Fluid mask 3 for mac5/30/2023 With an image open in Photoshop, when you fire up Fluid Mask, Photoshop temporarily closes (“to save resources”) and the Fluid Mask window shown below opens. Once Fluid Mask has been installed, you’ll find it as a menu item on the Photoshop Filters menu (at the bottom of the menu items, along with any other third-party plugins you may have installed). Disclosure: Vertus provided me with the Fluid Mask software for free, as well as some complimentary individual training (but see the note below about the availablity of free online training for anyone). But before I show you how this worked, I need to make a disclosure. The original image following RAW processing is shown below with the background I wanted to replace.Īs a first try with Fluid Mask, I decided to try selecting the flower to cut it out and put it on a black background. The flower you see above on black, a Gaillardia, was originally on a busy green background (because I photographed it in my cramped side garden). Read on for an overview of how the software works, and for my evaluation. With this background in mind, I tried out Fluid Mask, a Photoshop plugin (it also runs in standalone mode) from Vertus that is supposed to ease the pain of selecting. But to get the layer mask I need, I often have to start with a complex and time consuming selection. My preference is to work with layers and layer masks because this is a more flexible option than working with a selection cut out on a single layer. Hmmm! Selection = Layer Mask = Alpha Channel. For the real technophiles among my readers (I was almost going to say “alpha geeks” but restrained myself), a layer mask is the same thing as an alpha channel. If you have a selection, you can convert it to a layer mask (I’ll explain how in the course of this review) going the other way, it’s easy to convert a layer mask to a selection (by applying the layer mask). Both selections and layer masks are stored as grayscale information. It’s not intuitively obvious, but making a selection in Photoshop is logically equivalent to creating a layer mask. The edges of a selection should usually be blended using a gradient effect, or your selection will appear jagged and unnatural. The task is made even more difficult by the issue of edge treatment. But it is a sad fact of life for Photoshop addicts like me that we spend much of our life on time consuming and tedious hand selections. These include a Magic Wand Tool, and the ability to select on the basis of color range. Since you need to be able to select in Photoshop, Photoshop provides a number of nifty selection tools. Besides this kind of large-scale selection, selection is used on a much smaller scale in Photoshop to control the areas you want to change in an image, and for a variety of other reasons. As a simple example, when you want to make a composite by moving a person from one background onto another, you need a way to select the person-in other words, to tell Photoshop which pixels you want to move. It provides a straightforward interface that includes descriptions of the tools for a better understanding.When you use Photoshop, nothing is more important than the ability to make selections. Conclusionįluid Mask should not be too difficult to work with, even for less experienced users. Working with Fluid Mask is not too difficult and according to the developer the time required for achieving fine mask selections is trimmed down significantly. Careful calibration is advisable as improper usage may lead to filling other objects. In the upper part of the screen there is the possibility to adjust the size of the brush and its strength the latter determines how far the area of the stroke extends. Straightforward interfaceįor users not familiar with the tools present in the application there is also an area that provides a brief description as soon as they are selected. The interface is simple and straightforward, with the brushes and selection tools available in the left hand side of the application window, while the edge finding and blending controls are present in the right part. It can be used outside Photoshop and the installation process is a classic one that requires following the instructions on the screen in order to complete it. The tool brings to the table a fine array of options that allow cutting with precision and remove unwanted content. Even with advanced image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop some tasks are handled easier with the help of well-crafted plug-ins.įluid Mask is such an add-on, created to help users make more accurate selections of various areas of an image.
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