Luminosity Masking Plugin - Opinions Please

Thinking of trying out a luminosity mask plugin.

Appreciate opinions from anyone that has tried any of these three plugins.

AD Panel Pro
Raya Pro
Lumenzia

No experience, but I've been checking into Luminzia, looks pretty dang nice.

I've never understood the appeal of luminosity masks. In my more than 15 years of Photoshop editing, I've never found them useful. To each his own, I guess ...

I really like Tony Kuyper's plugin. It does a lot more than just LM's (eg, the web sharpening action is great) and as far as I am aware is the only (?) plugin that does LM's in 16-bit.

Peano wrote in post #18329765
I've never understood the appeal of luminosity masks. In my more than 15 years of Photoshop editing, I've never found them useful. To each his own, I guess ...

Absolutely agree.

lacogada wrote in post #18329758
Thinking of trying out a luminosity mask plugin.

Please just show us what you wish to achieve, and we'll show you how to do it in Photoshop already.

Every cent you can save by not buying nonsense plugins is another cent you can put towards stuff that really matters - new lens, new lighting, whatever.

Damo77 wrote in post #18329849
Every cent you can save by not buying nonsense plugins is another cent you can put towards stuff that really matters - new lens, new lighting, whatever.

When you actually work as a photographer, time is money.

Some software allows greater effencies, so regardless of whether there are other ways to achieve the goal if something lets me get it done faster, I'm going to check it out.

Anyway, the thread topic is not asking about ways to do things without a plug in ... it is asking which plug in.

Most plug ins are a waste of money.

Luminosity masking is a useful tool and Tony Kuyper's tools are well implemented and useful. What he is offering is really an efficient suite of tools. As mentioned above, they work in 16bit. There are two tool panels and it is worth buying them together. They allow quick push-button actions (many of which are useful outside of the luminosity masking context as well--dealing with efficiently viewing selections, adding much-used adj layers, efficiently replacing masks, etc). They also allow you to make luminosity variations which are based on individual channels, etc.

Luminosity Masking is a fairly sophisticated tool set and allows you to make adjustments which look natural because you are using the image itself to make the adjustments. Hand painting a mask tends to be more time consuming and, often, looks more ham-fisted.

When I first got the tools, I used them to speed some of my work, but the initial benefit was how quickly they helped me gain practical insight into channels. This is helpful for building stronger images. I use these manipulations regularly in actions I have made.

If I am trying to subtly improve local contrast, create sophisticated color grading or adjust tonality in monochrome or color images, I often find luminosity masks helpful.

I have no affiliation with Tony Kuyper except as a customer.

He has a number of articles and videos which are useful. He also works with an instructor who has produced videos and the available free samples provide some useful insights.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Raya Pro. Like TK's, does luminosity masks, auto blending, but a whole lot more.

Here's comparisons between Raya Pro and the TK panels.

Edit: note that the new RP v2.0 was released 2/23/2017 and contains many new tools. Any comparisons or reviews before that date would not be complete and up to date. And no, I am not affiliated with RP in any way. A video of v2.

That's why I'm here asking as I've questioned myself as to "how useful would they actually be"
with all the features PS already has.

From the videos, it seems they may speed up the selection process.
But then they take up more screen space.

Thanks for the info on the TK panel ... I'll have a look.

Appreciate all the reply's people ... Thanks.

Picture North Carolina wrote in post #18330005
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Raya Pro. Like TK's, does luminosity masks, auto blending, but a whole lot more.

Here's comparisons between Raya Pro and the TK panels.

Edit: note that the new RP v2.0 was released 2/23/2017 and contains many new tools. Any comparisons or reviews before that date would not be complete and up to date. And no, I am not affiliated with RP in any way. A video of v2.

I will look into this product.

When I got TKActions, there were no real competitors, just a few much simpler tools which did a minimal job of implementing Tony's directions. He was writing articles about how to do it before he started creating actions and later plugins. And you can still read those today. It's just less efficient to do it by hand and, at this point, his tools provide more sophisticated options.

I'm interested to see what Raya Pro offers. The new version of TK panels came out after the latest Raya. Tony sent an update email to users of the older version on March 14, 2017 for a major revision, Version five.

I found a comprehensive comparison, which may serve as a good starting point.

The author has compiled a spreadsheet, which he keeps updating, about the various products and his written description also has notes added as he learns more and programs get updated.

He also has a long video review demonstrating differences, which I have not yet finished. Do read the page, since he has learned more since he made the video.

https://www.exploringe​xposure.com …inosity-mask-panel-review

F2Bthere wrote in post #18330168
I found a comprehensive comparison, which may serve as a good starting point.

The author has compiled a spreadsheet, which he keeps updating, about the various products and his written description also has notes added as he learns more and programs get updated.

He also has a long video review demonstrating differences, which I have not yet finished. Do read the page, since he has learned more since he made the video.

https://www.exploringe​xposure.com …inosity-mask-panel-review

Nice find ... thank you !

Agree... interesting find.

I learned long ago not to trust a single person's review and recommendations, but nonetheless worth investigating. If things check out, Raya Pro will be replaced by TK.