears to be no way to refine the selection of fine feather detail at the edge of a bird as there is in the "Select and Mask" feature in Photoshop. Perhaps I am missing something?