Why does PSE Filter/Stylize/Solarize reduce luminance values to maximum 128?

[fdisilvestro]

One more thing, using curves you could also achieve the "solarized" look in lightroom classic:



Regards

[Frans Waterlander]

Hi Francesco,

Your posts explain very well how the Solarize filter works and how to do get the same effect differently. My question was more about why the Solarize filter stops where it does and doesn't apply the final correction to get back to a 0-255 output range. As it was so amiably pointed out to me, the filter was designed to mirror the solarize effect in film without the final correction. That's fine with me, but without the final correction the image looks like crap to me. Just my opinion and it would have been nice if that opinion wouldn't have been reacted to with the usual flame responses from you-know-who.

[digitaldog]

Hi Francesco,
 That's fine with me, but without the final correction the image looks like crap to me.

All yours do, we agree.
All his don't, it's a very well made, composed image of the bike.
As to your opinion of the filter which does very well match a very old darkroom technique you know so little about, you are again someone who never lets near complete ignorance of a subject get in the way of having strong opinions about it. 

[Frans Waterlander]

All yours do, we agree.
All his don't, it's a very well made, composed image of the bike.
As to your opinion of the filter which does very well match a very old darkroom technique you know so little about, you are again someone who never lets near complete ignorance of a subject get in the way of having strong opinions about it. 

The usual, hateful, insulting response.

[digitaldog]

The usual, hateful, insulting response.

“Im not rude, I'm just plain honest”.
-Anu Malik

[digitaldog]

Classic posting agenda that illustrates an inability to read and comprehend!

Why? It doesn't make sense to me and the result without further editing looks like crap.

3 days later:

My question was more about why the Solarize filter stops where it does and doesn't apply the final correction to get back to a 0-255 output range.

Post #2 from you-know-who:

The Solarize filter has its roots in the photographic darkroom as a technique for altering the tones on a photograph to achieve special effects. In the darkroom, the print or film is exposed with a flash of light in the development. This exposure quickly darkens only the lighter portions of the image reversal of the tones. The shadow areas retain normal values.

Since the Solarize filter darkens the lighter values in an image, it usually appears too dark after applying the filter. To adjust the values after applying
the filters, use the Levels, Curves, or Brightness/Contrast commands under (Figure 9-65). the Image menu

Classic posting agenda that illustrates an inability to write and comprehend!

I'm done with you.

Not being done of course:

The usual, hateful, insulting response.

Once more, all doubts removed!

[fdisilvestro]

My question was more about why the Solarize filter stops where it does and doesn't apply the final correction to get back to a 0-255 output range.

IMHO, the solarize filter in PS was created a long time ago, way before the actual "Preset Culture", where users expect to click on a button a get the "wow" result.
It is a tool that sets the basis for further editing of your liking, since the tones of the original image may require different tweaking of exposure, contrast, levels (all of them can be adjusted with a custom curve)

Have you ever tried solarization in a chemical darkroom? in my experience it required a lot of trial and error, it worked only with extreme contrast papers, and the flashing of the print had to be done during developing as mentioned by digitaldog, because if you did it before starting the development, you would get just a black sheet of paper. Too many variables that could go wrong and most of the time the results were crap.