Isolated adjustments using masks

Last updated on Apr 15, 2026

Learn how isolated adjustments let you target specific areas of a clip using masks for precise color corrections in Adobe Premiere (beta).

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Isolated adjustments let you apply color changes to specific parts of an image by using masks. Instead of affecting the entire frame, you can target subjects or regions, such as a face, background, or object, and refine them independently. This makes it easier to draw attention, correct localized issues, or create more controlled and detailed grades within a single clip.

What is an isolated adjustment?

An isolated adjustment, sometimes referred to as a secondary correction in other color grading applications, allows you to isolate part of the frame using a mask applied to an operation, and make adjustments to only what’s either inside or outside of the mask. Examples include isolating someone’s face to boost contrast and make that person more noticeable, isolating a car to adjust its color, or isolating regions of the background that you want to darken to fall off into shadow.

In the following example, we want to isolate the director so we can increase his contrast and make him stand out more against the background. This is a great time to use the Object Mask tool with a Clip operation to target the director.

Creating isolated operations

Isolations are created by attaching masks to Clip operations. Since tracking and keyframing don’t work with multiple clips at once, you cannot mask Group or Sequence operations.

There are several mask tools in Premiere (beta) that support a wide variety of masking needs (Object Mask, Ellipse, Rectangle, and Pen). All of these can be used to make isolated adjustments through masking operations.

To add a mask to an operation to isolate a subject in the frame:

Select the Clip operation you want to isolate. It’s recommended to leave the first Clip operation unmasked so it can function as a primary operation with which to adjust the entire frame, so create a second operation at the clip level to mask.

Choose one of the mask tools from the toolbar; you can use Object Mask, or the Ellipse, Rectangle, or Pen mask tools. In this example we’ll use the Object Mask.

With the Object Mask tool selected, hovering over the subject in the frame shows us a preview of what the mask will look like, and selecting it will apply the mask. Other tools may require you to drag and drop or click to draw the mask you require.

Once the mask has been created, you can select it to edit, resize, or track it in the Monitor.

With a mask selected, you can right-click it in the Monitor, or you can right-click the mask icon right of the operation it’s applied to in order to perform the following functions:

Invert: Invert the region of the image the mask is isolating. If you’ve masked a face, inverting masks everything outside the face.
Track: If the masked subject is moving, you can track the mask to follow the object.
Change to Unassigned Mask: If you’ve created a mask for the wrong operation, you can make it unassigned in order to apply it to the right operation or effect.
Edit Properties: Opens the Effects Control panel to access other mask properties.

Context menu showing mask options like track, invert, and edit properties in the Color panel. — Use mask options to refine, track, or invert isolated adjustments.

If you’re masking a moving subject, select the mask, right-click it, and choose Track. The mask will play through the clip and conform itself as best as it can to the motion of the subject in motion.

If you need to do any manual keyframing to tighten up a loose track, or to make the mask move in a specific way, you can turn on Frame mode which lets you create keyframed transforms of the mask across time. Set this mode back to Clip to be able to make overall sizing changes to the mask throughout the clip’s duration.

Once your mask is following the subject correctly, you can select the operation the mask is attached to in order to make whatever color adjustments you need to.

Other mask parameters in the Effects Control panel

Right-clicking a mask in the operations area of the Color Controls panel and choosing Edit Properties opens the Effects Control panel, which exposes additional controls for manipulating masks.

Additional controls for masks include:

Tracking controls and keyframes: These controls let you initiate tracking, either bi-directionally, forward or backward, or one frame at a time in either direction (if you’re being very careful).
Path keyframes (vector masks only): A keyframe track for being able to store either Clip or Frame-based keyframes, for animating changes to a mask to make it fit the tracking better, or to make it follow a particular motion path.
Transform controls: Individual Position, Scale, Rotation, and Anchor parameters for the Path keyframes.
Feather: Edge feathering for the mask.
Opacity: Affects the translucency of the solid part of the mask.
Expansion: Lets you expand and contract the mask overall.
Inverted: Inverts the mask to change what part of the mask is affected by color controls.
Blend Mode: Boolean operations that let you choose how a mask interacts with the previous mask. Options include Add, Subtract, and Intersect.

Managing masks in the Color Controls panel

Once created, masks can be managed in both the Effects Control panel and the Color Controls panel.

Unassigned masks

Unassigned masks appear all the way to the right of the operations area in the Color Controls panel. Unassigned operations will be automatically assigned to new Clip operations you create. Alternatively, you can copy and paste them to multiple operations if you want to use a particular mask on multiple operations.

Note

If the first thing you do is to try and apply a mask to the Adjust 1 operation of a clip that you haven’t made any operations to, that mask will be created as an unattached mask. Creating a new operation assigns the mask to it. It’s generally a good idea to reserve the first Clip Adjust operation for an overall operation to the image.

Multiple masks

You can add as many masks to an operation as you like. When another operation is selected, multiple masks collapse down into a stack icon.

Clicking the stack icon expands the masks into individually selectable and manageable mask icons. Right-clicking an individual mask lets you manage it independently, adjusting its Boolean interactions with the masks before it, or inverting, tracking, or deleting it.

Rearranging masks

The mask order can be changed by cutting a mask to the left (Command + X) and pasting it into the same operation to move it all the way to the right (Command + V).

Moving masks

Masks can be moved by cutting (Command + X) and pasting (Command + V) them from one operation to another.

Deleting masks

Masks can be deleted by selecting one or more mask icons, right-clicking the selection, and choosing Delete.

Copy and paste masks

Masks can be cut (Command + X), copied (Command + C), and pasted (Command + V) in either the Color Controls panel or the Effects Control panel.

Tip

You can copy the same mask to two different clip operations to make separate operations to the inside and outside of that mask. However, keep in mind that these masks aren’t linked, so that changes you make to one pasted instance of a mask don’t affect the other.

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