Darkening layer in Channels?

Using CS5 I do the following:
- apply a layer mask to a layer
- make new channel
- image > adjustments > invert
- turn on RGB, but have alpha1 active
- apply shading over parts of the image
- hold down command double-click on icon for alpha channel to load it as a selection
- click rgb layer to target it
- select inverse
- image > ajustements > levels
- midtones to the right to darken the areas
- select > deselect
1. When I am done the red from the mask in the channels panel is still showing on the image and it does not seem like the image looks any darker. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks.

I may have read your original post too superficially or I misunderstand you …
If you want to see the Channel check the visibility icon, if you don’t want to see check it off.
If you want to adjust Layer(s) with Levels you can use Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels or the Adjustments Panel to create a Levels Layer instead of applying Levels it directly.
This does not apply to alpha channels.

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Layer Group Channel blending, incorrect colors

Hello!
Wanted to bring up an issue that has troubled me in Photoshop for years, with the hope of it gaining some traction for fixing. For a while now (unsure which version), it was possible to set a Layer Group to filter/isolate a specific channel. This is a very useful feature for me, in creating channel masks for game assets and for use in real time shader techniques. However, it has a very large flaw that has made the feature largely unusable - and I'm surprised others have not had the issue as well as it should affect print as well (if in a lesser effect).
When you use this feature, and essentially mask the contents of a layer to the Red, Green, or Blue channels, the layers in those Groups are still hit by color management, which results in the pixels drawing and blending incorrect colors. an example:
In the first file, each group is set to blend to a specific channel, and a black to white gradient is applied in that layer.
In the second file, those same layers are copied and pasted into the channels of a new RGB document. The file already looks very different.
Finally, in the 3rd file the two layers are compared using the Difference blend mode. Can observe the difference between the two layers here, which is a result of the first method (Layer Grouping) not blending the pixels properly as if they were a channel - which when using the R/G/B blend masking on Group Properties, is what should be expected.
When i use this technique of pushing certain black and white images into a channel, they are made for a specific purpose and function. Since the layer group blending alters what the values of those pixels are (very important for real time shader creation) in the final file, it makes this amazingly useful feature unusable. I would LOVE to be able to have Layer Group channel blending be a part of my workflow, instead of constantly copying and pasting into channels. I have created various scripts to save these types of files out easier, but i could greatly simplify them by being able to save this 'RGB Mask' file directly from my PSD.
Wanted to share and start a discussion about it, to see if it would be possible to get a fix for this in the future!
thanks!
Maury

don't generally like to bump threads, but bumping for some visibility and maybe some insight?

Copy and pasting image onto a layer's channel

Hi,
I would like to know how to copy and paste an image onto a particular layer's blue channel. (prefer non-action listener scripts)

I think the applyImage command is the best way to copy an image into a channel. But that needs scriptlistner. So here is how to do it with the clipboard without scriptlistner.
var currentChannels = app.activeDocument.activeChannels;// store the activeChannels to restore later
app.activeDocument.activeLayer.copy();// copy the image
app.activeDocument.activeChannels = [ app.activeDocument.channels.getByName( localize( '$$$/ColorModes/RGB/ChannelName/Blue=Blue' ) ) ];// make the blue channel active
app.activeDocument.paste();// paste the image into the channel
app.activeDocument.activeChannels = currentChannels;// restore the channels

Can't darken my cyan channel with curves...

I have a cmyk file with only cyan and magenta dot. I simply want to apply a curve to the cyan changel to make it darker but the cyan won't darken. I started with a grayscale file that I copied and placed into a CMYK file. I deleted the yellow and black dot in their channels but now I just want to darken the cyan dot and it won't happen. I can darken the magenta dot a little but nowhere near filling it with 100%. The highest I can get my cyan dot is 50%. Can't figure this out…any help would be appreciated!

Thanks Eriksimon. Bless you my son ........ you have made an old man VERY happy
I actually have NO idea how it became turned off? I've certainly never turned it off ....... spooky!
all the very best
Dick

Replace one channel by another on only one layer, leaving the others intact?

