MAX SESSIONS Hi, and welcome to this session. Thanks for joining me. Today, we are going to explore masking in Lightroom. It's one of my favorite topics, and I couldn't be more excited. My name is Bea Lubas. I am a photographer. I specialize in food and storytelling. I'm the author of the book How to Photograph Food and one of the former Lightroom ambassadors. I am super excited about today's session and to show you the powerful Lightroom Tools. So, in this session, I'm going to walk you through what Masking tools we have available in Lightroom, including AI tools that help to speed up our creative process. We'll also explore how to fine tune our mask selection with Add, Subtract and Intersect. And we'll also explore Adaptive Presets. I hope you are ready. I hope you're excited. Let's get into Lightroom.

While we are in the Edit panel in Lightroom we can apply adjustments to the entire photograph. For example, in the Light panel, I could use the Exposure slider to brighten the entire photograph and to darken the entire photograph. But what if you want to apply certain adjustments to only a selected part of your image? For example, darken the background a little bit, or maybe tweak it's color or maybe add brightness to the subject only. To apply adjustments to a selected, specific part of your image, you would use Masking and I'm going to show you how. So the Masking panel is on the bar on the right-hand side. It is that circle icon. Or you can press the letter M on your keyboard. And here is the panel with our Masking tools. We are going to learn more about these tools. But before that, I want to show you what that Masking process looks like. In this image of the tall pink flower with a fence in the background, let's say we want to add some brightness to the flower. To do that, I'll need to mask the flower first. And to mask the flower, I'd use one of their Masking tools. So, which tool to use will depend on the area that we want to mask and adjust. We want to select a tool that is best for the area we are targeting. So to mask the flower in this image, I want to select a Subject tool. I'm going to click on Subject and my subject is selected. So what is in red is where the Mask is applied. And now I can apply adjustments to this part of the image. So, on the right-hand side, we have our Masks panel and on the top of that panel, we have the information about what masks we have applied to this image. Then underneath we have the information about the current Masking tool we are using, which is Subject. And I also have an option to Invert it there. And then underneath, we have our adjustments Light, Color, Effects, Detail. If I want to add some brightness to the flower, I'd go to the Light panel and then adjust the Exposure to the right. But that's not everything that I wanted to show you in the Masks panel. So, when I scroll to the top, there is a Show Overlay toggle and when I click on it, it shows me the overlay, but I can also switch it up. When the overlay is on, I can also change its color by clicking on the red dot and then selecting a different color. I can also change its opacity here or whether I want the Affected or Unaffected Areas to be shown. Then in the top right corner we have an eye icon. When I click and hold on it, it shows me the image without the Masks adjustment. So it's a good tool to see the before and after the Masks adjustments. Then I also have an eye icon next to each individual mask and the three-dot menu there that gives me more option, like the name, Invert, Duplicate or Delete, for example. And then, if I want to apply a new mask, I would click on that + icon to create a new mask and then select a new tool for the new task. Okay, so, let's learn more about our Masking tools next. So, starting from the very top in the Masking panel, we have Subject, Sky and Background tools. Then underneath, we have Objects, Brush, Linear Gradient, Radial Gradient, Range and People. So each of these tools can help us mask a different area within an image. So I want to share with you a few different examples and masking which areas each of these tools could be helpful for. So starting from the top at the Subject tool. So this tool is our AI tool. So it will help us mask this specific area with one click of a button. And as I showed you in this example of the tall flower, it does masks the most prominent part of the image. Next, I want to show you the Background tool. So, this tool will mask the background automatically. It is AI. So, when I click on it, it will detect a background and then masks it automatically. And I can apply adjustments to this part of the image only. Another AI tool that we have is the Sky. So, I'm going to show you Sky in this image of the landscape. When I press on it, Lightroom will detect sky, masks it and now I can apply adjustments to this area only.

Another tool on that list is Objects. I want to show you Objects in this image of the sage leaves on the dark background. So, Objects is also powered by AI. When I press on it, I can select the Brush or I can select the Rectangle. When the Brush is selected, that means I can brush over the object to select it and I don't have to be super-precise. This tool will do it's magic. And then when I select Rectangle, that means I can draw a box around the object to select it.

