New ColorMask Script: Photo editor-like convenience

PixInsight is a very versatile tool when it comes to editing Astro-images. But for some tasks it can just be easier to grab a regular photo editor to do the job. One of these tasks is to selectively manipulate certain color ranges within an image. A new ColorMask script for PixInsight has made this process now a whole lot more convenient and may save quite a few excursions to another photo editor.

In previous versions of this script you had to somehow come up with the right hue values of the desired color-range and run it. The new script works with a colorwheel on which you can easily click the start and end of the hue range. You can also click the desired color(s) in a small preview window of the image. Using the luminance sliders you can select only the brighter or darker areas with that color and with Mask Strength you can select the intensity of the generated mask.

The script is free. To install it into PixInsight, add the following url as a repository: https://www.cosmicphotons.com/pi-scripts/colormask/. You can find the repositories under Resources > Updates > Manage Repositories. Once added, run the ‘check for updates’ option under Resources > Updates. After a restart of PixInsight the script should automatically install itself and be visible as ColorMask_mod under Script > Utilities. For a detailed explanation on how to use the script, the video from Adam Block is highly recommended.