Better Vignettes With Luminosity Masks: TK8 Quick Tip

[@thejoyofeditingwithdavekelly]

Thanks Sean, great tip. This adds a whole new dimension to vignettes.

[@davidroby8493]

Sean, your tutorials are masterpieces of clear instruction and demonstration. This one is no exception. Thank you.

[@ChristiaanRoest79]

Nice technique! I also often use this technique in conjunction with blend if to protect the darkest shadows.

[@davidtaddei419]

Very nice tutorial Sean, so glad the TK Quick Tips are back! As always, such a clear, simple yet effective technique that can add another dimension to our images. For anyone who did not take advantage of the TK8 launch sale, the new panel is even better than the previous ones and Sean's video guide will help anyone to get a grip with the new functions. This combo is invaluable and awesome value. It has also inspired me to try new tricks in my workflow, I simply cannot work without it, thanks so much to you and Tony!

[@SeanBagshaw]

Well, thank you David for that very kind (and entirely unpaid/unsolicited...I swear) endorsement. 😁

[@StephenEhrlichPhotos]

What a great tip. So simple, once you know the steps. I have been using the Freehand Vignette action, and now I know I will be adding this trip as well. Thank You!!!

[@proriyami]

Absolutely very useful dear Season.. thank you so much

[@sarajitsil]

Awesome technique!! Thanks Sean and Tony for this wonderful tip 👍

[@gaperklake]

Another door-opener. Thank you, Sean.

[@cgan2013]

Great stuff as always! Thank you both Sean and Tony!!

[@jorgediehl6845]

Great tip, Sean. Thanks.

[@MrPJTPJT]

Thanks Sean - yes, it was a VERY good one!

[@richardbrewer329]

Super Tip, Sean! Thanks for sharing as usual. Keep'em coming!!👍

[@safatman]

Brilliant tip Sean, thanks mate!

[@emilebaudot904]

Fabulous Shaun……. These quick tips are so useful….!

[@TomStrazulla]

Thanks. Great tip.

[@dougdavidson9227]

Thanks Sean loved this quick tip and it will become part of my process. Dave Kelly has been my mentor in TK8 but I have room for tips like this one.

[@dougdavidson9227]

I have been using your TK8 vignette technique on several pictures and this will probably be my final step on all my photos now. You don't even know that you have a vignette until you click it off. FANTASTIC TY Sean

[@dallasthomas9298]

Thanks Sean.

[@patrickguilfoyle8884]

WOW! That was great information Sean. Thank you.

[@davidhatton2321]

Excellent tip Sean! Thanks for sharing as I am using the vignette tool frequently as well.

[@eoslove2022]

Thanx Sean, it was a GOOD ONE!

[@chepo1956]

That was awesome, Sean. The calculator tool is such a powerful tool and I think it deserves its own tutorial series. Maybe in the future, you can incorporate more tutorials on creative ways to use this tool.

[@pbziegler]

I have always used blend if to protect the highlights on a vignette. Now I have another way to do it. Hope you get back to posting these Quick Tips as I use TK8 all the time. I finally got around to making the tools panel my go to for just about everything I do with adjustments and layers. And of course the Rapid Mask panel is a regular part of my workflow when I want to paint through a mask to pop the color and light in selected areas of an image, to blend exposures, and a lot of other things I do in post. Learned so much from you over the years my friend.

[@SeanBagshaw]

Right on Phillip. I always appreciate the good words. It’s pretty fun, this photography game we play 😄

[@MFP_Photography]

Great tip. Glad to see you back on the channel leaving these great videos!

[@SeanBagshaw]

I'm an admitted lazy KZbinr, Mickey. I only manage to post videos when I have some spare time and something new and/or cool I want to share. 😂

[@MFP_Photography]

@@SeanBagshaw Completely understand. I don't know how you guys keep it up. I always get a laugh when I hear someone say, "these guys don't do anything but play and make videos". I just want to ask them, "What color is the sky in your world ?!?!" I appreciate your time and your work. I'll take it whenever I can get it.

