Create temporary quick masks

Last updated on Oct 6, 2026

Learn how to Paint with black and white to refine selections using a visual color overlay.

Quick Mask mode lets you refine selections by painting directly on your image with a colored overlay showing which areas are protected or selected.

Use Quick Mask mode when standard selection tools don't provide enough precision. You can refine an existing selection by painting, or create a mask from scratch. The mask converts back to a selection when you exit the mode.

Quick Mask mode creates a temporary channel that appears in the Channels panel during editing but disappears when you return to Standard mode.

A red overlay covers protected areas by default, while selected areas remain clear. The colored overlay makes it easy to see exactly what you're selecting as you paint. When you convert a feathered mask to a selection, the boundary line runs halfway between black and white pixels, marking the 50% selection threshold.

Before You Begin

Open an image in Adobe Photoshop on desktop
Ensure your image is not in Indexed Color mode (Quick Mask is unavailable in this mode)
Familiarize yourself with basic selection tools and the Brush tool

Create and refine a quick mask

Using any selection tool, select the part of the image you want to change. To create a mask from scratch, skip this step.

Select the Quick Mask mode button in the toolbox. A red overlay covers the protected area outside your selection.

Select a painting tool from the toolbox. The foreground and background colors automatically switch to black and white.

Paint with white to add areas to the selection by removing the color overlay. Paint with black to subtract areas from the selection by adding the color overlay. Paint with gray to create semitransparent areas for feathered or antialiased effects.

Select the Standard Mode button in the toolbox to exit Quick Mask mode. A selection border now surrounds the unprotected areas.

Apply your desired changes to the selected area.

Select Select > Deselect to remove the selection.

Save your temporary mask as a permanent alpha channel by switching to Standard mode and selecting Select > Save Selection. This preserves the mask for future use.

Customize Quick Mask display options

Double-click the Quick Mask Mode button in the toolbox.

Choose how the mask displays your selection. Select Masked Areas to show masked areas as black and selected areas as white. Select Selected Areas to reverse this display. The Quick Mask button icon changes to reflect your choice.

Enter an opacity value between 0 and 100 to adjust the overlay transparency.

Select OK to apply your changes.

Tip

Alt+click (Windows) or Option+click (macOS) the Quick Mask Mode button to quickly toggle between Masked Areas and Selected Areas display modes.

Display settings affect only the mask's appearance and don't change how underlying areas are protected. For more advanced selection refinement with specialized edge detection and smoothing tools, explore the Select and Mask workspace.

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