How to simulate the 'Masking' slider?

[jsm2]

Is it possible to simulate the 'Masking' slider form CameraRaw in Photoshop?
'Find Edges' is the first obvious choice, but how to get that control in getting rid of that small detail, as 'Masking' does?

[Der_W]

You mean the masking at the sharpening section?

First you have to make a new channel, than load the luminosity of the green channel ([Alt]+[Ctrl]+[4] on CS4, [Alt]+[Ctrl]+[2] on previous versions or just [Ctrl]-Click on the channel thumbnail), after that fill the selection with white, deselect with [Ctrl]+[D], do a levels adjustment ([Ctrl]+[L]) until you see a harsh contrast between the edges and the surface, use "Filter"-"Stylise"-"Find edges" (don't know if the path is correct, my PS is German ;-)), invert the whole thing with [Ctrl]+[I], use the "Filter"-"Other"-"Minimum" to expand the whites and only get the edges you need, choose "Filter"-"Blur"-"Median" to blur some unnecessary detail, use the "Filter"-"Blur"-"Gaussian Blur" to get some smoother transitiones, once again run a levels adjustment ([Ctrl]+[L]) and your edge mask is complete. Oh and I would suggest you to record an action for this :-)

[mikedimples]

Yup, Der W got it perfect.

[mistermonday]

Jonas is correct regarding the edge mask. However, the edge mask you create with his process will give you the equivalent of the setting when you drag the Mask Slider all the way to the extreme right. As you move the slider, Camera RAW is generating a variable edge mask on the fly in real time. It is somewhat processing intensive and would not be practical for you to accomplish in real time. If you want to see the effect in moton, zoom your view in to 100% and hold down the Alt key as you drag the slider to the right. NOTE your view must be at 100% or higher or you will not be able to see the actual mask.
Regards, Murray

[jsm2]

Der W - thank you for your reply. I've been playing with your method for some time now, and it really opened my eyes! Although, I think I'm getting slightly better results after tweaking your method a bit, by simply changing order of filters used, like this:
1. copy green channel
2. Median - to get rid of the noise
3. Find Edges
4. Invert
5. Maximum - I used 'maximum' because it seems to work better for me, as at this stage I have white contour on black background, and I'm enhancing those whites, right?
6. Gaussian Blur to taste

I also tried using Glowing Edges, which could replace steps 3, 4 and 5 with one operation, with less quality, but slightly more control.

Thanks everyone for your input!
Cheers,
Chris