Mask confusion

[tonygamble]

Silly question but what is wrong with this setting?

I correct a mask using Paint. I save it. When I come back to make some more changes the alterations seem to delete the last ones I made.

[jsachs]

I don't see this here -- can you be more specific about the steps you used to re-open the mask and what other mask operations you were using.

[tonygamble]

See the unmasked line to the right of the head.

I am painting.
For safety I do Save Current Mask.

I work on the missing part of the mask on the right and what I have just corrected on the left comes back.



I Save Current Mask again.
I go back to making the correction to the left of my wife’s head and the fault to the right comes back again.




The only reason I am doing Save Current Mask is because I somehow crashed the app (mea culpa) and felt this was the way to protect myself at each step. Save Current Mask does not ask for 'permission to over write'. Should it?

[tonygamble]

That's it Jonathan.

I remove a strip of mask on the right as below.



I do the Save and when I go back into the mask as soon as I touch it the strip is removed.



The disk at the bottom left is my cursor hitting the mask.

[jsachs]

Save Current Mask does something other than what you are thinking it does as it does not offer any protection against mishaps. The feature is something akin to the Store and Recall buttons on some calculators -- it makes a temporary copy of the current mask so you can combine it later in the masking process with some other mask.

I am on vacation and don't have time right now to investigate, but I will take a look when I get back around 4/25.

[tonygamble]

Thanks Jonathan.

Don't worry and enjoy your holiday.

I'll find another way of saving the work. I spent about half an hour making a 99% mask and then deleted it by mistake. Once bitten....

Tony

[jsachs]

To save your work, just close the current transformation and save a workspace script -- this will save everything including all transformations and masks. To restore, just reload the workspace script.

Or, just save the final image along with a script file and you can open the script file and resume working on the mask.

[tonygamble]

Sorry Jonathan - another one to look at when you finish your vacation

I am using the brush as below.



I want to go back to the Color Range and when I click on that icon I get this.



Undo last Operation simply takes me back to the brush

Meantime whilst doing nothing my Task Manager is showing this



I'll do a reload of the software and see if that helps.

[jsachs]

The first time you use a tool you get the defaults. Subsequently, they revert to their last settings when you pick them. In this case you were in subtract mode so the tool removed the selected color range. Some tools apply immediately since they just require slider or other controls to determine their settings while other tools like the freehand lasso, flood fill, etc require you to draw on the input image so they do not apply immediately. Color Range is of the first type which I think led to your not expecting the immediate result.

[tonygamble]

Thanks Jonathan,

So I caused my error by not moving into Add mode before changing to the Color Range?

I'll have another crack after lunch (GMT - actually BST)

Can I ask another question....

I like to use the F3 F4 and + and - keys a lot in my mask work. They are too far apart on my keyboard. Have you any PWP users who who have bothered with a small programmable keyboard?

Tony