[G'MIC] Skin Mask: iain_fx_skin_mask

I’m new to masking. I have used it and I just about know how to selectively diffuse a foreground layer with a background one. However I compiled a layer mask with the filter in title. I am not sure how to apply that mask to a layer so that black/white is shown through/hidden. The youtube tutorials expect that the brush does the selection so the intricacies of using a pre-compiled layer mask are hidden from me.

I loaded up gimp and it has decided that the problem I was asking about is no more. I added a transparency layer.

I started writing this a couple of days ago. I still have not used the skin mask but I’ve split an image in two; skin/ other, while in wavelet decompose and then used the grow selection to hide the transparency between the two created by using feathering.

What I want to ask about is how to use colour in the same way you can use merge-grain in wavelet decompose. I want to enhance the colour without disturbing it too much. I’ve tried selection by colour and clear but it completely misses the distinction in the colour I observe.

I’d like to duplicate the colour (and then test some effects) but its hard to see the border as its so faint. Maybe I could try a selection with feathering and maybe a gradient of two if its not possible to use copy to enhance the colour.

Create a new layer and desaturate it.

Then set the desaturated layer to grain extract, and put it above the coloured layer. This should give you only colour information.

Make a new layer with ‘new from visible’.

Now rearrange your layers so that the new colour layer and the desaturated layer are combined with grain merge. You should see your image as normal.

You can now edit the colour only layer independently to the luminance information. Be careful that you don’t introduce any luminance information into the colour layer. If you do then you can repeat the procedure above to extract only the colour information.

Ok I got there, and it makes the colour more apparent. Do I still have to select it manually? Or is there a way to mask the other colours? Is it not possible to select (manually) and then get gimp to enhance only 1 colour?

I notice if I try to use the colour picker on the foreground tool that it does not pick a shade of the colour I see. I would like to at least be able to know what colour code it is so that I am not just picking a colour by guess work.

What is the best way to enhance the perceptability of the colour while not changing the colour itself? I know there are alot of colour tools, I’ve tried colorise, hue, saturation, colour temp. How best to pick out blue and enhance? Should I be trying to enhance the colour of a pixel or raise the threshold of an area like I’ve seen in teeth whitening youtube vids?

After looking on youtube I’m going to try using the path tool and I’ll make a layer mask alpha transparency and put ontop of the enhanced colour so that I don’t have a solid line everywhere just something that matches what is already there.

With regards to the topic title I think this would be a filter to use in combination:
“If G’MIC is installed, there is also access to a bilateral blur filter (similar to Surface Blur in Adobe Photoshop) that is also an edge-preserving blur function.”

I’ve avoided the edges in my own free select. When using this tool I’m not trying to correct imperfections in the subject’s complexion rather the imperfections of using scanners/jpeg compression.

It sounds like you don’t know much about image editing. I think you need to learn the basics of layers, masks, selections etc.

It is difficult to help someone when they need help with everything.

@sgtsixpack I am unsure of what you want to do overall. Make it concise (one sentence) with a visual example.

Want to enhance viens.