Apply effects to existing unassigned masks in Premiere (beta)

Last updated on Nov 24, 2025

Learn how unassigned masks work and how to apply them to effects for flexible, non-destructive masking in Adobe Premiere (beta).

You can create masks before applying any effect to a clip. These unused or unassigned masks don’t perform a task yet, they simply exist on the clip. This workflow can be helpful when you want to focus on drawing and refining masks without the effect influencing your view.

You can create multiple unassigned masks, track each one independently, and even combine them with blend modes before attaching them to an effect. When you eventually apply an effect, all unassigned masks on the clip are automatically moved to that effect and used to constrain it.

Tip

Use the Mask Overlay to preview what will be masked. Change the color of the overlay to suit your content if it is hard to see, given the colors in your video.

Example: Constrain the color adjustment to the Lumetri Color effect:

Draw an ellipse mask around a person’s face.

Track the movement and increase Feather to create a soft mask.

Switch to the Lumetri Color panel and dial in the skin tone.

Apply masks directly to an effect

You may still apply a mask to an effect after it's created. While an effect is selected in the Effect Controls panel, any mask you create will be applied directly to the effect.

Do the following to apply the mask directly to the effect:

Apply effect to the clip.

Dial in the strength of the effect, or leave it null.

Make sure the effect is selected and create one or more masks.

Mask tracking tools in Premiere (beta)

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