Composite with mask

[Marpel]

I have been away from PWP for awhile and just downloaded latest version. As a result, have not been keeping current on the changes. Was going to go through all th3e changes to see if what I am experiencing is appropriate but due to volume of changes, thought I would just ask here.

Used Composite with two images, and opened New Mask.

Pressed Curves - immediate green overlay appears - Assume this is the new method?

No points applied as decided to apply Flood Fill instead - Dialogue asking "Finalize pending mask operation?". It seems this dialogue appears quite frequently now, including when nothing is done?

Flood Fill opened. Only hand cursor appears and unable to click in image and apply green overlay, regardless of whether straight clicking or hitting Shift + Click or Alt (although Alt does change cursor to arrow). Appears Flood Fill pointer is disabled if opened after Curves as above, but if Flood Fill is opened immediately after New Mask, it seems to work correctly.

Linear Gradient opened. Apply line/squares as usual and shows green overlay and line/squares. Press "Invert Mask", again that "Finalize....operation" appears. If click "No", that overlay disappears and the image is covered by a solid green overlay. Clicking on another mask tool does not eliminate this mask. Funny enough, this is one of the only/few times, the noted dialogue does not appear.

Marv

[jsachs]

I made some major changes to the way the Mask dialog box works while you were away.

Depending on the mask tool, the effects of the tool are reflected immediately in the overlay on the input image and are updated every time you change any of the tool settings so you now can effectively preview the effects of changes to your mask settings. When you get things the way you want them, you click the Apply button (red running man icon) at the top of the dialog box to finalize the operation and propagate the updated mask to the transformation so the output image is updated. This has some big advantages for things like the Blur tool where you can now change the amount of blur you are getting without having to constantly Undo a re-apply the tool.

As soon as you select the Curve tool, a mask overlay for the initial curve is displayed, and this overlay is redrawn every time you change the curve so you can immediately see the effects of your changes. When you click the Apply button, the settings are finalized and the mask updates the output image.

If you attempt to switch tools without having finalized an operation that is still pending, PWP asks if you want to finalize or not. If you choose not to finalize, the unfinalized operation is discarded. If you choose to finalize, the operation is finalized before starting the next operation.

Some tools such as the freehand outline tool apply right away so there is no Apply button displayed.

Similarly, when you select the Flood Fill tool, the first time you click on the input image it does a fill but does not finalize it. You can still adjust the slider of click somewhere else on the input image and see the updated flood fill. When you like the result, click Apply. As a shortcut for Flood Fill, you can Shift-Click to Apply and start a new Flood Fill.

Same story with Gradient Tools -- until you click Apply, switching tools (e.g. doing and Invert Mask) will ask if you want to Apply first.

I will check out the issue with the hand cursor showing when you select Flood Fill after the Curve tool, but you can get the cross cursor back by click on the Mask dialog box. Will also check out finalize message in Flood Fill even if no points have been selected.

[Marpel]

Jonathan,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it does appear you have been busy with the Mask dialogue.

I think I now understand the changes and reasons therefor, and it will just take a bit of time using the new system to get comfortable.

Having said that, I don't understand the reason for the image to be given a solid green overlay when clicking "No" after the "Finalize" question is asked as in my example with the Linear Gradient, then being unable to remove that overlay or invoke another mask tool. (My) logic suggests the initial mask would be removed and the image left without any mask. I am sure I am missing something.

Marv

[jsachs]

I assume you already realize you can change the mask color to red, green, blue or white by clicking on the colored buttons, and the transparency by clicking on the transparency buttons, so the green mask is just one of a number of possible colors.

When you click on the Gradient mask tool and then draw a gradient but do not finalize it, then when you click on Invert Mask (which is a separate mask operation) it asks if you want to finalize the Gradient first. If you click No, it cancels the gradient so you are left with a transparent (black) mask. Then it does the Invert and makes the mask white. If you click Yes, it applies the gradient and then inverts it.

[Marpel]

Yes, I am aware one can change the colour of the mask.

And thanks for the clarification on Invert Mask. I did not realize when "No" is pressed, the tool still inverts what would then be a transparent/black mask, thus leaving the green mask colour. Sort of thought you had to (manually) generate a mask first before Invert would actually affect anything. Although, I guess it makes sense once you wrap your mind around it.

Marv