Range masking in Camera Raw
New to Camera Raw is the ability to edit the extent of a localised adjustment by applying a Range Mask. The Range Mask options are at the bottom of the localised adjustment panel. If you select the Color mode you can then select the Eyedropper tool and use this to sample the colours you wish to see the adjustment applied to. You can do this by clicking or marquee- dragging. Plus, you can add up to five sample points by holding down the Shift key as you add a new colour sample. The Color Range Slider can then be used to soften or harden the refined mask border. Alternatively, you can choose the Luminance option. In this mode you can drag the shadow and highlight sliders to determine the luminance range the adjustment will be applied to. Similarly, the Smoothness slider can be used to soften or harden the refined mask border. At this point you can continue to edit the position or extent of a localised adjustment while the Range Mask will remain locked. Both can be edited independently. you can add to or subtract from a selection. The Quick Selection tool also stores all the sample points in memory. Therefore, the more you click and drag, the more accurate the Quick Selection will be as you train it, showing Photoshop what to recognise as part of a selection and what not. With this in mind it can sometimes help to clear the Quick Selection tool memory by hitting the Q key twice before you carry on refining the selection, but starting with a cleared memory.
Recent additions to Photoshop include Focus Area selections, which I describe below, plus the new Select Subject feature. Powered by advanced machine learning technology, Select Subject has been trained to identify various types of objects in an image and automatically create a selection. In practice I find it does a pretty good job of creating instant selections that correctly identify the main subject in a photo. However, it will nearly always be necessary to refine the selection to some extent, but Select Subject is still a great time saver.
Finally, let’s not forget the powerful selection tools in Camera Raw and Lightroom such as the Adjustment Brush Auto Mask mode and the new Range Masking features for refining the extent of localised adjustments.
‘New to Camera Raw is the ability to edit the extent of a localised adjustment by applying a Range Mask’