Replace mask/selection?

[Karl Larsen]

Suppose someone created a curve adjustment from a color range selection from a rendered 'material' or 'object' element.

 

Now suppose they have 3 or 4 different adjustments that use the same selection.

 

Now suppose they revised an object or material and they want to replace all of the existing "selected areas" with new selected areas from new material or object rendered elements (maintain and reapply all of the existing adjustments to the new selected area).

 

How the heck do you do that?

 

And, don't say Google it, because its antagonistic, and I already tried it.

Edited September 18, 2013 by karlar

[Nicolai Bongard]

If you are adding elements, in photoshop you can select your layer where your updated mask is, then select the new area you wish to add to your adjustment layers. Then you click on your adjustment layer mask (the black and white little picture next to the layer mask symbol in your layer stack) and use a white solid brush or something similar to "fill in" the area. Then you click on your next adjustment layer and fill in there too. Alternativly, you could select white as your "main color" and then press shift + f5 to fill in the area. If your entire mask is new you may want to select your new areas, create a new layer, fill it with black, then fill your areas with white, and then copy and paste that image into the mask channel of your adjustment layers.

[Karl Larsen]

...If your entire mask is new you may want to select your new areas, create a newlayer, fill it with black, thenfill your areas with white, and then copy and paste that image into themask channel of your adjustment layers.

 

Huh??? Fill in what areas with white????

 

I can make a NEW selection from the NEW object element layer - no problem!

 

The question is how do I replace an existing "mask" (black and white rectangle icon to right of adjustment in layer stack) with the NEW selected area???

Edited September 18, 2013 by karlar

[Nicolai Bongard]

Copy your black and white image mask (ctrl + c), click on the layer or adjustment layer, click on channels (top of the layer stack), then you should see r, g, b, and if the channel has a mask there should be a fourth one, the alpha channel. Click that one, ctrl + v. Try harder with the googling next time please.

 

Edit: sorry, its the fifth not the fourth, as there is also the RGB channel.

[Karl Larsen]

Nic,

 

You need to re-read my questions, slowly, a few times over, with an English to Norsk dictionary next to you! (take notes please).

 

Do you know how to make a rendered object element in 3DS? Do you know how to make a Color Range Selection from a rendered object layer in PS?

 

First you were suggesting something using brushes - now you are suggesting something using channel's. Which remedy should I be looking up on Google?

 

Try harder next time please.

 

Thank you,

Edited September 19, 2013 by karlar

[Karl Larsen]

OK I think I may have decrypted/deciphered part of the problem (I had to ask for help from the NSA via Google)...

 

Though I have never seen it mentioned anywhere, in anything I have read, INCLUDING NSAGoogle, it seems like maybe, when you create a color range selection from a rendered object element, PS creates a "CHANNEL", and somehow, you're supposed to use that new channel to replace the masks in your adjustment LAYER(S)?????

 

Or do they magically link themselves (channel and layer) because cut and paste only creates a NEW layer in the layers panel - it will not let me paste the copied mask from the channel panel to a mask in the adjustment-layer panel...

 

I wish I had a Norsk dictionary...

Edited September 19, 2013 by karlar

[Nicolai Bongard]

The color range selection does not automatically update, it is a one time thing. When you use color range selection, you get some pixels selected, and then when you create an adjustment layer from that selection, the mask of the adjustment layer is static. What this means is that making color range selections when creatings masks is not an effective way of working, as it will not update when you import your updated render element. What you do instead: import your new render element. Use your magic wand tool, with a tolerance of zero to click on the color of the area you wish to have your old adjustment layers affect. You can check/uncheck continous for better control and/or to select seperate areas with just one click. Then , with your area selected, create a new adjustment layer. It doesnt matter wich one, as you only create it for the mask. Now it has automatically gotten a mask with the area you previously had selected, but the selection is gone! Fear not, but instead bravely click your newly created adjustment layer to make sure it is selected and that is the one you are working with, then click on the channels tab on top of the layer stack. There you should see the layers RGB, R, G, B, and a fifth one. Click/select/highlight that one and make sure it is not hidden. If you have done it correctly, the areas you previously had selected should have a red-ish tint over it. Ctrl + a, ctrl + c to copy the content of that mask. Now click the RGB "layer" on the top of the stack, hide the layer you copied the mask from, and press the layers tab to go back to "regular" layers. Now you can delete this newly created adjustment layer, as we only used it for the mask. Then you click on one of your adjustmentlayers that you want to update the mask of. Click the text so that the layer is highlighted "as usual", as if you were to paint or otherwise edit a regular layer. Now press the channels tab, go down to the fifth "layer" in that stack, there should allready be a mask there, make sure it is not hidden, and paste your updated mask. Repeat process for the other adjustment layers. Also, when in this channel you can paint black and white to select/unselect stuff from the mask, thus "suggesting something using brushes" for minor updates/tweaks to a mask. This process oughta work, as i use it daily just fine. But then again, i am on cs5, and it might not work the same in some other version, i dont know. This should get you the same result as what you originally imagined (updated masks for your adjustment layers), although not magic/automated. Everything i know about photoshop (and that is not much), ive learned from googling, and what ive found is that every time i cannot find something on google it just means that ive not really used my head, and that there is another way to achieve the same goal, and it is usually quicker than how i imagined it should have somehow worked. That is why i asked you to google, so that you perhaps could learn something on the way in addition to JUST the answer to your question. A smooth sea never made a good sailor! Hope i managed to explain it well enough this time. And remember, if you cannot find it on google, it most likely doesnt exist!