So, both the Brush and the Rectangle will work with different types of elements. And if you want to switch in between them, you can press the letter S on your keyboard.

So this tool is really powerful, and it's really great for masking any complex shapes and elements. So, I personally love using it in food photography. So, I like to mask certain elements and for example, add some brightness to them. And then depending on the photo I work with, I might select some elements and then add some texture to them or maybe tweak their color. There is another powerful AI tool in our toolbox. Are you ready for it? In the images with people, Lightroom will detect people in your image, and then I can press on the Person and then I can either select the Entire Person or I can select the area that I want to apply adjustments to. And here, I have so many different options, even Lips, Hair or Clothes. So it's a really excellent tool.

Next on my list is the Brush, Linear Gradient and Radial Gradient, and we are gonna explore those three tools in the next image of the raspberries in the dark bowl. Here I'm going to select the Brush. And Brush allows us to brush over the areas that we want to mask and apply adjustments to. We can change its size. We can also change the Feather, Flow, Density or tick on Auto Mask, which is very helpful if we're brushing near the edges. We also have the Eraser Tool, so we can erase any of the mask if we want to. And a really quick keyboard tip here. If you want to switch in between the Brush and the Eraser, you can press and hold the Option key. To change the size of the Brush or the Eraser, you can use the bracket keys. So, this tool is really great for a lot of different things. Personally, I probably wouldn't use it for a very complex shape because we have powerful AI tools that do this job for us much quicker. And next on the list is the Linear Gradient. Linear gradient is a tool that allows us to apply adjustments in a gradually fading pattern. It's really great to use if we want to balance the exposure in our frame. For example, in this image we have a brighter spot in the bottom left corner. So I'm going to click on Linear Gradient, then draw that Linear Gradient in that bottom left corner and then I can go to the Light panel and reduce the Exposure in that area with the Exposure slider to balance it and to make it less distracting. Then if I move the three lines and they are more apart, I get a softer transition and then three lines closer together give us a harder transition. Radial Gradient is a tool that allows us to apply adjustments to what's inside of the circle or if we click on Invert tools outside of the circle. I really like to use this tool to add some extra light to the elements or areas in my image that I want to draw more attention to, especially in my darker images. Here I'd apply the Radial Gradient somewhere in the middle of the bowl, on some of the raspberries. I would go to the Light panel and add some Exposure to this area to draw more attention to it. Not too much, though. I do want it to pop, but I also want it to be natural. When I adjust the outer circle, it adjusts the size and shape, and then the inner circle adjusts the feathering.

Then we have Range and here we have Color Range, Luminance Range and Depth Range. Starting with Color Range, I'm going to move to this example of the flowers on the table. And Color Range is a tool that allows us to mask and apply adjustments to the elements selected by their color. For example, if I wanted to add some texture to the flowers only, I could mask the flowers using the Color Range in this example. So, when I click on the Color Range, then click on the color that I want to select, Lightroom will mask areas with this specific color. And actually this is a good occasion to go to the Color Overlay and change its color to something more noticeable, in this example, like blue.

