Using The ColorMask Script To Create A Mask Based On Color

The ColorMask script creates a mask using the color information in your image. Using the color information in your image can be useful late in your processing workflow when you want to, for  example, increase the saturation of a particular color without affecting the other colors in your image.

Using The ColorMask Script

You’ll find the ColorMask script in the menu under Scripts – Utilities – ColorMask.

Start by selecting the image you wish to mask.

Next, select a color you wish to mask. When you click a color, the script fills in the Start Hue and End Hue fields for you. The values are based on a color wheel that looks similar to the following:

You can adjust the start and end hue settings as necessary.

Use the Chrominance mask setting to select color saturated areas of your image and leave the Mask Strength and Mask blur settings at their defaults.

Once you click Ok, the script isolates your selected colors and creates a mask. Once you have the mask, you can apply it to your image and can use other adjustments as necessary.

Conclusion

In this article, you learned about the ColorMask script, the color wheel, and how to use the script.

More Articles In This Series

This article is part of a whole series of articles about processing images using PixInsight:

• If you are using the LRGB/broadband processing workflow, click here for the index article for processing broadband images.
• If you are using the narrowband processing workflow, click here for the index article for narrowband images.