Hello. In a CMYK image, I need to turn on only one layer one channel completely into another, while the others remain intact. The M channel (the M on that layer) contains information, but I can't print M in this place. I want to change it into an equal amount of K (or into C, in the present case, or even into a mixture of the two). I know how to do this to an entire image (change into greyscale, duotone or whatever may apply). But since I need this to apply to only one (or a selection of) layer(s), leaving all others intact, this is not an option here. I'm sure there's a way to achive this, but I can't find it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

bustamant wrote:
hello, thanks for your replies. As far as I understand, Channel Mixer (i.e., an Adjustment Layer containing a Channel Mixer applied to the layer in question) allows me to reduce one channel to zero,
You are completely correct up to here...
Then choose K as the desired output channel at the top of the palette and slide the M (source) slider to the desired value. You can choose more output channels by going to each output channel in turn.
The way it works is slightly confusing at first, but in a nutshell, you choose your output channel first, then mixture of sources. Then move to another output channel and the sources will be at the default position for THAT output channel only. Each channel has a set of source channels assigned to it.
Default; black output channel = 100% black source, 0% CMY
So your example is black output = 100% black source plus 100% mag source (although I expect you are going to change black source to 0)
AND magenta output = 0% Magenta 0% CYK source (no mag output at all)

Is the number of histogram pixels the same for each channel within each layer?

Dear Photoshop Scripting Forum:
I have written a script to isolate the number histogram pixels for each channel within each layer of a file.
However, I have found some unexpected results: That, the number of pixels is the same for each channel within each layer.
For example,
Layer 1 has 18,979 pixels by itself, and so does each channel within it (Red, Green, and Blue)
Layer 1, Channel Red, has 18,979 pixels
Layer 1, Channel Green, has 18,979 pixels
Layer 1, Channel Blue, has 18,979 pixels.
This does not seem right to me.
Does someone else have the same experience, or knowledge of something else?
I am wondering if there is a bug in my script.
If need be, I will post the script, but it's kind of long for a forum.
Thank you.

The following is for RGB 8bit images.
The red historgram is an array of red values of the pixels that range from 0 to 255. Each element in the array has the number of pixels that have that red value. So for example if you had a layer that is pure red 255,0,0 all the pixels would be in the 255 element and there would be no pixels in the other elements. The red historgam still has the same number of pixels as the layer. They are just all in one histogram element( they all have the same value ).
But even if you know that all the pixels in a layer are all in the last element(255) of the red histogram you still don't know the color of the pixels. A white pixel has a red value of 255. So does a yellow, magenta, etc pixel. If you only know the red value of a pixel the pixel could be one of over 65000 colors. Most of which would not be considerd 'red'
It is the three channels together that detemine a pixel's color. Unless the layer is one color you can not tell the color of the pixels from looking at the histogram.
Unless you use the color range selection then get the histogram of the selection. Even then you need to decide what color value make up 'red'

Can you add layers below a Composite Layer?

Once you create a composite layer at the top of your layer stack w. Option-click on "Merge Visible" in the Layer Panel Menu, is that new layer the only layer that now shows (represents) the image? For instance, if another adjustment layer is added below it, and the Background layer is the only image layer, will the effect of that adjustment be visible? Or do I need to delete the composite layer and create a new one to include the new adjustment layer?
The reason I ask has to do with an illustration (below) I came across from one of Mark Johnson's old NAPP tutorials (Total Control Glowing Montage). In his tutorial "Layer 1" was created as a composite layer of the Background Layer and "Levels 1" which had a Smart Filter applied to it. Then the two "Levels 1" copy layers were added last to fine-tune the effect of the Levels 1 adjustment. Notice they are BELOW the composite layer. Does this work? Thanks.

conroy2009 wrote:
Yes, very much so. Multiply is a darkening effect (unless working in 32-bit float mode with channel values greater than 1) except when multiplying with pure white.
I'm now unsure whether you do want to make the composite before adding two Levels adjustments on top of it, or whether you should be making the multiplying composite as the last stage. Can you post a link to the tutorial?
I no longer have access to the tutorial which I saw last year on the NAPP website. But here are the 5 steps mentioned:
1. Starting w. a Background layer, create a Levels Adj. layer w. Screen blending mode to overexpose image, "Levels 1."
2. Create a composite layer and apply a smart filter, Gausian Blur with a Multiply blend mode to darken, "Layer 1."
3. Preserve highlights by painting on Levels 1 mask with various opacities of black brush.
4. Open the shadows by duplicating Levels 1 layer, fill mask with black and paint shadow areas w. white brush, "Levels 1 copy."
5. If shadows are still too dark, repeat previous step by creating an additional duplicate levels layer and painting in shadows again, "Levels 1 copy, copy."
The affect looks great and is why I would like to figure this out. Thanks.

