Luminosity masking is one of the most-requested tutorials that I receive. In this article and video, I’ll be showing you how to create luminosity masking in Photoshop using channels.
What is luminosity masking?
Luminosity masks are a way to separate the tones in the image (such as the highlights and shadows) and adjust them independently of each other. For example, if you have a photo where the sky is too bright and you’d like to make it darker without also darkening the rest of the image, you can create a luminosity mask to only adjust the bright areas in the photo.
But working with channels is too advanced for beginners … right?
Not at all! Once you start learning the basics about Photoshop, all of it starts to come together. Channels are simply selections of parts of the image, separated out by colors, and they can be altered and changed easily.
Bring out the detail and beauty in your landscape photos
There are several ways to create a luminosity mask, and using channels is one of the most popular. If you would like to learn other ways (as well as get some hands-on practice), please take a look at my new Photoshop course, Layers & Masks.
Learn how to create luminosity masks in Photoshop:
Watch the tutorial below or view the video on YouTube.
Luminosity masking is one of the most-requested tutorials that I receive. In this article and video, I’ll be showing you how to create luminosity masking in Photoshop using channels.
What is luminosity masking?
Luminosity masks are a way to separate the tones in the image (such as the highlights and shadows) and adjust them independently of each other. For example, if you have a photo where the sky is too bright and you’d like to make it darker without also darkening the rest of the image, you can create a luminosity mask to only adjust the bright areas in the photo.
But working with channels is too advanced for beginners … right?
Not at all! Once you start learning the basics about Photoshop, all of it starts to come together. Channels are simply selections of parts of the image, separated out by colors, and they can be altered and changed easily.
Bring out the detail and beauty in your landscape photos
There are several ways to create a luminosity mask, and using channels is one of the most popular. If you would like to learn other ways (as well as get some hands-on practice), please take a look at my new Photoshop course, Layers & Masks.
Learn how to create luminosity masks in Photoshop:
Watch the tutorial below or view the video on YouTube.
Nicole is a photographer, published author, and educator specializing in Lightroom, Photoshop, and photography. She is best known for her books on food photography but is widely versed in various photographic genres, including landscape, nature, stock, travel, and experimental imagery.