{"id":13758,"date":"2015-06-02T16:12:24","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T20:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/?p=13758"},"modified":"2017-12-11T13:36:41","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T18:36:41","slug":"ez-mask-how-to-make-digital-compositing-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/ez-mask-how-to-make-digital-compositing-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"EZ Mask \u2013 How to make digital compositing fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you wish the background in your picture was different, you\u2019ve got two choices. A) Go back and reshoot it or B) Use EZ Mask from Digital Film Tools<\/a>.\u00a0 If you want an exotic background, like maybe Fiji, you\u2019ll find EZ Mask to be much cheaper & faster, albeit maybe not as much fun.<\/p>\n

EZ Mask v3.0\"ezmask_192\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

EZ Mask is one of those software packages that I love.\u00a0 It\u2019s meant to do one thing and it\u2019s easy to learn. It doesn\u2019t offer sixty tools you\u2019ll probably never use, like Photoshop \u2013 rather, you get just enough to get the job done.<\/p>\n

The latest version I tested works as a plugin to Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Lightroom, as long as they are all installed on the same computer. Multiple licenses will be needed for multiple machines.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve used EZ Mask before in DFX 4.0<\/a>, but in that software, you aren\u2019t able to use your own backgrounds.\u00a0 With this package, you can use it to create white backgrounds for your images right in Lightroom, without ever leaving, or you can send it directly into Photoshop, where you can merge it any other layers (backgrounds or foregrounds) you like.<\/p>\n

How simple is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Better to see than talk about it. I needed to cut out this car and place it in front of this covered bridge.<\/p>\n

\"Car<\/a><\/p>\n

In Lightroom, I entered Photo > Edit In > EZ Mask, then selected \u201cEdit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments.\u201d\u00a0 From the EZ Mask interface, it was really then a simple matter of A, B, C.<\/p>\n

Using the top marker tool, (A) just draw green strokes around the element you want to retain, keeping relatively close to the edge, but not right at the edge.\u00a0 In this case I wanted to get the car and its shadow, so I drew over both of them.<\/p>\n

Then select the next marker tool (B) and draw red lines over the background areas you want to remove.\u00a0 Again, you aren\u2019t being real specific here, just close to the edges and covering the various elements you want to remove.<\/p>\n

Finally, select the Process button ( C ) or just hit \u201cEnter\u201d and viola, you now have your object separated from the background.<\/p>\n

\"Tools\"<\/p>\n

I then selected this image and my background bridge photo, and from Lightroom\u2019s menu, I selected Photo > Edit in > Open as Layers in Photoshop.\u00a0 In Photoshop I merely had to adjust the position of the two photos and save my new composite. Simple as that. Here\u2019s my result.<\/p>\n

\"150421--2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As good as that was for less than 90 seconds worth of work, the windows bothered me. Sooooo..it was just a matter of enlarging the workspace and adding some red \u201cbackground\u201d strokes in the window areas:<\/p>\n

\"2015-04-22_1255\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Which produced \u201csee through\u201d windows and a bit more realistic image.<\/p>\n

\"150421-final\"<\/a><\/p>\n

EZ Mask\u2019s real strength is with fine hair detail and semi-transparent things like smoke.<\/p>\n

One caution, I discovered that PNG images can give EZ Mask some problems, so convert them to JPEG\u2019s before using EZ Mask.<\/p>\n

For more information, or to get a free trial copy<\/a>, visit the EZ Mask section of Tiffen\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: \u00a0Tiffen provided me with a copy of EZ Mask to do this review.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you wish the background in your picture was different, you\u2019ve got two choices. A) Go back and reshoot it or B) Use EZ Mask from Digital Film Tools.\u00a0 If you want an exotic background, like maybe Fiji, you\u2019ll find EZ Mask to be much cheaper & faster, albeit maybe not as much fun. EZ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[1180,3509,780,1230,3513,3511,3510,3512,279,508],"class_list":["post-13758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photography-2","tag-photo-editing","tag-digital-compositing","tag-digital-editing","tag-digital-film-tools","tag-ez-mask","tag-photo-compositing","tag-photo-masking","tag-photoshop-editing","tag-software","tag-tiffen"],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=1501%2C995&ssl=1",1501,995,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=150%2C99&ssl=1",150,99,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=300%2C199&ssl=1",300,199,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=768%2C509&ssl=1",768,509,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=600%2C398&ssl=1",600,398,true],"rpg_gallery_admin_thumb":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"rpg_gallery_thumb":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=1501%2C995&ssl=1",1501,995,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=1501%2C995&ssl=1",1501,995,true],"gb-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1",600,400,true],"gb-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true],"et-pb-post-main-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1",400,250,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1",1080,675,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=400%2C284&ssl=1",400,284,true],"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=510%2C382&ssl=1",510,382,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image-single":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=1080%2C716&ssl=1",1080,716,true],"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=400%2C516&ssl=1",400,516,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=1501%2C995&ssl=1",1501,995,true],"et-pb-image--responsive--desktop":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=1280%2C720&ssl=1",1280,720,true],"et-pb-image--responsive--tablet":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=980%2C551&ssl=1",980,551,true],"et-pb-image--responsive--phone":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=480%2C270&ssl=1",480,270,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"

