Digital Light & Color

Color ---> Extract channel ---> select "V" The process described there works well for images that have good color contrast but only weak brightness contrast where you'd like to see contrast in the B&W, but there are many other ways of approaching B&W. Sometimes, extracting just the...

there is no Zoom to the Gradient transform's Radial Sweep Some quick thoughts: There is no zoom, but you can accomplish the same function using the warp transform in "rigid" mode. Alternatively, you can move the radial sweep off center (say to a corner). Also, the color line can be used t...

Maciej,

I don’t *know* what is meant by “beautifying”, but the process you described using a soft light blend with the red channel is a way of enhancing contrast. Indeed, experimenting with the other channels as overlays offers some selectivity for the final result.

Another way to heavily blur flower backgrounds is to create a mask for the flowers and save it. Then make a copy of the original image and crudely clone out the flowers by copying background over them. This doesn't have to be very accurate since you will be blurring this image heavily. Next blur th...

Interesting variation on a theme, Den

While on this subject, compare with:
http://www.dl-c.com/discus/messages/523 ... 1239927925

and

http://www.dl-c.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=513

for reducing excessive edge contrast. :)

i.e., hi-pass plus soft or hard light can be useful in either direction

Can I use the color line tool to capture the same tint gradients for use on one of my photos? Yes. The color line tool allows you to assign any HSV or RGB values to any HSV-V of the color line gradient. All you need to do is to measure a set of HSV values (Usually 3-5 will suffice, but if the sampl...

Den, I like this color patch approach to skin color protection. While use of the “similar pixels” mask tool might be a bit more convenient for single images with only one or two subjects, that approach can become a bit tedious when dealing with either multiple images or group pictures. However, I’m ...

I was just trying to describe how one could use the Levels&Color transform tutorial at a deeper level as an aid to understanding the HDR/StackImages transform and vs.... and that perhaps unkowingly, we 'image blend and tone map' without specifically identifying the steps and/or terminologly. .....

Well-stated, Den.

Similar commentary might be given for many of special effects programs and plug-ins that have appeared over the last several years. They allow mindless emulation of their creators’ fantasies, but contribute little to the users’ understanding and vision.