Various Newby Issues

[GlenNoe]

Windows 11: PhotoLine v.25.01
I'm in my first few days with PL and have encountered 3 minor issues I would like help with;-
1. The Brighter (H) and Darker (J) brushes work as I would expect on jpg. images but not on the RAW (RAF) images produced by my Fuji camera. Irrespective of the brush I use or the Shadows/Midtones/Lights setting, the brush darkens the image, whether it be clouds or shadow. The Intensity setting does however vary the degree of darkening applied.
2. I have noticed that PL seems always to to default to 'grey' even when I open RGB images. I can of course correct this by converting the Layer Type from grey to RGB but presumably this ought not to be necessary?
3. When I straighten and crop an image, a crisp black mask frames the result. However as soon as I press 'accept' the mask disappears leaving a crooked 'ghost' image in its place which I find quite distracting. Is there a simple way to retain the black mask?
Any suggestions / recommendations gratefully received!

[Hoogo]

Hard questions...
I grabbed the first Raw from Rawsamples.ch

1)
Raw is special. Your layer list should look like this:

Layer list.png

I selected the raw loayer here. It's a special layer of type "placeholder", and it holds the "unchanged" raw data. See how dark the little preview is! All those adjustment layers are needed to turn it into a descent looking picture.
=> You cannot paint on that layer, nearly all tools are disabled when that layer is selected.
=> You can adjust anything on the fly, it's all created from the perfect original data. You can even change the interpolation in the layer attributes.

Interpolation.png

=> Easiest way to get a simple picture like Jpg: Right click into the layer list, "Flatten image". The Raw is now "Processed"

And your question: I guess you have selected the topmost layer.
=> That's an "Adjustment layer", a simple white (gray) layer with a bunch of adjustments right to it.
=> That white is the "Mask". Where you see white, the adjustment are applied 100%, paint something in black, and the adjustments work 0%.
=> So if you paint on it with something else than white, then the background shines through, and that background is darker
=> Try double-click on the stack of adjustments in the layer list. Somewhere on the screen there's a dialog about "adjustments". If you find it and enlarge it, you can change a lot of things for the raw development

Adjustments.jpg

[Hoogo]

2)
I assume that you have selected the topmost layer of that raw. It's grey, because that is cheaper than RGB and works just as good.
3)
No idea...
I usually use the lasso tool to crop and straighten, but that mask is green by default, and there is no "accept" button there.
What tool to you use for it?

[GlenNoe]

Thank-you for your thoughtful responses!
1. I wouldn't expect the Brighter/Darker brushes to act directly on the RAW image - I think I assumed that when they are invoked they would bring up their own Adjustment Layer. There is in fact an Adjustment Layer called Light/Shadow but it transforms the entire image. However I guess it could be used with a mask to produce the local 'burn & dodge' facility I was trying to access and which works so well in 'developed' images.
2. My concern about PL defaulting to grey when I open RGB images seems to be a non-issue so I'll stop bothering about it.
3. The Crop & Rotate tool with its accompanying Tool Settings panel is pretty comprehensive and works extremely well so I'm just slightly surprised that it doesn't 'finish the job' with a crisp mask in a neutral black/grey. The Lasso tool with its green mask is even more distracting to my eye!

All in all, these are minor issues and I am more than delighted with what PhotoLine delivers, and with its impeccable behaviour in Wine when I switch across to my Linux back-up machine. It's all pure magic to an 82 year old who cut his teeth in the analogues 1960s when our "Layers" were physical sheets of Kodak acetate soaked in CMY dye-baths!

[shijan]

Hello GlenNoe. Here is small collection of Tutorials to start https://www.pl32.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?t=6301
Also some recent useful tips in latest threads of Tipps&Tricks area https://www.pl32.com/forum3/viewforum.php?f=7
Also here is a thread about alternative workflow for RAW in PhotoLine https://www.pl32.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?t=6497
You can also improve UI look by using my PhotoLine UI Icons Customization Project https://www.deviantart.com/shijan/art/825902404

[JanH]

1. I wouldn't expect the Brighter/Darker brushes to act directly on the RAW image - I think I assumed that when they are invoked they would bring up their own Adjustment Layer.

Note that you can use a lot of those brush-based retouching tools in an adjustment-layer-like mode by creating a new empty layer above the base layer(s) you which to retouch and then making sure that depending on the tool either the "Source" setting is set to either of ("Active & Below") or ("All Layers"), respectively that "Merged Copy" (works equivalently to the "All Layers" source mode setting when checked) is enabled. That way, you can confine all your edits to a new layer with the base image remaining completely unchanged, which makes re-working any edits when required much easier.

[GlenNoe]

Thanks for that.
Yes - I'm steadily working my way through the various tutorials and other materials which are really helpful. As is the ability to create and save several Panel Layouts which I find invaluable. If I get into a snafu I simply refresh the panel and bingo!
I have made a note to try using the brushes with an Adjustment Layer which of course is something I should have thought of!
Best wishes . . .

[bkh]

3. The Crop & Rotate tool with its accompanying Tool Settings panel is pretty comprehensive and works extremely well so I'm just slightly surprised that it doesn't 'finish the job' with a crisp mask in a neutral black/grey. The Lasso tool with its green mask is even more distracting to my eye!

The reason is that the entire image is still there (so you can just crop differently later).

When this is distracting, you can use View → Hide border content to hide content outside the visible area.

[shijan]

Also note that there is a Document Mode and Picture Mode (toggle in Document Attributes panel). In Document Mode Crop tool keeps original image, but in Picture Mode it crops borders for real (useful when you need to crop some really useless borders to reduce file size).

[Herbert123]

Windows 11: PhotoLine v.25.01
I'm in my first few days with PL and have encountered 3 minor issues I would like help with;-
1. The Brighter (H) and Darker (J) brushes work as I would expect on jpg. images but not on the RAW (RAF) images produced by my Fuji camera. Irrespective of the brush I use or the Shadows/Midtones/Lights setting, the brush darkens the image, whether it be clouds or shadow. The Intensity setting does however vary the degree of darkening applied.

Have you tried this method?

[1] Drag the raw image into PhotoLine. This will create a placeholder layer and add the required adjustment layers.
[2] Create a new blank 16 bit RGB layer at the top of the layer stack
[3] Set the Burn and Dodge -- or Brighter and Darker-- tools to source: All Layers

Now dodging and burning will work on its own layer. Non-destructive, since it doesn't affect the original RAW data. Also possible to work in multiple layers to separate each pass (for darker, lighter, midtones, etc.) in its own layer. And these dodge and burn layers may have their own adjustment layers and set to a different blend mode, or affect only part of the image via layer blending.