Can we invert selection?

[greenmorpher]

Am I blind or something? I can’t see an "invert selection" command.

What I want to do is outline a subject with the smart lasso, then "invert selection" so that everything other than what is within the lasso is selected.

Is there such a command? If so, where can I find it? If not, can we make this a feature request please?

I'm on 17.11. On a slow wireless connection a I can’t upgrade to the latest version at the moment.

Best regards
Geoff

Geoffrey Heard
General Manager
Bushtrack Enterprises Ltd
http://www.bushtrackpng.com

[Twindaddy]

Tool -> Mask -> Invert Mask (alt + shift + i)

[greenmorpher]

Thanks, Twinny. i just found it too.

Hubers, can we make that "invert selection" in the lasso menu too, please? I wasn't making a mask -- although that's obviously how you think of it -- I was making a selection. If you weant to argue that a lasso selection is a mask, then dump thje lasso menu and put all that under "mask" (and create total confusion).

Cheers, geoff

[Twindaddy]

Geoff,

at first sight the usage of the terms mask (not mask layer!), lasso and selection in photoline appears like a quirk but if you take a second look at the PL meanings of these terms as I understand them it is (at least for me) easier and even logical

• The selection is the selected part of a layer (sound's trivial, eh? ), means: the part that can be modified.
• The mask is the part outside the selection, means: the part that is protected from modifications.
• The lasso is the boundary between mask and selection (in the case of a smooth border I assume it's drawn where mask and selection are both 50%).

So inverting a selection and inverting a mask are essentially the same. I for one don't see any sense in duplicating the menu entry ...

Cheers,
Markus

[bkh]

Geoff,

at first sight the usage of the terms mask (not mask layer!), lasso and selection in photoline appears like a quirk but if you take a second look at the PL meanings of these terms as I understand them it is (at least for me) easier and even logical

I think that the terminology is still a bit different (but some of this is just my interpretation).

• The selection is the content of the selected part of a layer, i.e., the part of the layer which you get when you copy and paste or convert the selection to a layer.
• According to the manual, the mask is just the bitmap layer which controls which parts of an image can be edited/copied (but e.g. "Expand Mask" enlarges the area that can be modified, so "mask" sometimes refers to the editable part of the image, against my intuition)
• The lasso is where the (soft edge of the) mask exceeds (reaches?) 50 %

In that sense, inverting the mask is correct terminology, and inverting the selection would mean inverting part of the image (and, would, in fact, be equivalent to Tool -> Color -> Invert).

In practice, in most cases it would be sufficient to use the term "selection" for all three cases, and use "content of selection", "selection mask" and "border of selection" if one needs to be more specific.

Cheers

Burkhard.

[greenmorpher]

I see what you’re saying, but frankly, I have never considered the area outside the lasso (or selection) to be of any interest. It is passive, unchanged, unselected. It is the background layer, the basic substrate, in most cases. How come it is now a mask? Phooey.

I make a selection with the lasso. I am interested in what is selected. looking the whole image, I want to change the selected part of it so what is selected now is not selected and what is not selected now IS selected. So invert selection fits exactly the same as invert mask, except that it so happens that it focuses on what is of immediate interest and front of mind, the selection, rather than what is not selected.

Ah, forget it. This is just words. "invert selection" is a well known term and it works. "invert mask" actually looks at the image in which a selection is made the wrong way about.

Why not use the common term which makes more sense in reality?

Who cares? Stuff it. I am sick of the silly terms applied in PL.

Cheers, geoff

[greenmorpher]

Cutting to the chase.

You use the lasso to make a selection, NOT to make a mask.

That's what you think when you choose the lasso tool.

Does anyone here argue with that?

So you should be able to invert the selection.

All I have to say.

Cheers, geoff

[OldRadioGuy]

Why not use the common term which makes more sense in reality?

Who cares? Stuff it. I am sick of the silly terms applied in PL.

Cheers, geoff

Unfortunately, Geoff, when we use PL, we have to forget how the rest of the image/graphics world describes things. One of the reasons why more English-speaking users are not drawn to PhotoLine -- at least here in the US -- in my humble opinion.

Bob

[greenmorpher]

Why not use the common term which makes more sense in reality?

Who cares? Stuff it. I am sick of the silly terms applied in PL.

Cheers, geoff

Unfortunately, Geoff, when we use PL, we have to forget how the rest of the image/graphics world describes things. One of the reasons why more English-speaking users are not drawn to PhotoLine -- at least here in the US -- in my humble opinion.

Bob

Couldn't agree more, Bob, which is sad because the program has a lot going for it. How's the EM5 going? I'm a bit drawn to the G5 as the upgrade from m E-PL3 -- I like the built-in flash!

Cheers, geoff

[OldRadioGuy]

How's the EM5 going? I'm a bit drawn to the G5 as the upgrade from m E-PL3 -- I like the built-in flash!

Cheers, geoff

Digital Photography Review's camera of the year for 2012! Still learning, but I love it. For post-processing of images, PhotoLine does a great job.

Bob

[greenmorpher]

PL handles the Oly RAW?

Cheers, geoff

[bkh]

PL handles the Oly RAW?

PL relies on dcraw for reading raw files. There's a list of supported cameras (including the E-M5 and many other Olys) at the end of the dcraw page. The author even invites you to submit raw sample files for (yet) unsupported cameras. PL in turn regularly updates to the latest version of dcraw, so it usually doesn't take long until a new camera will be supported.

Cheers

Burkhard.

[greenmorpher]

PL handles the Oly RAW?

PL relies on dcraw for reading raw files. There's a list of supported cameras (including the E-M5 and many other Olys) at the end of the dcraw page. The author even invites you to submit raw sample files for (yet) unsupported cameras. PL in turn regularly updates to the latest version of dcraw, so it usually doesn't take long until a new camera will be supported.

Cheers

Burkhard.

Very enlightening. It makes Apple's slow and OS/App version dependent catch-up on new camera releases all the more transparently self-interested rather than customer-focused.

Cheers, geoff