Advanced graph tools
Use these tools when you need to process channels, masks, or depth directly. They are graph-only: there is no matching Develop section or Finish layer.
Add and connect a tool
- Open Graph and press Shift+Space to open Find a Node.
- Type the tool's name and choose it. The Inspector shows its actual starting values.
- Connect the required image or field inputs. You can drag a wire from either end; compatible ports light up.
- Select the card to change its controls. Use Probe to inspect its output, then close the probe badge to return to the finished photograph.
- Use Edit > Undo (Cmd+Z, Ctrl+Z on Windows) to undo an addition, connection, or control change. The card's switch bypasses it while retaining settings; Reset restores its defaults.
The eleven additions are listed below. Picture and mask variants share a family but are separate choices in the palette; Chroma Key and its Despill companion are separate nodes too.
| Tool | Menu path | Use it for | Important limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morphology | Masking > Mask Tools > Morphology | Shrink, grow, open, or close any mask | The window stops at the frame. |
| Guided Filter | Detail > Blur & Smooth > Guided Filter | Smooth a picture while keeping a guide's edges | An unwired guide uses the picture itself. |
| Guided Filter (Mask) | Masking > Mask Tools > Guided Filter (Mask) | Refine a mask against a picture | Wire the mask to the diamond and the guide to the image input. |
| Edge Field | Masking > Mask Tools > Edge Field | Extract edge strength as a mask | Scale is capped at 64 photograph pixels. |
| Alpha Association | Utility > Channels > Alpha Association | Extract, replace, premultiply, or unpremultiply alpha | Replace changes alpha; it does not multiply RGB. |
| Technical Soft Clip | Color > Tone > Technical Soft Clip | Roll values toward a chosen ceiling | Choose Brightest channel (hue kept) or Each channel deliberately. |
| Median / Percentile | Detail > Blur & Smooth > Median / Percentile | Remove local specks without ordinary blur | Radius is capped at 200 photograph pixels; ranking is quantized. |
| Median / Percentile (Mask) | Masking > Mask Tools > Median / Percentile (Mask) | Remove pinholes or vary a mask's local coverage | Values are mask coverage, not image color. |
| Signed Distance Field | Masking > Mask Tools > Signed Distance Field | Make measured falloffs inside and outside a mask | The ramp stops at Max distance; distances are measured between pixel centers. |
| Chroma Key | Masking > Range Masks > Chroma Key | Make a screen matte | Despill is a separate node, Color > Color > Chroma Key (Despill). |
| Chroma Key (Despill) | Color > Color > Chroma Key (Despill) | Remove screen color from subject edges | It changes color, not transparency. |
| Normals from Depth | Detail > Depth > Normals from Depth | Turn depth into an editable normal map | The result is approximate relief, not calibrated 3D geometry. |
| Color Transform | Utility > Color Space > Color Transform | Convert between declared color spaces | Default From is Linear Rec. 709; restore working space before ordinary edits. |
| Displacement Map | Source > Geometry > Displacement Map | Move image pixels using X and Y fields | Earlier masks, strokes, and depth are not displaced with the picture. |
For the numerical conventions and defaults, use the node reference. For complete editable combinations, use Node recipes.
Keep spatial inputs together
A crop, lens correction, or warp changes the frame that masks read. Connect a tool's guide and target from the same stage when their pixels must correspond. Displacement Map changes only its picture input: a mask or depth plane made before it does not follow that displacement. Build a new range or key mask from the displaced output, or explicitly displace related image data in a matching branch.
Read data without changing its meaning
A mask wire can also carry depth or another single-channel measurement. A normal map is an image whose colors encode directions. Do not apply a color look to a data map unless you intend to change the measurement. Depth Map gives farness, 0 near and 1 far; the Develop depth view displays near white and far black, while an exported depth layer writes near black and far white.