And then we have the Refine slider in the Masks panel as well and we can refine that Masks selection if we need to. Luminance Range is a tool that I want to show you in this example of the dry flower with some backlit elements. And the Luminance Range is a tool that allows us to mask and apply adjustments to the elements selected by day brightness. So, if I click on the Luminance Range here and then click on those bright areas, it will mask those areas. And I can refine that masking selection as well in the Masks panel. Once this area is masked, I can apply adjustments to it. For example, add some texture to those backlit areas. Then we have Depth Range. And this tool allows us to mask and apply adjustments to the elements selected by their distance from the camera. So, this tool is only available to the images that contain that depth information. For example, images that we take on our mobile devices in Portrait Mode. So these are our Masking tools. And next, let's move to some editing examples. So, I start the editing in the Edit panel and as I apply adjustments to the entire image, I will think to myself, "Does this adjustment work for the entire image? Or would it work better for just parts of the image?" If the answer is parts of the image, this is how I identify which adjustments need to be added using the Masking tools. So when I edit, my main goal is to make sure that the frame looks balanced. I also like to bring out any interesting visual details and to draw attention to what I think is the most important part of the frame. And I find that masking is helpful with that and it gives me a lot of creative freedom. So for example, when it comes to balancing, when part of the frame is slightly too bright or slightly too dark, I'll use masking to balance that exposure. Or if the color of one element is slightly off and I use the Color Mixer and I can't get the image to a place when I'm happy with it, I'll use masking to mask that element and to tweak it's color. Then when it comes to bringing out interesting visual details, I like to use masking, and a little bit of clarity to some elements to really make them pop. And then I will use different texture values using masking and apply them to different elements depending on what textures I work with. And then when it comes to drawing attention to the main elements, to the main part of the frame, I like to use masking to add some extra exposures to the parts of the frame that I'd like to draw attention to. It does depend on the image, though and sometimes I might add some extra color to those elements that I want to draw attention to. But again, it does depend on the image that I work with. So let's edit some examples together. We are also going to explore how to fine-tune our mask selection with Add, Subtract and Intersect. So starting with this image of the flowers on the table, I already applied some adjustments in the Edit panel to this image. I tweaked the colors, and I also lifted the end of the curve very slightly to add that faded effect to the shadows. And then when I was in the Effects panel and I added some Texture to this image and then some Clarity, I really liked those effects on the flowers and on the bottles, but I didn't like those effects on the linen. So I know I want to go to the Masking panel and apply those adjustments using one of the Masking tools. So I'll go to the Masking panel, and to apply texture and clarity to the flowers and the bottles only, I need to mask them first. So I'm going to use Subject tool. So click on the Subject tool. And now that this area is masked, I can go to the Effects panel and then add some Texture about +8 and then add some Clarity about +10 and then I'll also go to the Light panel and add some Exposure to this image about 0.3. And I keep an eye on the edges of the mask and how those effects that I've just added, how do they blend in with the background and to make sure it looks natural. And then, this is the before and this is the after. So a nice pop to the most important elements in this frame. When I click on Show Overlay, though, it shows me that two bottles were not added to this selection. And I can always add elements or areas to the mask selection in the panel if I want to. So how do I do that? I'll need to click on Mask and then it opens two options, to Add to the Mask or to Subtract from the Mask. So here, I will be using Add. I'm going to click on Add and it gives me an option to Add to the Mask using any of the Masking tools. So here to add two bottles to the selection, I'm gonna click on Objects, and then select the Brush and then brush over those objects to select them and to add them to this masking selection. And this is how they are added. So, that would be the before and that would be the after. If I feel that the effects are a little bit too strong, instead of going and readjusting all the sliders, I could also go to the Amount slider and I could reduce it here or I could make it stronger, too. Here I'm going to reduce it to about 70. And this is how I would edit this image using the Masks. So, let's edit this image of the waffle next. And here, I already applied some adjustments. In the Edit panel, I added a vignette and I also tweaked the colors in the Color panel. I'm happy with the color of the waffle. I'm also happy with the color of the orange pieces. I would like the background to be a little bit warmer in this example. So to do that, I'll go to the Masking panel. I want to mask the background and add some warmth to the background only. So I'm going to select Background tool. And now that the Background is masked, I notice that there is a small part of the plate that was not included in this masking selection and I do want to add it there. So I'm going to go to my Mask, click on Add, select the Brush and then brush over displayed area to add it to this masking selection. Next, I'll go to the Color panel, go to the Temperature slider and add some warmth to the background only, about +22. And then I'll go to the Tint slider, add some magenta about +9 and then I'll go to the Effects and I'm going to add some Texture to the background about +6 and then some Clarity about +5. And when I scroll to the top, this is the before and this is the after. There is one more thing that I want to do here and that's to darken the top part of the background only. So to do that, I would need to create a new mask. So I'm going to click on the + icon and there are a few ways to go about this. I'm going to select a Linear Gradient.