Loading a layer mask as Selection in Script

If you have a layer (Layer 1), that has a mask on it, if you look at the Channel list in Photoshop, you will see a channel named "Layer 1 Mask" of which you can load the selection using the "Load Selection..." dialog.
If a layer has a mask, even if the layer is the active layer, the mask is not a channel object in script. At least, it not exposed.
activeDocument.channels.length returns the number of component channels plus any alpha channels. In an RGB image with only the layer mask it returns 3.
activeDocument.channels.getByName("Layer 1 Mask") throws an error.
So I don't see a way to tell if a layer already has a mask or how to load that mask as a selection, apply or discrad the mask, or turn the mask off without using scriptlistner.
I personally am using C#, and I tried the following which worked:
curDoc.Selection.Load(curDoc.Channels["Blue] ,null, null);
But this doesn't:
curDoc.Selection.Load(curDoc.Channels["Layer 1 Mask"] ,null, null);
Any help would be appreciated
Carl

As far as I know scriptlistner is the only way to deal with a layer's channel masks. A vector mask is part of the pathItems collection when the layer is active.

Problem editing a layer mask in curves

I am trying to edit a layer mask to add more contrast to it. when i go to curves i cannot see the layer mask channel in the drop down menu in the curves dialoge.
I want to add contrast to a mask for a noise reduction layer.
anyone know what i am doing wrong?

just make sure that the mask is active and not the layer (it should have a border, click on the mask thumbnail if it doesn't) and then go to Image->Adjustments->Curves

Adjusting saturation of individual color channels?

In Photoshop, the Hue/Saturation adjustment allows individual adjustment to each color channel. So for instance, one can lower the saturation of only red, without affecting global saturation. I've used it thousands of times over the years, especially when shooting with Nikon cameras, which often seem to have artificially over-saturated yellows, or when shooting HDR, which tends to boost reds.
I've been scouring the internet for a plugin (or a hidden slider) to do the same within FCPX, to no avail. I'd love to be able to adjust a clip's global saturation up, while specifically lowering saturation in reds and yellows. Or at times, a clip simply has an oversaturated color that I want to diminish.
I've thought about using selective masks to grab a hue and desaturate, but that's a weird workaround to me.
This is a chance for the haters and maligners of FCPX's color correction to make themselves heard. Any thoughts?

Try this and see if it helps:
http://sight-creations.com/fxexchange/ChannelSaturation.zip
(if you need intallation help: http://sight-creations.com/install4fcpx/)
This is the parameter arrangement:
The Value parameters can be used to darken/lghten the channel. I also added "overall" Brightness and Contrast controls (if you darken or lighten too much with the values.) The Pivot is part of Contrast and is a midpoint of sorts (it more or less is a fine-tuner for contrast.)
Big hint: small moves. Also, once you desaturate a channel, you'll probably want to increase it's Value (and vice versa) to help balance the other channels so that you don't develop an unwanted cast. You can toggle the original state with the effect by clicking on the blue square dot by the effect's name in the inspector.
Here's a little *extreme* before/after:
(untouched original and probably not the best example [but I have problems with oversaturated reds as well.])
(after extreme desaturation of reds, some additional brightness and a little contrast along with the value adjustments — there's a fair amount of latitude with this effect.)
HTH

Looping through channels is really slow in CC

I've been working on .Net application and ran into a little performance snag. I have a simple method that loops through the channel layers by index, grabs the indexed channel name, and if it matches a predetermined variable then it simple deletes that channel. It works as written but is painfully SLOW. Being fairly new at programming I figured it was just me and opened up ExtendScript to run a few test.
var docChannels = app.activeDocument.channels;
for (i = 0; i < docChannels.length; i++ ){
        alert(docChannels[i].name);
To run this script in a document containing only the RGB channels plus 3 other alpha channels takes approximately 30 to 40 seconds. Running the same script modified to cycle through about 20 document layers only takes about 5 seconds.
I don't know if this is a bug in Photoshop CC or not. I don't have any earlier versions to test on. I've can accomplish the programing method by using a Try Catch statement and directly trying to delete the layer by name. This seems to run a little bit faster but not by much and is not really a proper use of a Try Catch statement.
Any insight into this problem or a better way to impliment my programing method would be most appreciated.

