Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/11/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Alastair: >How do I clean up the distant mountains without affecting >the foreground? >http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Alastair/album184/album119/2004NepalLge9.jpg.html Photoshop Masking & Compositing by Katrin Eismann: http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Masking-Compositing-VOICES-Eismann/dp/0735712794 The easiest way to create a mask for an image like this is to go to the channels display. Duplicate one of the channels. Doesn't matter which one. Call it mask or foreground mask or whatever descriptive name suits your fancy. Now, with only that channel selected, call up the levels dialog. Slide the left-most triangle to the right. You'll see the shadows block up. Drag the right-most triangle to the left. You'll see the highlights blow out. Keep doing this until you're left with mainly a black foreground and a white background. It won't be perfect, but it will be easy enough to clean up the area with a large paintbrush. The border between the two is what you want to make look good. Might want to do a small blur to this mask just so there isn't an abrupt cutoff between black and white. Then, you can use this channel as a selection. If you select this channel and then add a new fill or adjustment layer, this selection will automatically be part of the layer mask. That should get you started... -- Eric http://canid.com/