Darktable's SECRET SUPERPOWER: Parametric Masks!

Want to know how to use parametric masks in darktable? Want to take control over your colors and your contrast to the nth degree? Here's a scenario:
Have you ever had a beautiful family photo, golden hour, everybody’s happy and smiling, but the three year old really wanted to wear his neon green t-shirt and nobody quite had the heart to tell him no? Don’t you wish you could target just that exact color and desaturate it, maybe shift the color to something that fits in better?
darktable has a secret superpower that gives you ten times the control over the image, if you only learn to harness it!
I’m talking about parametric masks: a very nerdy term for an incredibly powerful tool. With this knowledge you’ll be able to focus your edits on the most troubling of colors, perfect skin tones like Da Vinci, and balance your contrast with the deftness of Ansel Adams!
Watch the video to learn how; like and subscribe for more!
Check out my podcast: livelifecreativepodcast.xyz
Download darktable: www.darktable.org/install/
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[@billmoore5206]

It's wonderful that you focused on two clear examples and did not get side-tracked on the multitude of options (whose explanations could wait for another day). This was truly productive.

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

Glad it was helpful!

[@GrantALogan]

Great video! Very easy to understand! Thank you!

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

Thank you!

[@johnnysparkleface3096]

One useful thing would be to put up in a corner which Darktable version is current as of the making of your video. Thanks for this VERY useful video!!

[@franklinaguilarmatos7197]

Excellent video. The upcoming version 4 comes with a lot of new features. I look forward to seeing more of your videos.

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

Thanks! I love when a new version of darktable is released. I'm thinking I'll do an overview of new features and changes

[@photorreia]

Thank you so much Dilan, your insites about darktable are helping me a lot. greetings from brasil, i´m your newer susbcriber.

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

I'm glad that I could help!

[@alessioforte5946]

Wonderful video, thank you so much for this!

[@petevonschondorf4609]

I feel like I just walked into class again because I failed the first time and in the meantime the wheel was invented. My mind is blown and will need to review it again, again and again. So lucky for videos and being retired.

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

I'm glad that this video helped you. darktable is a great piece of software and I'm happy to share what I've learned. Have fun with your photography!

[@l.968]

Thanks for the video!

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

Thank you!

[@sergioflorespereira-arq]

Excellent video... well done!

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

Thank you!

[@maggiem1323]

​@@DylanLiveLifeCreativeGlad to see you still on your channel. Hope youll be back soon with more darktable tutorials. All the best!

[@FJWoods007]

Nice intro. Thanks.

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

Thank you too!

[@AmgadElsaiegh]

nice work

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

Thank you!

[@shutterrecoil]

is it possible to reuse parametric mask same as drawn mask?

[@desotopete]

Very clear. Is the a way to change default color of perametric mask to other than yellow?

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

I really don't know, I've never thought to try. I know that if you go to darktable's preferences, then the general tab, you can enter in tweaks to CSS. That might get you what you want, but I've never tried CSS tweaks at all. You can find the relevant page in the darktable user manual here for CSS tweaks: docs.darktable.org/usermanual/4.0/en/preferences-settings/general/

[@laluwahyupiw]

does davinci resolve have this kind of mask?

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

I really don't know. I use Resolve for my video editing, but I have not gotten into anything too complicated with it. You might check out www.youtube.com/@MrAlexTech because he does a lot of Resolve videos

[@joaovtaveira]

You didn't talk about the pin dropper and, probably, should've, it is pretty important.

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

The pin dropper for color zones, where it shows in the module what color is under the pin? Or is there another pin dropper specifically for parametric masks?

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

Ah, I see what you're talking about now. Yeah, that'd be pretty useful. There's a lot to talk about with parametric masks, so I was trying to keep to the basics

[@joaovtaveira]

@@DylanLiveLifeCreative yes, you are right, there's one in the module, and other in the parametric masks.

[@joaovtaveira]

@@DylanLiveLifeCreative and it is a pretty basic feature in my opinion.

[@GaryParris]

Darktables masking is superior to other software. since leaving lightroom i have been using DT asnd wont go back to other software now.

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

I find that dt's masking is incredibly flexible, if somewhat obtuse to learn. I use it fairly extensively now

[@GaryParris]

@@DylanLiveLifeCreative Yes like anything including lightroom or photoshop or any other software people claim are intuitive or easier to learn, it's simply a case of learning the functionality and then it becomes simple and easy and not what people perceive, having been a tech for many years, seeing how people learn and perpetuate the myths heard around them; from the emotional state people attribute to learning and ease of use; it is all down to the learning experience not the problem with the software. Yet people will still attribute ease of use with professional or bias to one system or another. if you put lightroom and darktable in room for people to use, whomever works out one or the other app first will show others and become easier and the norm, regardless of the other. It's the way in which you process it that decides if it's easier or harder than another and then considered better because of that attachment.

[@joaovtaveira]

There's nothing of secret about this, it's just know well the software.

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

Yeah, but I think masks in general for darktable aren't super well-known, and if you open the parametric masks tab for the first time, it looks pretty intimidating. Since it's such a useful feature and relatively unknown, I thought super power was a pretty fair descriptor for it

[@weseehowcommiegoogleis3770]

Sorry, the lith is to distracting.

[@Maxime-ho9iv]

To introduce your video with a picture you end up not editing was kinda odd.

[@kimbeijar5702]

Cant stand the background music.

[@DylanLiveLifeCreative]

noted