I am not sure about .Net apps but I think the reason the javascript Object Model can be slow when working with layers and channels it every time you create a layer or channel object all the properties of that object created. I think building the histogram property is the biggest reason for the slow down. Especially is the document has a large canvas.
Action Manger can be much faster because you can get only the property you need and avoid creating a DOM object and building the histogram. Try this to see if faster getting the channel names.
function getProperty( psClass, psKey, index ){// integer:Class, integer:key
    var ref = new ActionReference();
    if( psKey != undefined ) ref.putProperty( charIDToTypeID( "Prpr" ), psKey );
    if(index != undefined ){
        ref.putIndex( psClass, index );
    }else{
        ref.putEnumerated( psClass , charIDToTypeID( "Ordn" ), charIDToTypeID( "Trgt" ) );
    try{
        var desc = executeActionGet(ref);
    }catch(e){ return; }// return on error
    if(desc.count == 0) return;// return undefined if property doesn't exists
    var dataType = desc.getType(psKey);
    switch(dataType){// not all types supported - returns undefined if not supported
        case DescValueType.INTEGERTYPE:
            return desc.getInteger(psKey);
            break;
        case DescValueType.ALIASTYPE:
            return desc.getPath(psKey);
            break;
        case DescValueType.BOOLEANTYPE:
            return desc.getBoolean(psKey);
            break;
        case DescValueType.BOOLEANTYPE:
            return desc.getBoolean(psKey);
            break;
        case DescValueType.UNITDOUBLE:
            return desc.getUnitDoubleValue(psKey);
            break;
        case DescValueType.STRINGTYPE:
            return desc.getString(psKey);
            break;
        case DescValueType.OBJECTTYPE:
            return desc.getObjectValue(psKey);
            break;
        case DescValueType.LISTTYPE:
            return desc.getList(psKey);
            break;
        case DescValueType.ENUMERATEDTYPE:
            return desc.getEnumerationValue(psKey);
            break;
var channelCount = app.activeDocument.channels.length;
var channelNames = [];
for(var channelIndex=1;channelIndex<=channelCount;channelIndex++){
    channelNames.push(getProperty(charIDToTypeID("Chnl"),charIDToTypeID("ChnN"),channelIndex));
alert(channelNames);

Apply Image in LAB Question

I am presently taking the The LAB Frontier course by Dan Margulis at Kelby Training and I am having difficulty with the Apply Image command working the way Dan said it would. I am using CS3 on an PC.
Dan makes extensive use of this command in sharpening and other functions as follows:
Be in LAB color mode.
Start with a Background layer and duplicate.
Oversharpen Layer 1.
Have Layer 1 selected and go to Apply Image.
Apply the lower layer Lightness channel to the top layer reducing opacity to 50%.
CHANGE THE MODE TO DARKEN. This is my problem as Darken is not an available choice.
I have tried this on two different PCs with the same unfavorable result. Does anyone have an idea why Darken mode is not available to me?

This is interesting to me because I had never explored "Apply Image". Didn't even know it was there. But playing with it, I was able to invoke ALL of the blend modes in LAB, provided I used the Lightness channel exclusively.
Exclusively means that BOTH target and source are confined to the Lightness channel.
"Target" and "Source" are introduced for flexibility in the Apply Image command. They allow you to blend two layers not necessarily one on top of the other as in the usual blend operation. In Apply Image, the Source acts like the top layer, so it is the layer for which you designate the blend mode.
Here's what to do: Open two images. Put both in LAB mode. For whichever is the target, go to the channels palette and deactivate the a and b channels, leaving only the L channel active. Then invoke Image>Apply Image. In the dialog box that comes up, choose the other open image as the Source and, if it has layers, designate which one you want to use in the blend . Select the L channel. Now select a blend mode for this source. You will find, SURPRISE, that ALL blend modes are availble to you (no longer are some, like Darken or Lighten, grayed out).
Again, what is new to me is that Apply Image affords a convenient way to blend layers from disparate sources rather than being confined to having them in the same image AND one on top of the other. Works well in RGB also, and there you don't have to restrict the channel to access all blend modes. In LAB mode, restricting operations to the Lightness channel in order to access some of the blend modes requires a touchy procedure which, if not followed, leaves these modes still frustratingly grayed out.

ITunes 10.6.1.7 - The Track Number of any song i play in iTunes is being erased! PLEASE HELP!

Hi!
I'm experiencing a very weird bug in iTunes 10.6.7 (64-bit) - on Windows 7. What happens?
With some of the songs, when I use my Left Mouse Button to double-click the song (to play it!) in the music library (in iTunes of course), the song loses the meta-data of the total number of tracks.
The setup of my iTunes is as follows:
Each of my songs are part of different albums, so that means that every song has meta-data of the total number of tracks of the album its part of.
Every song in my music library has been converted by iTunes (so they all have the same specs).Here are those specs:
(Forgive me if I use different words for the technical terms, I'm working with an iTunes in my own native language so I don't know all the english equivalent words.)
Type: MPEG-audiofile
Bitspeed: 320 kbps
Samplefrequence: 44,100 kHz
Categorization: MPEG-1, Layer 3
Channels: Joint Stereo
ID3-tag: v2.3
The following spec is the only thing I can think of that is significantly different between the songs that could be the cause of the bug.
Here is the information on this specific spec of one of the songs which has this problem:
Coded with: iTunes 10.6.0.40
My question is: is there anyone who experiences the same problem with this version of iTunes? Were you able to fix it? Or any advice?
Thank you for your time!

