DxO PureRAW 5 - Understanding the Mask Panel
Making Selective Edits with DxO PureRAW 5 - ISO 11,400
Click on the images to enlarge them to better see the results.
Above is the before image and below is the after using DxO PureRAW 5 with selective masking edits.
This is how the Masking works; when we start out in PureRAW 5 in the Corrections Panel, we choose a Process method and in this case DeepPRIME XD2s with the Luminance and Force details set to 40 and 0 respectively. This cleans up our image quite well and some may say too well, too smooth, but I am leaving it like this for this tutorial.
So the original image is very noisy and the initial processing gets rid of all the noise but may have gone too far and the image looks synthetic as you can see below. The faces are too smooth. The jersey's are too smooth and the football is lacking detail. This is where masking comes in.
Step by Step - Starting in the Corrections Panel - Note all of the settings I am using here.
When we are in the Masking Panel, by default, our cursor is now a paint brush and we should see a floating panel across the top of the interface with various brush options. There is a default Layer mask already waiting for you named Layer mask 01 and set to 100% opacity. You can rename this Layer mask and change the layer's opacity if you desire. I strongly suggest that you rename each Layer mask based on the area you are affecting. Be descriptive in your Layer mask naming so they are easier to locate when using more than one layer mask.
The default paint colour is Red at 100% opacity as you can see in the image above. There is a long history about why Red is the default colour for masking which goes back to the film days. You change the colour from Red to any other colour by clicking on the red colour indicator in the floating panel if that helps you see the area that you are masking better.
As you can see in the image above, I have masked two separate areas and renamed that Layer mask "Arms & Jersey" and have set the Luminance values to 20 from 40 in an attempt to hold onto some of the detail and texture in these areas. The Lens Sharpness Optimization has been set to Hard this time.
In the lower left of the Layer masks section there are three icons to help you work with masks. They are from left to right; Create a New layer mask, Duplicate and existing Layer mask and Invert Layer mask. Sometimes it is easier and quicker to select what you don't want and then simply inverting the mask.
So here I clicked on the create a New Layer mask, painted the football and renamed that Layer mask to Football. I moved the Luminance slider back to its default setting of 40 but increased the Force details slider to its maximum value of 100 and left the Lens Sharpness Optimization option at Hard. This will result in an over exaggerated look for the football but this is after all for visual purposes only.
Looking closely at the above screenshot, you can see the effects of the first Layer mask showing detail in both the arms and the jersey.
Let's go to the Output Panel now. We have that split window thing going on here. Notice the before and after in the player's arm.
So what I did was I created a Jpg of the original RAW file processed using the default DeepPRIME XD2s with the Luminance value set to 40 and the Force details set to 0. Next I created a Jpg with the edits mentioned above. In Photoshop I opened the two files with red outlines indicating the areas that have been edited using the Mask Panel.
The image on the left is the masked version and the image on the right is the initial DeepPRIME XD2s process. Notice the detail and texture that has been recovered using Layer masks in DxO PureRAW 5.
Here are the same two images but without the red outlines obstructing your view. Compare the masking on the player's arm where I deliberately edited most but not all of his arm and the portion of the masked jersey on the right side of the photograph verses the part of the unmasked jersey on the left side.
Hopefully this article has explained how to make use of Selective Editing using Layer masking in DxO PureRAW 5.
Until then, happy editing ...
As always, here are my affiliate links. Try before you buy is always a good option:
My DxO Affiliate Link: https://tidd.ly/4oxoh03
Discount Code of 15%: JohnWarren
My Youtube Channel Links for DxO PureRAW 5:
DxO PureRAW 5 Part 1
DxO PureRAW 5 Part 2
Comments
Post a Comment