[Karl Larsen]

Thanks for that great explanation - maybe if you could send me the Google link you found it on, I won't have to trouble you next time with my questions?

 

PS. all I was interested in with this post, was JUST the information I needed for this task. I will tackle the next task I need information about when I get to it.

 

When you join a military organization they don't just hand you a rifle and say "you go look up what info you need to know and you figure out how to use it and how to fight", and,

 

Only a fool would sail the ocean untrained!

 

Remember, I have a Norwegian last name, so I can dish it out as good as I get it!

 

 

Thank you,

Edited September 19, 2013 by karlar

[Nicolai Bongard]

So now it finally works for you? I guess the snag was that the alpha channel was hidden when you tried to paste? Another method you could also try is to right click and delete the old layer mask of your adjustment layer (you can do that while on the layers menu, then right click on the black and white icon, then delete mask), then import your renderelement, make your selection with a magic wand, then click on your adjustment layer and then on the make mask from selection button on the bottomn of the layer stack. That might work as well, but as i just woke up i have not tested it. As for the googling, something like "replace mask" should work. Also; "Everything i know about photoshop (and that is not much), ive learned from googling" might be an exaggeration, there is also the good old fashioned trial and error. What i am trying to tell you is that if you google, try a bit for yourself and read up a bit on the program, even though you do not find EXACTLY what you were looking for, usually you learn a bit about how the program works, and then you might discover other ways to do what you wanted to do, or find out that the way you thought it would work is not possible. So as for the google link, there might not be one that explains directly step by step how this is done (i am not about to do any googling for you to check either), but yet somehow ive figured it out, so the information required to figure it out i guarantee you is out there. Also, there is absolutely no chance you will accidentaly blow your brains out while playing around with photoshop, as opposed to playing with a rifle.

[Karl Larsen]

I don't play with rifles... And, this forum would be about as useless as a politician if everyone spent weeks on NSAGoogle, reading through hundreds of thousands of useless links, or, God forbid, watching YouTube, trying to find JUST the information they need - and we won't even get into some of the YouTube 'tutorials' that are incomprehensible! But the real flaw in your unsubstantiated accusation is that I made no effort at a search!

 

Then again, now that you've made me think about it, I've met lots of people that think browsing the Internet is a viable substitute for getting something done.

 

I'll see if I can navigate my way through your second set of instructions and will let you know what I think of your instructional skills! :D

 

Oh ya, almost forgot, the first time I ever Yahoo'd (I don't NSAGoogle) 3DS Max/Architectural Rendering, the first thing that came up was CGArchitect... Nearly everything of importance about archvis that I have learned, I have learned right here.

 

Lastly, I will forgive you for not knowing but, I never even used PS until about 3-weeks ago when Tommy L., of this forum, suggested I learn what Render Elements were and that I should figure out how to make and use them in PS...

 

And all these years I figured Norwegians were nice, like me!

 

 

Thank you!

Edited September 20, 2013 by karlar

[Nicolai Bongard]

Ive tried the last method i described and it worked as well, so now you have two ways to do it. A suggestion for you the next time you have a photoshop question would be to inform that you are as new as you are with the software (there is no shame in being a beginner, everyones been there), so people can adjust the "level of detail" in the answer relatively apropriately, that way you do not have to be frustrated with short and less detailed answers than you perhaps would like. All the answers i have posted so far are valid solutions, only with a different level of detail in the explenation. Also, i kind of fail to see how someone who tries to help you, with increasingly detailed answers, is somehow not nice, just because they suggest that you should try to actually learn the software in question and experiment for yourself a bit/make some effort. But then again i am norwegian. =) For your continued experience with photoshop i would recommend that you do as many tutorials as you can, and not necessarily only the ones you find on archviz sites. Not all functions of photoshop may seem to be something you need right now, but the more you know and learn, the more likely it is that you will find a way to work around a problem later down the line. You never know when you might need some obscure photoshop function to finish your image! Good luck with your future photoshopping!

[Karl Larsen]

Nicolai,

 

This is the THIRD TIME I've posted this to say thank you!

 

CGA had website problems today and so I am guessing the because of that, my posts subsequent to your last post, have gotten eviscerated!

 

Nevertheless, if this stays put this time, thank you for your help, and for being a good sport through it all Your descriptions are excellent and I will PM you directly next time I have a PS question

 

And remember, always capitalize "Norwegian"!!! The world is jealous of Norwegians, and rightly so!

Edited September 21, 2013 by karlar

[ichii]

learned and marked

[jaysonjames]

Image masking, I feel bore to do it. I give it to some well known service provider. You can try for image masking service.

If you need free trial for judgement you can give your files here. http://clippingpath.in/free-trials/

Edited January 24, 2014 by jaysonjames