Issue solved - It turns out that the QuickTime version on my PC was 6.5 and I needed to update to version 7.6 or higher to allow videos to play in iTunes. I updated to QuickTime version 7.7 and then added the old podcast folder to iTunes while in podcasts. This found all video podcast content and then the auto reorg moved all folders to the new podcast directory. For the videos I manually moved earlier, I had to move (not copy) them back to the old directory or folder then add that old folder and they were now in the right directory and viewable in iTunes.

ITunes could not copy "Song Name" to the iPhone because an unknown error occurred (-50)

Recently when I tried syching one of my playlists into my iPhone 4 (Running on 5.1) using iTunes 11.2.0.26 for Windows (Windows XP SP3), I have been having a problem with some songs I acquired recently. It will sync all the other songs, but when it reaches the song in question, the following error message pops up:
"iTunes could not copy "Name of Song" to the iPhone because an unknown error occurred (-50)"
After which, it stops synching songs altogether.
I tried TWO different USB connectors (BOTH from Apple), and the error still occurs. When I remove the song in question, ALL songs sync normally.
I used the 'Get Info' option to see if there was something in the way the song was coded. This info is from one of the songs that gets synched normally:
Kind:                  MPEG Audio file
Size:                  11 MB
Bit Rate:            256 kbps
Sample Rate:     44.100 kHz
Date Modified:    12/20/2009 4:33 PM
Plays:               1
Last Played:      1/22/2010 8:40 PM
Format:             MPEG-1, Layer 3
Channels:          Stereo
ID3 Tag:            v2.3
Encoded with:   LAME
THIS is the info on the problematic song:
Kind:                  MPEG Audio file
Size:                  8.2 MB
Bit Rate:            256 kbps
Sample Rate:     44.100 kHz
Date Modified:    5/1/2013 6:12 PM
Plays:               1
Last Played:      5/3/2013 8:40 PM
Format:             MPEG-1, Layer 3
Channels:          Joint Stereo
ID3 Tag:            v2.3
Encoded with:   LAME3.96
By the way, BOTH song (The ones synching normally, and this unsynching song), where purchased and downloaded from Amazon.com.
ANY information that will help me solved this problem will be VERY appreciated. Likewise, if you need any additional information, please let me know...
Thanks for your time.

Try going through other threads on topic
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q=becausean+unknown+error+occurred+%28-50%29+iphone&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=#sclient=p sy&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&source=hp&q=because+an+unknown+error+occurred+%28- 50%29+iphonesite:apple.com&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=9bef8cda26d1a6ec

Recommendation: Aperture or Photoshop Elements 8?

I've been using iPhoto '08 for the past year and find that it does 90% of what I need. For a few photos though, I want to be able to apply adjustments to certain areas of the photo, not to the whole photo like iPhoto does.
I shoot in RAW and would want to keep iPhoto for keeping my photos organized if possible.
I've downloaded the demo for Aperture and I'm thinking this is what I'm looking for, but is there any reason why I should consider PSE? From the demo it looks like PSE makes it's adjustments against JPEGs (from what I can see) and as a result if I applied a brighten or darken layer with a mask to a photo and set the adjustment too high it resulted in some awful pixelation in the images.
Anyway, given what I'm trying to do, what do you recommend?
Thanks!

Aperture is like iPhoto -- in that it manages your entire photo library and allows you to apply adjustments to the photos. Photoshop Elements doesn't manage photo libraries and is intended not only for 'adjustments' but for wholesale manipulation of a photo (e.g. major effects, adding objects or people to photos who weren't really in them, removing major items from a photo (not just minor things like blemishes, etc.)
iPhoto applies adjustments to the whole photo (and, generally speaking, so does Aperture), whereas in Photoshop you have to select an area in a photo in order to adjust it (and adjustments will only be applied to the selection.)
If you get Photoshop Elements, you can configure iPhoto to use it as an 'external editor'. By default all the quick adjustments you want to make are handled by iPhoto, but you can right click any photo and select "edit in external editor" and it would invoke whatever utility you want... such as Photoshop.

Darkening layer in Channels?

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