When you wish the background in your picture was different, you\u2019ve got two choices. A) Go back and reshoot it or B) Use EZ Mask from Digital Film Tools.\u00a0 If you want an exotic background, like maybe Fiji, you\u2019ll find EZ Mask to be much cheaper & faster, albeit maybe not as much fun. EZ Mask v3.0 EZ Mask is one of those software packages that I love.\u00a0 It\u2019s meant to do one thing and it\u2019s easy to learn. It doesn\u2019t offer sixty tools you\u2019ll probably never use, like Photoshop \u2013 rather, you get just enough to get the job…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Photography<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"Doug","url":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/author\/admindoug\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","author_meta":{"display_name":"Doug","author_link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/author\/admindoug\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=300%2C199&ssl=1","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Doug","author_link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/author\/admindoug\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Tools.png?fit=1501%2C995&ssl=1","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Photography<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Photography<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":[". photo editing<\/a>","digital compositing<\/a>","digital editing<\/a>","Digital Film Tools<\/a>","EZ Mask<\/a>","photo compositing<\/a>","photo masking<\/a>","Photoshop editing<\/a>","software<\/a>","Tiffen<\/a>"],"unlinked":[". photo editing<\/span>","digital compositing<\/span>","digital editing<\/span>","Digital Film Tools<\/span>","EZ Mask<\/span>","photo compositing<\/span>","photo masking<\/span>","Photoshop editing<\/span>","software<\/span>","Tiffen<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 11 years ago","modified":"Updated 8 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 2, 2015","modified":"Updated on December 11, 2017"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 2, 2015 4:12 pm","modified":"Updated on December 11, 2017 1:36 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p21Ejy-3zU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1105,"url":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/tiffen-dfx-3-0-for-your-creative-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":13758,"position":0},"title":"Tiffen Dfx 3.0 \u2013 for your creative side","author":"Doug","date":"March 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Newest version of Tiffen Dfx simulates 2,000+ glass filters, lenses, film grains and more Back in the \u201cgood old\u201d days, photographers had to choose which filters they were going to pack on each assignment and chances are the one you needed might not have made the cut. Today with digital\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/category\/latest-news-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"EZ-Mask-grad-and-gobo.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/111022111022Lion-EZ-Mask-grad-and-gobo.jpg?fit=1024%2C680&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/111022111022Lion-EZ-Mask-grad-and-gobo.jpg?fit=1024%2C680&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/111022111022Lion-EZ-Mask-grad-and-gobo.jpg?fit=1024%2C680&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/111022111022Lion-EZ-Mask-grad-and-gobo.jpg?fit=1024%2C680&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2810,"url":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/zmatte-a-full-featured-keyer-for-composites-from-tiffens-digital-film-tools\/","url_meta":{"origin":13758,"position":1},"title":"zMatte \u2013 a full-featured keyer for composites from DFT","author":"Doug","date":"July 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Being able to composite images easily has always been a dream of still, video and film creators. Pulling a background and replacing it with another is still heavily used today by the broadcast industry. You only need to watch the evening weather report to see it in action. The weatherman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/category\/latest-news-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Composite image created with zMatte","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Composite.jpg?fit=1023%2C772&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Composite.jpg?fit=1023%2C772&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Composite.jpg?fit=1023%2C772&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Composite.jpg?fit=1023%2C772&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12776,"url":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/tiffen-dfx-v4-ultimate-creative-digital-effects\/","url_meta":{"origin":13758,"position":2},"title":"Tiffen Dfx v4 for the ultimate creative digital effects","author":"Doug","date":"February 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"For more than 75 years, Tiffen has been the professional photographer and videographer\u2019s \u201cgo-to\u201d source for fine photographic filters.\u00a0 Even today, they continue to innovate their glass filter line with the likes of their variable ND filter and their new XLE long exposure filters. 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Do you want your photos to be those that amaze your friends and flatter your subjects? Does it seem like just too much work to read the manual, but you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/category\/latest-news-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"TheDigitalPhotographyBook-PartFour","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/TheDigitalPhotographyBook-PartFour-300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":106366,"url":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/painting-with-pixels-a-dive-into-digital-art-in-photography\/","url_meta":{"origin":13758,"position":4},"title":"Painting with Pixels: A Dive into Digital Art in Photography","author":"Guest Post","date":"September 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A guest post, discussing the changes taking place in photography - all thanks to new digital hardware and software.","rel":"","context":"In "Photography"","block_context":{"text":"Photography","link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/category\/photography-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Painting-with-Pixels-1024.png?fit=1024%2C680&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Painting-with-Pixels-1024.png?fit=1024%2C680&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Painting-with-Pixels-1024.png?fit=1024%2C680&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Painting-with-Pixels-1024.png?fit=1024%2C680&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11017,"url":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/new-adobe-elements-13-now-available\/","url_meta":{"origin":13758,"position":5},"title":"New Adobe Elements 13 now available","author":"Doug","date":"September 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Like their predecessors, Adobe Photoshop Elements 13 and Premiere Elements 13 maintain the right amount of robust organizational and editing tools that have made them extremely popular. These new versions further build on Adobe\u2019s efforts to make their products relevant to the ever-growing number of photographers whose work is destined\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Past"","block_context":{"text":"Past","link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/category\/past\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Adobe-Elements.jpg?fit=648%2C310&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Adobe-Elements.jpg?fit=648%2C310&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Adobe-Elements.jpg?fit=648%2C310&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}