[@nicknichols4249]

Great tip, thanks Sean!

[@MichaelBlanchette]

Thanks, Sean. This is indeed an excellent tip I now plan to use.

[@lookforbeauty1964]

Excellent, Sean. Thank you so much for this handy tip 😉

[@williamcarter6374]

Brilliant, thanks Sean!

[@manuelribeiro8136]

Thanks, for another excellent video and tip.

[@klausschleicher523]

Thanks Sean, this is a great tip.

[@proriyami]

Amazing

[@keithpinn152]

Hi Sean: Thanks for creating and sharing this powerful Quick Tip within TK8. Have you considered making a PlayList of all of your Quick Tips specifically for TK8. Best wishes to you and your family during this Holiday Season. Cheers, Keith

[@remimomo]

very cool tip 👍🏽

[@SeanBagshaw]

Thanks! 👍

[@alaikens6353]

Sean, this is great insight on using the TK Panel. Thanks. I immediately tried it. It was straightforward to use and provided intended and good looking results. As I use Lightroom at the beginning of my workflow, I wondered if a parallel workflow in Lightroom could provide similar results with its updated masking capabilities. In LR, I initiated a vignette with an inverted radial gradient mask and then I subtracted a luminance range mask with the results providing a similar effect as was accomplished using the Vignette TK Action. The approach beginning with the Freehand Vignette TK Action is obviously not going to have a parallel workflow in LR. So, I'll consider this when I don't see the need to otherwise transition from LR to PS for editing.

[@SeanBagshaw]

Yes! You can totally do this in Lr now as you describe. When I’m doing most of my work in Lr or using a smart object in Ps I’ll often choose to go this route. Otherwise, since I usually do this toward the end of my workflow, I use this method in Ps.

[@donaldbernhardt]

Fantastic! I plan on subtracting skies which I often don’t want a vignette to show, but do want on land.

[@TonyKuyper]

That's a great idea, Donald, and you can still use Sean's method to do that. The My Channels button offers "Active Selection" as an option for creating a mask. So you would be able to subtract a Select Sky selection from the Vignette mask using the Mask Calculator by using My Channels to generate a Sky mask from a Select Sky selection. Hope that makes sense. That would indeed be a useful application of this technique.

[@donaldbernhardt]

@@TonyKuyper It does! I’m going back to 150 recent AZ and UT photos subtracting sky and protecting darks like Sean shows. Just super!

[@donaldbernhardt]

And I’ve progressed to turning off tool tips. Getting there.

[@donaldbernhardt]

@@TonyKuyper I just applied the same technique to protect highlights from the spotlight action. Very nice. Just love TK8.

[@TonyKuyper]

@@donaldbernhardt Indeed, subtracting a Lights mask from a spotlight would be the flip side of this technique, though I tend to use spotlights less than vignettes. Also, most images are actually much heavier in shadow and darker midtone values (as shown by the image's histogram), and so you tend to lose these darker tones more easily in a vignette as compared to losing lighter tones in a spotlight. However, if you have a significant amount of light tones in your spotlighted area, then using the Mask Calculator to subtract a Lights-series mask from the spotlight could prove useful, I think.

[@chrisstarbuck4986]

Thanks for a good tip! I've been doing a similar thing with a "mask the mask" approach, but one mask always takes up less space (and fewer layers) than two.

[@SeanBagshaw]

Mask the mask is also a great option, but as you point out fewer layers and masks is a little cleaner. All good either way. :-)

[@kjcka5g]

Just purchased the TK8 panel and your instruction video set. Thank you for the great tutorials. I've watched every single one of them once and now this cool vignette tip. Is there a way for us to make an action for this vignette? Or is there one already made and available to add to the panels?

[@byoregon1]

Pretty clever. I think it will be a matter of minutes before Adobe “borrows” your idea for the vignette section of Lightroom. With the new masking stuff, seems like they’ve already got all the pieces in place. Personally I like the greater control I get from PS/TK8.

