Welcome to the Life after Photoshop photo-editing A-Z. It’s very easy to use – just click a heading to expand a definition of that term. There are links to specific programs and many of the entries link to a tag which will show related articles. I hope you find it useful.
British vs American spellings
This A-Z uses British rather than American spellings, e.g. ‘colour’ rather than ‘color’. Apologies if this is confusing. This link may prove helpful.
M
- MacPhunThe old name for publisher Skylum, producing plug-ins which include SnapHeal, Noiseless, Intensify, Tonality and others, now offered in a single Creative Kit 2016 package. Skylum has now launched a new standalone image-editor called Luminar and an HDR tool called Aurora HDR, in both Mac and Windows versions.
- MacPhun Creative KitA suite of plug-ins sold by software publisher MacPhun (now Skylum) and including Intensify, Tonality, Snapheal, FX Photo Studio, Focus and Noiseless. It’s a Mac-only suite and still on sale, though Skylum appears to have transferred its attention to its new image-editing software Luminar.
- Managed filesImage cataloguing programs store a database of images and their locations on your computer. Most will leave your image files where they are without moving them (‘referenced’ files) while others may offer to store your files within the image database (Aperture) as ‘managed’ files.
- MasksMasks are related to selections, but they're a more permanent way of masking out adjustments made to an image. For example, you might make an initial selection in an image-editor and then convert it into a layer mask which can be saved with the file and re-edited later if necessary.
- Megapixels (MP)The number of pixels captured by the camera’s sensor. Smartphones typically have around 8 megapixels and upwards, while regular digital cameras typically have 16 megapixels or more. Megapixels used to be a good guide to image quality but now sensor size is more important.
- Merge (HDR)HDR (high dynamic range) images are usually created by blending a series of different exposures of the same scene to capture a wider brightness range than the camera could capture with a single exposure. These are then blended together by HDR software using a ‘merge’ process.
- MetadataAny information embedded in a digital photo. It can include time, date and shooting information (EXIF data) embedded by the camera, keyword, caption and copyright (IPTC data) added by image cataloguing programs and, sometimes, image processing data added by non-destructive image-editing programs.
- Microcontrast (DxO)Microcontrast is a relatively new type of detail adjustment somewhere between regular sharpening and clarity – and not unlike 'structure'. All of these techniques make objects, edges and textures stand out more clearly by exaggerating the contrast around them. DxO's Microcontrast adjustment is particularly effective at doing this without creating edge halos or 'glow' effects around object outlines.
- Midnight filter (Color Efex Pro)A filter in Color Efex Pro that takes a regular daytime shot and simulates the look of moonlight using a combination of darkening, colour shifts, desaturation and glow effects.
- MidtonesVery broadly, the middle brightness tones in a photo. Imagine the full range of tones in an image split into four equal parts – the darkest quarter makes up the ‘shadows’, the lightest quarter makes up the ‘highlights’ and in between are the ‘midtones’.
- Miniature effectAlso called 'tilt shift', this effect uses selective blurring to create the optical illusion that you're looking at a tiny model of the world rather than the real thing.
- Mist effectIt’s possible to simulate this digitally using a combination of exposure and glow effects. The Nik Collection Color Efex Pro plug in offers a graduated mist filter that increases the mist effect towards the top of the photo and more distant objects.
- Mobile photographyPhotography based around using a smartphone or tablet to take, edit and share pictures. Many smartphones now have highly sophisticated camera arrays, advanced camera apps which include filters, effects and editing tools to rival those on desktop computers and, of course, the ability to publish images immediately and share them on social media.
- MoiréA fine interference pattern sometimes visible when you photograph fine patterns. It happens when these clash with the rectangular grid of pixels on the camera sensor. Actually, you almost never see it – most cameras have anti-aliasing/low pass filters to prevent, and it doesn’t seem to be an issue for those that don’t.
- Monitor calibrationMonitors rarely display colours with complete accuracy, so some professionals use calibration kits that use a sensor to read the monitor’s colours and then apply a software profile to correct the display.
- MontageTwo or more images combined, usually using layers in a program like Photoshop or Affinity Photo.
- MoonlightOld movies (and quite a few new ones) are full of 'pretend' night shots. The look like they were taken in moonlight, but it's all an illusion created by clever use of exposure, colour and filters.
- Multiple exposureTaking two shots on a single frame. In the days of film this meant locking the film advance when cocking the shutter and taking another picture on a frame of film that’s already been exposed. On a digital camera, the camera stores the first image in its memory and then merges it with the second.