Remove Black

[Xhin]

Adjustments > Remove Black

 

This is a simple little plugin that turns black pixels into transparent pixels, then turns other pixels into alpha versions of themselves depending on their darkness so the effect is smoother.

 

I apologize if this exists elsewhere -- the code is really really simple so I bet someone else has run across it. I doubt they have my threshold slider though.

 

• Threshold -- changes the amount of pixels that get alpha adjustments applied to them. Lower settings will have more of the image turning into alpha, higher settings will have smaller amounts.

 

Let's take a look at the plugin:

 

 

I've chosen this as my base image -- there is color here, but also a lot of darker pixels.

 

 

On the layer underneath it, I have a circular rainbow texture I made with my Radial Prism plugin.

 

 

Here's what your default settings look like. This essentially replaces the black pixels with the rainbow pixels in the layer underneath it in  a smooth way.

 

 

This has threshold set to 1 -- this tends to be the most intuitive use of the plugin, but also the least useful in my experience.

 

 

Here's a higher threshold. Now the rainbow has essentially become an outline.

 

Some tips for use

I've been using this plugin for years despite not releasing it until today. Here's a couple things I've noticed:

 

• Putting a radial prism on the layer below an image works pretty fantastic across the board -- this forms the basis of my "pure color" technique where the image becomes nothing but color.
• If you use a Drop shadow when the plugin is set to a low threshold, you get some really good tinting effects. If you use black instead of a color you can smoothly append the underlayer, or if you have the image itself underneath it this is a great way of adding extra shadow without messing up the detail. I have an upcoming recoloring tutorial that uses this technique.

 

Here's are a couple snippets where I've used the plugin to good effect with these techniques:

 

 

Download Link

https://github.com/Xhin23/Paint.net-Plugins/blob/master/Remove_Black.dll

Edited September 30, 2019 by Xhin

[IHaveNoName]

Those spirals really mess with your brain - those susceptible to motion sickness should not stare too long, particularly at the first image. 

 

Nice effect although I'd want to do something to clean up the black pixels around the edges of the spirals.

[Xhin]

You think those are bad, check out this album of my art:

 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/artluvultra/photos/?tab=album&album_id=740640276030710

 

I'm not sure where the black pixels are coming from -- that only seems to happen when I'm working on 600px wide canvases. If I go 800 or higher (I normally work on 3200px canvases), they don't appear.

[IHaveNoName]

On 10/1/2019 at 1:13 AM, Xhin said:

You think those are bad, check out this album of my art:

 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/artluvultra/photos/?tab=album&album_id=740640276030710

 

Nice but also visually disturbing to people susceptible to those sorts of repetitive patterns. I'm not but I've known people who can feel dizzy, get nauseous or even bring on migraines looking at patterns like those.

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by IHaveNoName

[Seerose]

 @Xhin!

 

Thank you so much .  

Edited October 1, 2019 by Seerose

[lynxster4]

Thank you @Xhin!  

 

I can see some very interesting backgrounds emerging from this plugin. Duplicate the layer and change the blending mode is all you need do and you get lots of different effects.

 

 

 

Keep up the great work...I appreciate it!  

 

[Seerose]

 @Xhin!

 

Thank you for sharing this with us!