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DiiDii
Participating Frequently
April 27, 2018
Answered

Frequency separation doesn't work/ apply image & subtruct

  • April 27, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 8495 views

Hi,

I have worked on frequency separation in photoshop many times and it always worked as it should but for some reason I can't get it work anymore.

So I made "gaussian blur" and "texture" layers. The problem starts with Apply image - I do everything as it should be done (choose "gaussian blur" layer, bending "Subtract", Scale 2, offset 128) but the image turns into a black color instead of turning into gray and of course accordingly setting a blending mode to "Linear light" doesn't give the needed effect at the end as well.

Can anyone explain to me why is this happening and what is it that I have started to do in a wrong way?

I am attaching 2 pictures - the black one is what I get, and the grey one is what I was supposed to get.

I have Adobe creative for photographers and I am using Photoshop CC.


This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Jeff Arola

Since your using a 16 bits/channel image in Apply Image you want to set the Blending to Add instead of Subtract, Scale 2 and Offset 0 and Invert.

The settings your using in Apply Image are for an 8 bits/channel image.

4 replies

Vivacious_Whisper15A8
Vivacious_Whisper15A8
Participant
November 16, 2019

mine didnt work on both methods..
how can i fix this?

T
taylorb14514487
Participant
March 23, 2019

Can someone help me too?! I literally will do everything that needs to be done prior to "Apply Image" and that link won't even highlight. So, I have duplicated the layers,  made the blur and texture tabs, blurred it, then highlight the texture tab to "apply image" and the "apply Image" tab is what's the problem. I can't even press it to make it do the Frequency Separation layer.

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 23, 2019

Hi taylorb14514487​ my help is limited to the action provided earlier in the topic thread andy any feedback or questions around it’s use or results:

Re: Frequency separation doesn't work/ apply image & subtruct

Hope this helps. This topic has come up too many times which I why I shared my personal actions to do this. Each time the topic has come up, there has been no evidence of this being a Photoshop error and it has always been user error.

Good luck!

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 28, 2018

Try my action here:

Dropbox - Frequency Splitter v2B.atn.zip

D
DiiDiiAuthor
Participating Frequently
April 28, 2018

Hi Stephen! Thank you for sharing the file. But I am not sure what exactly should I do with it. If you could describe that it would be helpful.

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 29, 2018
Hi Stephen! Thank you for sharing the file. But I am not sure what exactly should I do with it. If you could describe that it would be helpful.

Hi DiiDii – The file is a .zip archive file, containing a Photoshop action to create a “frequency separation”. Photoshop actions are a series of pre-recorded steps that can help automate tasks. This particular action has both 8 bpc and 16 bpc versions:

You can load it into Photoshop by double clicking the .atn file, or by using the Window menu > Actions, then using the actions panel menu to load the action.

More on actions here:

Actions and the Actions panel in Photoshop

Play and manage Photoshop actions

Play an action |

Create actions in Adobe Photoshop 

Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Jeff ArolaCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
April 27, 2018

Since your using a 16 bits/channel image in Apply Image you want to set the Blending to Add instead of Subtract, Scale 2 and Offset 0 and Invert.

The settings your using in Apply Image are for an 8 bits/channel image.

    D
    DiiDiiAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    April 28, 2018

    Oh, thank you so much! I tried both things now - 8bits option and 16bits option and both of them work in a way you described. I recall now that I heard someone telling me a long time ago that it works only with 8bit photos. But the reason why I forgot about it is because for a long time it did work also with 16 bits file - that's how I did it so far with most of the pictures. And then suddenly it changed. And that seems strange actually...

    I appreciate your help.

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