PHOTOSHOP ANATOMY

Where is it?

Range Masking is available for the three local adjustment tools: the Graduated Filter, the Radial Filter and the Adjustment Brush. The feature lets you confine the local adjustment either to a specific colour or a portion of the brightness range within the area defined by the tool.

Control colour tolerance

When Range Mask is set to Color, the Color Range slider lets you determine the tolerance of the sample point. A low range means only colours that are very similar to the sample point are affected, while a large range means more shades are included.

Check the mask overlay

The Mask Overlay is useful when you’re judging the effects of Range Masking, as it clearly shows which areas are affected. Toggle the overlay on or off with Y, and choose a colour that contrasts with your image. You can also paint with the brush to refine your mask.

Mask by colour

After making a local adjustment, set Range Mask to Color to confine the adjustment to the colours you choose. It’s useful here for targeting the blues in the sky. You can set eyedropper points to target colours – Shift-click to add up to five points. You can also drag a box with the eyedropper to increase the sample area.

Mask by brightness

By setting Range Mask to Luminance, you can target a specific part of the tonal range. You then tweak the two points on the Luminance Range slider to define the tonal range you want to affect. Here you can paint over the rocks with the Adjustment Brush, then restrict the effect to the shadow tones.

Set a transition

The Luminance Smoothness setting lets you control how abruptly the range of tones is affected. A low smoothness means a sharp change between the tones included in the targeted range and those left out, while a high smoothness allows for more of a gradual transition.