No, a drawn shape is not a raster mask: you can change the shape wherever it is used, whereas a raster mask is fixed. Otoh, if you define a shape in a module, and then apply feathering/detail/blurring, the raster mask will reflect those settings, where the drawn shape will not.
So, in your case, the first module in pipeline order would use a drawn mask (perhaps from your “template”), the others will use the raster mask defined in that first module.
I must say that I am surprised to see the amount of editing you feel you need just to decide which images are worth working on…
Now I can see what it is, and take a view on image quality. I took 7 shots of this pair (probably male and female) and it would be good to get all 7 to stage 3 with as few clicks as possible
Compare to another photo of the same bird a few seconds earlier:
Sounds like maybe you have the raster mask sorted but if not in your case if the 7 images are similar enough that one mask will work then you can make a style for this that is your basic one. At the start of the style introduce an exposure module that is a no-op ie nothing added to the sliders. Then craft your mask. Now add your other modules based on the raster mask that can be taken from this module, ie select if from the list when you choose raster in say local contrast etc from your list above… Now save your style when you are done…
To use this on a new set of 7 for example …apply it and then go in and redescribe the mask in that exposure module and it will pass that along to the rest of the modules but the mask has been updated to mask what you want in the new image…
Todd, thanks for that - I hadn’t realised the “drawn mask” settings in each module are automatically saved when you create a style, even though the mask itself is not part of the style.
If you apply the style to a new image, then create a new mask, it automatically picks up the “drawn mask” settings, which is exactly what I want.
You can use the raster mask to reuse masks created with the parametric sliders. So birds against the water or sky should be reasonably easy to select using the parametric mask.
And if its not clear…the raster mask is the combined/final mask of a module… So the final mask that you make in a module…say with all the drawn and parametric elements will be what you get when you select raster in another module above it in the pipeline and then select that source module as your raster mask option.
Thanks Todd I did work that out eventually - I guess its a problem for the manual writers to join the dots between dev-speak and user-speak.
I understand how important it is for developers to know that the output of the masking process is converted to raster format. However, for users, its less relevant than knowing the implications for reusing the final mask.
In practice though, folks on this forum are incredibly helpful in sorting out what DT can and cant do.
Don’t get me wrong, I am talking about the difference between a manual scoring 8/10 for comprehensibility and 9/10.
Anyway, I did read the raster masks section 3 or 4 times, to puzzle out how to do what I wanted with masks. My issue ( and I stress its an issue with my understanding, not necessarily everyone else) was taking on board that “raster image” was synonymous with “final mask after feathering and blurring” as explained in rvietor’s email
maybe that paragraph is a candidate to include in the manual??
“As described in the previous sections, the final output of a module’s mask (the combined effect of any drawn and parameteric masks) is a grayscale raster image representing the extent to which the module’s effect should be applied to each pixel. This raster image is stored internally for active modules and can be subsequently reused by other modules in the pixelpipe.”
Firstly, the word raster is not used in the previous sections so its a bit tricky to link back to preceding explanations, and secondly the phrase “the combined effect of any drawn and parameteric masks” does not emphasise the critical feature that any settings like feather or blur are “locked in” to the final raster mask.
I’m happy to chat offline if this level of detail is useful to you.
A mask can be regarded as a grayscale image where each pixel has a value between 0 and 1.0 (or between 0% and 100%). This value is the opacity and is used to determine how much a module affects each pixel.
Granted, the term “raster” isn’t used. However, pixel images are commonly referred to as “raster images” as opposed to “vector images” (which would describe a mask from e.g. a path). And the “final output of a module’s mask” includes all the settings, so also feathering, blur, details, and probably opacity…
Keep in mind that the darktable manual is primarily a reference manual. As such, it will use terms common in image processing without explanation or definition. An exception is made for terms related to colour, as there are too many, sometimes conflicting or overly vague, definitions in use.
For those who may find and read this thread and want more info about the use of loupdeck+ as a midi-controller with dt, be aware that @hannoschwalm has (as indicated in post 137) made available his current set-up and guidance for using it here:
Just reading this post again makes me recommend Ctrl-Shift-C for the copying stage as it brings up a list of options to copy and is better than Ctrl-C which copies some but not all modules.
Upon checking it does. The only advantage with Ctrl-Shift-C would be making these selections would be just once and not for each image. But thanks for pointing out that Ctrl-Shift-V has the same functionality. I learn something new once again.
BTW, did you get a satisfactory solution to your original post?
If you are in darkroom mode with the filmstrip visible, Ctrl-C Ctrl-V etc act on the image the mouse pointer is resting on.
So you can be looking at image A, point the mouse at image-B , and copy image-B settings to Image-C. This is useful when skipping between images involves a delay waiting for DT to reprocess and display.