Then draw that linear gradient on that top part of the background. And, of course, it masks the waffle as well. So I do want to remove the waffle from this selection. And I can do that using the Subtract tool. So I'm going to go to my Mask, click on Subtract. And here I have an option to subtract from my mask using any of the Masking tools. So to remove the waffle from this selection, I'm going to subtract using a Subject tool.

And now, the mask is removed from my subject. So, I can go to the Light panel and then reduce that Exposure to about -0.2. And this is the before and this is the after. Next, let's edit this image of a tall pink flower with fence in the background. I already applied some adjustments in the Edit panel, so, I added a vignette and I desaturated the colors a bit. And as I was in the Edit panel and I played with the Exposure slider and I reduced the exposure in this image, I thought it might be nice to darken the background behind my subject even more and then add some brightness to the subject to draw more attention to it. So I will be applying a different set of adjustment to the background and a different set of adjustment to the subject and I will do that in the Masking panel. So I will keep the exposure in the overall image at around -0.5. I do want to make sure that my Show Shadow Clipping is on. I have a bit of shadow clipping at the bottom, so, I'll go to the Blacks slider and I will brighten the blacks. Next, I'll go to the Masking panel. And first, I wanna apply adjustments to the background. So, I want to mask the background first. For that, I'm going to select the Background tool. Now, that the background is masked, I can apply adjustments to this area. I'll go to the Light panel. I'll go to the Exposure. And here I'm going to reduce exposure to about -0.4. I'll go to the Blacks slider and I will brighten the Blacks to about +3 here. And now, I do want to darken the fence behind my flower a little bit more. So to do that, I need to mask it first. So, I'll go up and then click on the + icon, select a new tool. To mask the fence, I'm gonna select the Linear Gradient, draw that Linear Gradient on that fence area.

And it is also applied to the subject. But first, I'm going to go to the Light panel, reduce that Exposure quite a bit, about -0.8. And I really pay attention to the background. And then I'll go to the Highlights, reduce the Highlights a bit. And now, I do want to remove those adjustments from my subject. So, I want to remove the mask and adjustments from the subject. To do that, I'll go to the Mask, then click on Subtract. And here I do have an option to subtract from the mask using any of my Masking tools. To remove the flower from this selection, I'm gonna subtract it with a subject, and now the subject is removed from this masking selection. I still want to darken the right-hand side of the fence a little bit more, so I'm going to click on the + icon to create a new mask. And for this task, I'm going to also select a Linear Gradient, draw it on that right-hand side.

It is masking a part of my flower again. So, I do want to subtract my subject from this selection. I'll click on Subtract by this individual mask in this individual mask and then Subtract from the mask using the Subject again, so that my subject is subtracted from this masking selection. Then I'll go to the Light panel, Exposure slider and reduce the exposure in this part of the image. Now, it's time to add some brightness to the subject. So to do that, I need to mask my subject first. Let's go to the + icon. Create a new mask and mask the flower. To mask the flower, I'm going to use Subject tool. And now my flower is masked. So now that this area is masked, I can apply adjustments to this area only. So I'll go to the Light panel. Go to the Exposure slider and add Exposure to this image... sorry, to this flower.

So this is interesting. The more exposure I'm adding, the more unnatural the flower starts to look in this particular example. So, here is what I'm thinking. I am wondering if we could keep this Exposure at adjustment and the Mask on the pink petals only. So, at this moment, we have a mask on the entire flower, and I'm wondering if it's going to look more natural if we keep the Exposure adjustment on the pink parts of the flower only. So, to do that, I could use Intersect here. So, where is the Intersect? So when I go to the Mask, I have an option to Add and I have an option to Subtract. And we have explored those tools already. When I press and hold the Option key, that's when the Intersect shows up. So I have my Add and Subtract. And when I press and hold on the Option key, that's when Intersect shows up. And I can click on the Intersect and it gives me an option to Intersect with Mask using any of the Masking tools. I could also access Intersect by clicking the three-dot menu by the Mask and selecting Intersect with Mask Using and then selecting a tool. So, if I want to keep my Mask and the Exposure adjustments on the pink part of the flower only, I'm going to Intersect with Mask Using Color Range.

