Open the photo in Loupe view and select Masking from the right panel.
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Masking offers you a variety of local adjustment tools in an organized panel to help you make precise edits to specific areas in a photo with the most creative control.
Touching up specific parts of a photo is now possible with just a few selections. The Masking panel in Lightroom lets you work on any portion of an image to make intricate and precise adjustments using masks like Brush, Background, People, and more, topped by editing controls. You can access manual masks as well as masks powered by artificial intelligence. Try out the masking functionalities mentioned in the article and share your thoughts in the Lightroom community.
Using Lightroom for mobile? See the following resources:
The following local adjustment tools are available when you select Masking from the right-hand toolbar:
Brush
Select and drag the Brush tool over the areas you want to edit. You can specify the following:
- Size Specifies the diameter of the brush tip in pixels.
- Feather Creates a soft-edged transition between the brushed area and surrounding pixels. In the Brush cursor, the distance between the inner and outer circle is the Feather amount.
- Flow Controls the rate of application of the adjustment.
- Density Controls the amount of transparency in the stroke.
You can also select Auto Mask to confine the Brush strokes to areas of similar color.
Linear Gradient
Select and drag the tool into the area you want to edit. This is useful for adjusting a large portion of the photo with a gradually fading pattern that creates soft transitions.
Radial Gradient
Select and drag the tool into the area you want to edit. This tool helps you make local adjustments inside or outside an oval shape. Use the Feather slider to determine how soft you want the adjustments to be.
Color Range
Use this tool to accurately select a color in your photo that you want to edit:
- Select + drag an area around the colors in the photo that you want to adjust.
- Shift + select to add multiple color samples. You can add up to five color samples by holding Shift while clicking on the image. To remove a color sample, press Option (macOS)/Alt (Windows) and select the sample.
- Adjust the Refine slider to narrow or broaden the range of selected colors.
- To remove a Color Range mask, select the mask and then select Delete.
Luminance Range
Select a point or area in the photo using this tool. All areas with the selected range of brightness will become a mask. This way, you can precisely adjust specific brightness levels in a photo. To select a luminance range, do any of the following:
- Adjust the Select Luminance slider to define the endpoints of the selected luminance range.
- Select + drag an area on the photo you want to adjust. Selecting a small area to narrow down to a specific luminance range is recommended.
Select Show Luminance Map to view the luminance information of the photo in black and white representation. The part in red color shows the masked area, which is an intersection of luminance and local adjustment applied.
Depth Range
Use this tool to select areas based on their distance from the camera. This tool is enabled only for photos containing depth information. To select a depth range to adjust, do any of the following:
- Adjust the Select Depth slider to define the endpoints of the selected depth range.
- Select + drag an area on the photo you want to adjust. It's recommended to choose a smaller area to narrow down to a specific depth range.
Select Show Depth Map to view the depth of the image in black and white representation. The part of the photo in white represents the foreground, while the part of the photo in black represents the background. The red color shows the masked area, which is an intersection of depth and local adjustment applied.
To know about Select Subject, Select Sky, Select People, and Select Object, see:
Get Started: Create a mask
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Select the desired Masking tool (details are in the first section). A default Mask 1 is created in the Masks floating panel. To rename this mask, click the three-dot menu and select Rename.
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Using the tool, select the area you want to edit. Then, use the editing sliders in the right panel to make the local adjustments. To know more about these sliders, see Local adjustments.
You can also access presets such as Lighten, Darken, Warmer, Cooler, and more to help you make adjustments faster in the Presets drop-down menu.
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To add a new mask, select Create New Mask from the Masks floating panel and select the tool you want. This way, you can use different tools in the same photo and access them in an organized way.
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Use the editing sliders on the right to make the desired local adjustments.
For details, see Local adjustments.
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Use the editing sliders on the right to make the desired local adjustments.
To know more, see Local adjustments.
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You can select specific parts of the person - including skin, beard, clothes, hair, teeth, etc and make adjustments to the selected parts.
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Use the editing sliders on the right to make the desired local adjustments.
For details, see Local adjustments.
Backed by Artificial Intelligence, the Select Subject and Select Sky masks can be applied to multiple photos with just a click. This works for copy and paste settings.
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Additionally, you can also select the Copy Edit Settings at the lower right side of the screen.
Once you have created a mask, you can add masking tools to it to further refine your selection.
Once you have created a mask, you can remove areas of the selection using the masking tools.
Rename a mask
Invert a selection
To select everything else except the initial selection you made, use the Invert feature.
If you wish to invert all the masks in a group, follow the steps below:
To intersect an existing mask with a new mask, do the following:
Change the overlay color
You can easily change the default red overlay color to a custom color or choose from a range of preset options:
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In the Mask Overlay dialog box, use the color picker to select a color of your choice. Use the Opacity slider to adjust the intensity of the color. You can also select Unaffected Areas to accurately view all areas that are not part of the selection.
Alternatively, click the Mode drop-down menu to select from a range of options such as Color Overlay on B&W, Image on B&W, Image on Black, Image on White, and more.
Use the following sliders to make the desired local adjustments to your selection:
Starting with the June 2023 release of Lightroom (version 6.4), (Film) Grain can be added to specific parts of an image in the Masking panel. Use the Size and Roughness sliders to determine the amount as needed.
Also, you can use the Refine Saturation slider to manually control saturation changes by the Point Curve adjustments.
Exposure
Sets the overall image brightness. Applying an Exposure local correction can achieve results similar to traditional dodging and burning.
Contrast
Adjusts image contrast, mainly affecting midtones
Highlights
Recovers detail in overexposed highlight areas of an image
Shadows
Recovers detail in underexposed shadow areas of an image
Whites
Adjusts the white points in a photo
Blacks
Adjusts the black points in a photo
Curves
Curves give greater control over tonal range and contrast in a photo.
Temp
Adjusts the color temperature of an area of the image, making it warmer or cooler. A graduated filter temperature effect can improve images captured in mixed-lighting conditions.
Tint
Compensates for a green or magenta color cast
Hue
Adjusts the hue in a photo. Select Use Fine Adjustment for precise adjustments.
Saturation
Adjusts the vividness of the color
Colorize
Applies a tint to the area. Select the hue by using the Color swatch. The effect is preserved if you convert the photo to black and white.
Texture
Smoothens or accentuates textured details in your photo. Move the slider to the left to smoothen details; move it to the right to accentuate details. When you adjust the Texture slider, the color or tonality does not change.
Clarity
Adds depth to an image by increasing local contrast
Dehaze
Reduces or increases existing haze in a photo
Grain
Add grain (film) to your images.
Sharpness
Enhances edge definition to bring out details in the photo. A negative value blurs details.
Noise Reduction
Reduces luminance noise, which can become apparent when shadow areas are opened.
Moiré
Removes moiré artifacts, or color aliasing
Defringe
Removes fringe colors along edges