Re: [Gimp-user] Can this Darken mode Layer in PS be done somehow on Gimp

[Steve Kinney <admin pilobilus net>]

On 6/18/19 9:23 AM, TheDarboyRealtor wrote:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH80MFVL5jk&feature=youtu.be
>
> Sometimes I like to use video...since it shows you more of what I can only
> attempt to explain.
>
> Just to around 15 minutes or so....he repeated the process some 3 - 5 times to
> show how it works
>
> I am in real estate, we try to overexpose shots for the windows to fully expose
> the outside view.  Trying the bring that through the Ambients and Bright Shots
> can be very time consuming....until I saw guys doing this on Photoshop.

A few years ago I reworked a bunch of real estate photos.  You can see a
couple of examples here, including a very relevant interior shot where I
paid a little extra attention to preserving the view through the windows
while correcting the interior light:

http://pilobilus.net/photo_rework.html

In the GIMP, a layer mask amounts to a black and white (grayscale that
is) layer attached to an image layer.  Paint part of the mask black, and
the corresponding part of the layer it's attached to becomes
transparent; shades of gray produce partial transparency.  The
brightness of the windows in the "after' version of the phot remain the
same because I added a mask to the layer and painted those parts black,
after making the interior a lot brighter.

Before adjusting the light in the image, I changed its geometry rather a
lot:  First I used the Perspecitve tool (main tool box) to stretch the
image, getting the walls and ceiling 'squared up' with the viewport.
Then I used the Lens Distortion filter (Filters > Distort > Lens
Disortion) to correct a little 'barrel distortion'.  Then I copied the
modified base image as two new layers.  I used the Levels and Curves
tools to correct the interior lighting on the top layer, added a layer
mask to that layer, and painted the mask black as needed to bring the
windows back to their pre-filter appearance in the layer under the top
one.

I used the tools mentioned above a /lot/ while working on real estate
photos.  I'm sure you will get lots of mileage out of them as well.

:o)








> But I have tried at least to my ability to duplicate and every effort on my
> part, causes the masking to bring the dark window layer through but covers up
> the white window frames...unlike what this video shows. ...
>
> So perhaps the values work differently or the order... or perhaps this is just
> not possible on Gimp at this time.
>
> I am truly hoping it can be duplicated here and I just don't know what I am
> doing wrong :-)
>
> Thanks in advance for your expertise and a great product!