Save the masks from zone adjustment dialog?

[Charles2]

It is so easy to create useful zones in the 2- and 3-zone adjustment transformations!

Is there a way that I can save them as masks? Then I can use the masks in other transformations.

[MikeG]

Unfortunately not.
You're far from the first to wonder about this and there was some discussion about this matter in the early days of this forum. I've tried to use the search function to find it for you but it doesn't work well for me.
Nevertheless the answer to your question is, sadly, no.

Mike.

[Dieter Mayr]

Den has posted a method in the forum used for beta-testing:
http://dl-c.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=383
It's maybe not the most easy method, but at least it's a method.

[MikeG]

I'm embarrassed to see that I participated in the discussion in the thread Dieter referenced.
Now I know my memory is failing!

Mike.

[Charles2]

Thanks to posts in this thread, the link to DEN's discussion, and learning a bit more about PWP through trial and error, I do not agree with my original request to save masks within the 2- and 3-zone transformations.

The ordinary mask transformation is sufficient. Here are my notes to myself. It's even simpler than it reads:

Mask by brightness zones (shadow, midtone, highlight)
Mask | Brightness curve | Stair Step button
move right anchor control point leftward along top to mask highlights
shift-click on X-axis to create a new control point
it will be right point of shadows
move left anchor control point to top of chart
use lower Apply button to see
revise and review: None button | adjust same two points horizontally; Apply again
save and use Invert as desired
feather and blur as desired

The 2- and 3-zone adjustments are wonderful transformations. They do, however, verge on violating the design philosophy of PWP, which I take to be: keep close to the pixel manipulations being performed; provide powerful tools for each small step but with a clean and sparse overall organization.

However, it would be helpful if the Mask transformation had multiple levels of Undo.

Also, I found almost nothing in the User Guide about the Stair Step button. In general, the documentation for PWP shows real strain keeping up the program, which has added functionality along a remarkably clean path.

[ksinkel]

Just a quick note on the Stair Step button.

The Stair Step button is a standard button on curve windows. It is one of three options (stair step, broken line, smooth curve) for determining the shape of the curve.

The buttons are documented under the Brightness Curve dialog (pg 86) There is a link to this section in the discussion of Mask Dialog's Brightness Tool.

Of course I appreciate that with the number of functions in Picture Window and the consequent size of the manual, it may be hard to fnd exactly what you are looking for. Links are obviously one strategy. Another is the Acrobat Reader Search function. It's actually pretty thorough and very fast. In this case searching on "stair step" produced the desired reference.

Kiril