[@SeanBagshaw]

You can totally do this same thing in Lr, and even easier now with the new add/subtract/intersect mask operations. Just make an inverted radial filter to darken the edges and then subtract the dark tones using the luminance range tool.

[@byoregon1]

@@SeanBagshaw Yep. Seems like they could just add something like an “edge luminance” slider right to the vignette section. I still like the Freehand Vignette approach in TK8 along with your cool luminance mask blend.

[@thomastuorto9929]

@@byoregon1 Not for noth'nn , but wouldn't be just as easy to grab a brush & do your own? Keep in mind I'm a light weight when it comes to pp, & that's why I'm asking.

[@pavansakaram]

Sir awesome tip One small question If we use blend will get same results ?

[@SeanBagshaw]

To an extent. Read Tony Kuyper’s reply to Larry Rudnick elsewhere in the comments.

[@alexandrbriz7998]

Thanks!

[@rlfisher]

How cool and easy is that?!?

[@axelmatthies5622]

Great tip. Is there a possibility to record this as an action in Photoshop?

[@SeanBagshaw]

Yes, this could be recorded as an action I think.

[@MohitSingh-yc5bi]

sir can you make tutorial on colour grading on videos ? your videos looks really good... and love all your work..

[@SeanBagshaw]

I’m afraid I’m not a video expert so color grading video is not my specialty. Glad you think the videos look good. I think I’m just lucky that the lighting in my office is pretty good. If you search KZbin I’m sure you can find some excellent video color grading tutorials.

[@HerveAttia]

Great tip . This should be added as a new "vignette" action in the TK panel which by default will select darker 3 mask?! All those steps are a little tedious and time consuming (add a vignette ->click on layer mask->click on calcularor-->close the layer mask->click on darker 3-> click on substract->click on = -> click on replace the mask...)

[@SeanBagshaw]

Knowing Tony he just might add it.

[@PH-gm2qe]

There is another easy and IMO simpliest way - blend if .

[@spookysandwich1355]

Great tip Sean huge thanks , i only have the free TK panel can this effect still be achieved with just that ?

[@SeanBagshaw]

Not from within the free panel. You can make the darks luminosity mask but the rest you would need to know how to do manually in Photoshop.

[@spookysandwich1355]

@@SeanBagshaw thank you sir 🙏

[@larryrudnick1519]

Great tip Sean, thanks. Question though - could you use Blendif for a similar effect?

[@SeanBagshaw]

Seems like that should work too. Need to try it and compare.

[@TonyKuyper]

While Blend-If could probably be used to to replicate what Sean did here, it's actually somewhat limiting in several regards for this particular technique. 1) Once you know which mask to subtract (Darks-3, in this case) it's easy to make it and use it each time. You don't have to fiddle with sliders to figure out the mask equivalent to Darks-3. Multi-Mask makes that mask for you quickly and you're all set. 2) What if you want to subtract of a sky selection (as discussed in another comment) and not the Darks-3 mask? Blend If can't subtract the sky. It only works on tones. So a Sky subtraction isn't possible with Blend-If 3) An even more sophisticated application of this technique is to load Darks-3 as a selection and then use black paint to paint through this selection onto the layer mask. This provides even better control over adjusting the vignette by both painting exactly where you want to lessen the vignette and by how much (by applying multiple brush strokes). You can't paint through Blend-If. This type of control is only possible by painting through a selection. So while Blend-If can provide a basic equivalence of this technique, it wouldn't get you much further for more advanced and potentially very useful applications of it.

[@pavansakaram]

@@TonyKuyper thank you so much

[@dh7139]

@@TonyKuyper I had the same question Tony, great explanation for the advantages of this technique. Your panel is my go to, use it on all my images, thank you so much!!

[@dreamsofhallerbos5261]

Legend

[@herculepoirot5626]

Is it possible to install TK 8 Panel without signing in to Creative Cloud?

[@SeanBagshaw]

I don’t think so anymore.

[@chmueller]

Great tip Sean! Thanks!