Index: trunk/psphot/src/psphotMaskReadout.c
===================================================================
--- trunk/psphot/src/psphotMaskReadout.c	(revision 13900)
+++ trunk/psphot/src/psphotMaskReadout.c	(revision 16820)
@@ -1,7 +1,47 @@
 # include "psphotInternal.h"
 
-bool psphotMaskReadout (pmReadout *readout, psMetadata *recipe, psMaskType maskVal) {
+// generate mask and weight if not defined, additional mask for restricted subregion 
+bool psphotSetMaskAndWeight (pmConfig *config, pmReadout *readout, psMetadata *recipe) {
 
     bool status;
+
+    // ** Interpret the mask values:
+
+    // single-bit named masks
+    psMaskType maskMark = pmConfigMask("MARK",     config); // Mask value for marking
+    psMetadataAddU8 (recipe, PS_LIST_TAIL, "MASK.MARK", PS_META_REPLACE, "user-defined mask", maskMark);
+
+    psMaskType maskSat  = pmConfigMask("SAT", 	   config); // Mask value for saturated pixels
+    psMetadataAddU8 (recipe, PS_LIST_TAIL, "MASK.SAT", PS_META_REPLACE, "user-defined mask", maskSat);
+
+    psMaskType maskBad  = pmConfigMask("BAD", 	   config); // Mask value for bad pixels
+    psMetadataAddU8 (recipe, PS_LIST_TAIL, "MASK.BAD", PS_META_REPLACE, "user-defined mask", maskBad);
+
+    // user-defined masks to test for good/bad pixels (build from recipe list if not yet set)
+    psMaskType maskVal = psMetadataLookupU8(&status, recipe, "PSPHOT"); // Mask value for bad pixels
+    if (!maskVal) {
+      const char *maskValStr = psMetadataLookupStr(NULL, recipe, "MASKVAL"); // String with mask names
+      if (!maskValStr) {
+        psError(PSPHOT_ERR_CONFIG, false, "Missing recipe item: MASKVAL(STR)");
+        return false;
+      }
+      maskVal = pmConfigMask(maskValStr, config); // Mask values to mask against
+      psMetadataAddU8 (recipe, PS_LIST_TAIL, "MASK.PSPHOT", PS_META_REPLACE, "user-defined mask", maskVal);
+      assert (maskVal);
+    }
+
+    // generate mask & weight images if they don't already exit
+    if (!readout->mask) {
+        if (!pmReadoutGenerateMask(readout, maskSat, maskBad)) {
+            psError (PSPHOT_ERR_CONFIG, false, "trouble creating mask");
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+    if (!readout->weight) {
+        if (!pmReadoutGenerateWeight(readout, true)) {
+            psError (PSPHOT_ERR_CONFIG, false, "trouble creating weight");
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
 
     // mask the excluded outer pixels
@@ -19,5 +59,12 @@
 
     // psImageKeepRegion assumes the region refers to the parent coordinates
-    psImageKeepRegion (readout->mask, keep, "OR", maskVal);
+    psImageKeepRegion (readout->mask, keep, "OR", maskBad);
+
+    // test output of files at this stage
+    if (psTraceGetLevel("psphot") >= 5) {
+        psphotSaveImage (NULL, readout->image,  "image.fits");
+        psphotSaveImage (NULL, readout->mask,   "mask.fits");
+        psphotSaveImage (NULL, readout->weight, "weight.fits");
+    }
 
     return true;