Great panel for any landscape photographer who loves to get the best out of his photos. Clean design and rich functionality – luminosity and saturation masks, frequency separation, orton effect – something I use in every single photo during postprocessing. Sincere recommendation for any landscape photographer!
I rely heavily on luminosity masking but those featured in Lightroom or Luminar offer only basic masking with little refinement. ARCPanel is the best solution for advanced masking, it's easy to use gives great results.
ARCPanel is a solid product with some unique functions that other panels don't have or try to copy. An important part is that the panel is not cluttered with useless buttons like some others are. I've been using it for quite some time for my edits. Support is also good and responsive. Recommend.
Chat about luminosity masks
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ARCMask
Clear the state and remove temporary panel channels.
Clear
Enables Quick Apply mode when preview is disabled and clicking on buttons instantly replaces mask in the currently selected layer
Creates a new group with mask filled white color
Creates a new group with mask filled black color
Generates endless color grading combinations of colors that look good together.
SOURCE
Creates a Luminosity mask and uses it as a source for future mask calculations. Will be used until applied, replaced with another source or cleared.
Luminosity
Creates a Luminosity mask using luminosity of the Red channel and uses it as a source for future mask calculations. Will be used until applied, replaced with another source or cleared.
R
Creates a Luminosity mask using luminosity of the Green channel and uses it as a source for future mask calculations. Will be used until applied, replaced with another source or cleared.
G
Creates a Luminosity mask using luminosity of the Blue channel and uses it as a source for future mask calculations. Will be used until applied, replaced with another source or cleared.
B
Creates a Saturation mask using most saturated pixels of an image and uses it as a source for future mask calculations. Will be used until applied, replaced with another source or cleared.
Saturation
Allows to build a mask using color range sliders. Uses Luminosity by default, but if Saturation is selected will select saturated color ranges. Click to start.
Allows to build a mask using color range sliders. Uses Luminosity by default, but if Saturation is selected will select saturated color ranges. Click to start.
MASKS & ZONES
Allows to select any luminosity range using sliders. Builds mask on True Luminosity, ignoring colors. May not match luminosity exactly. Click to start.
Allows to select any luminosity range using sliders. Builds mask on True Luminosity, ignoring colors. May not match luminosity exactly. Click to start.
Builds Darks mask
Darks
Builds Lights mask
Lights
Builds Darks-1 mask
Darks 1
Builds Mids-1 mask
Mids 1
Builds Lights-1 mask
Lights 1
Builds Darks-2 mask
Darks 2
Builds Mids-2 mask
Mids 2
Builds Lights-2 mask
Lights 2
Builds Darks-3 mask
Darks 3
Builds Mids-3 mask
Mids 3
Builds Lights-3 mask
Lights 3
Builds Darks-4 mask
D 4
Builds Mids-4 mask
Mids 4
Builds Lights-4 mask
L 4
Builds Darks-5 mask
D
Builds Mids-5 mask
Mids 5
Builds Lights-5 mask
L
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
REFINE & APPLY
Let's you build a new mask and add it to the current mask. Use = to calculate result.
Let's you build a new mask and subtract it from the current mask. Use = to calculate result.
Let's you build a new mask and multiply it to the current mask. Use = to calculate result.
Builds result of calculation.
Refine with
Allows to refine the mask using Levels adjustment
Levels
Allows to refine the mask using Curves adjustment
Curves
Allows to refine the mask by inverting it
Apply to
Creates new Levels adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Creates new Curves adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Creates a new selection using built mask
Applies built mask to the currently selected layer
To Layer
Paint current mask onto layer mask. Sets foreground color to white, selects brush. If layer has no mask, sets black mask, otherise paints on existing mask. Hides marching ants.
Creates new Curves adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Curves
Creates new Levels adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Levels
Creates new Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Brightness/Contrast
Creates new Hue/Saturation adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Hue/Saturation
Creates new Exposure adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Exposure
Creates new Solid color adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Solid color
Creates new Black & White adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Black & White
Creates new Photo filter adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Photo filter
Creates new Vibrance adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Vibrance
Creates new Color balance adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Color balance
Creates new Selective color adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Selective color
Creates new Channel mixer adjustment layer as sets built mask on it
Channel mixer
ARCRetouch
TOOLS
Creates a special curve that makes it much easier to spot dust, scratches or issues with clone stamp on the image.
Solar Curve
FREQUENCY SEPARATION
Build
ORTON EFFECT
Generates Orton Effect in a Heavy configuration that darkens image a little.
Orton Heavy
Generates Orton Effect in a Soft dreamy configuration that lightens image a little.
Orton Soft
DODGE & BURN
Generates Dodge & Burn using grey layers.
Grey Layers
Generates Dodge & Burn using curves.
Via Curves
Generates automatic Dodging & Burning allowing select ranges via Blend If
Automatic
ARCSharpen
Fit in width & height in px
Width in px to fit image into
Height in px to fit image into
Adjusts jpg image quality until it fits the limit. Will use maximum quality if empty.
Select folder to export
Something to put in front of the name for every saved file.
Name to use for every saved file. Will use original filename if left empty.
Something to put in the end of the name for every saved file.
Sharpen for web
Sharpen for web
Feature highlights
Free luminosity masks
Luminosity masks are integral to any post-processing flow, especially if you are shooting scense with complex lighting or want high quality for printing.
You get fast, reliable and easy to use luminosity masks for free.
Pick between Luminosity, Color or Saturation as a source, select your mask and apply it to any adjustment layer.
Precision color and luminosity
Classical luminosity masks give lots of advantages when processing images, but even they have limitations.
User of ARCPanel Pro can benefit from precise color and luminosity masks.
Use the slider to select exactly the mask you need, be it any color or luminosity range.
Infinite Color
Color grading is challenging and it's not always clear which colors to pick for the image.
Infinite Color smartly selects random colors that complement each other and work together nicely, allowing to set different moods for your picture.
Using luminosity masks in the background, colors can be easily adjusted.
It's very easy to use and very fast. But you don't have to take my word for it, because ARCPanel 3.0 is free. Just download and try, see if it fits your style. You can also turn ARCPanel into a suite of professional tools for retouching by purchasing ARCPanel Pro.
Do I need to pay for updates?
No, you buy ARCPanel Pro once and get all future updates for free. Forever.
Which Adobe Photoshop versions are supported?
ARCPanel 3.0 runs on Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 2021 (minimal version 22.0.0) and newer. Note that you need to have Creative Cloud installed on your PC to install the panel. For old versions down to 2015.5 you can use ARCPanel 2.2.
Who is behind ARCPanel?
Hello! My name is Anton Averin and I am the author of ARCPanel.
With more then 10 years under my belt developing software and shooting landscapes, with ARCPanel I tried to combine both my passions to do something good for all photographers out there.
Hope you like it, and I will always be happy to read your questions, requests or reviews. Feel free to reach out to me in social networks and at anton.averin.photo@gmail.com.