Then I'm going to select Pink...

to keep the Mask and Adjustment on the pink parts only. So, this is what the overlay looks like now. And when I hide the Color Range, this is what the overlay looked like before. So this is what the overlay looks like now and this is what it looked like before. And then when I switch the overlay... switch off the overlay, this is what the image looked like before intersecting. So, the entire flower was bright and looking quite unnatural. And this is what the image looks like now after intersecting, much more natural as I kept the mask and the adjustment on the pink parts of the flowers only. So I am going to go back to the Exposure slider, add a little bit of Exposure here and then just a bit more Highlights around +7, +8. And then I'll go to the Effects panel. And here I'm going to add some Texture. So around +20. Okay. So this is the before and this is the after. I'm drawing much more attention to the flower, but I also want it to look natural. So, in this particular example for this the flower adjustment, I could use Subtract and subtract the green parts of the flower or I could use Intersect to keep the pink parts of the flower. So, sometimes using the Intersect and the Subtract will depend on your personal preference and your personal workflow. But there will be some examples when Intersect will do a better and quicker job and there will be some examples when Subtract will do a better and quicker job. So it is good to have them both in our toolbox. And if I wanted to move this image to a more artistic place, I could go to the Color panel, go to the Hue and then shift the Hue to play with color. And then let's move that color to the blue. So this is the blue version of this flower. And if I wanted to add those purple bits to this selection, I could press and hold the Shift key and add this purple to this Color Range selection. This is what the blue version of this flower would look like, much more artistic. And then one last thing. I just want to scroll to the top. It is a really good habit to rename your masks, so that when you come back to your image in the future, you know which tool and which mask is used and for which area.

I hope you enjoyed those few examples. And next, let's move and explore the Adaptive Presets. Where are they? And what do they do? Your Adaptive Presets are in your Presets tab, which is on the top of the bar on the right-hand side. It is the first icon on that bar. And here are all your Presets, including your Adaptive Presets for Portrait, Sky and Subject. So these are on the top of the list of your Premium Presets. So Adaptive Presets will mask those specific areas, Portrait or a Sky or a Subject, and apply a set of adjustments to these areas. So that means that we can edit those areas with one click of a button. So, when I go inside of the Adaptive Portrait, here we have a few different looks like Enhance Portrait or Glamour Portrait, but we can also enhance certain elements like Enhance Eyes or Darken Eyebrows or Texture Hair or Enhance Clothes. So, a lot of different options are here. Then when it comes to Adaptive, Sky, we have a few different looks here as well, including Sunrise and Sunset. And then we have Adaptive Subject and here we have a few different looks as well. So in this image of the flowers on the table, let's go through some of the Adaptive Presets for subjects together. So starting with the Pop. Then we have the Warm Pop. Then we have the Soft and Cool Soft and Vibrant and Glow. So these will work with different type of subjects and also with different type of looks. So here, I really like the Pop preset. So when I click on it, it also gives me an option to control the strength of that preset with the Amount slider. So, I can make this preset stronger, but I can also reduce its strength. And then when this preset is selected, it will also appear in the Masking panel. So when I go to the Masking panel now, it will appear in the Masking panel. So I have my Pop preset, and it shows me what Masking tool was used, and that was the Subject. And also, when I click on the Show Overlay, it shows me that overlay, and I can add and subtract that selection if I want to or tweak and adjust any of the sliders.

Okay, so we have covered a lot during this session. I hope you are excited to explore those tools more. I wanted to say a huge thank you again for joining me today. It was such a pleasure to show you around Lightroom. So, if you have any additional questions, please send me an email or a DM on social media. Thank you so much again, and have a beautiful and a super-creative day.

Scroll Down

The Power of Lightroom Masking - VS401

Closed captions in English can be accessed in the video player.

Share this page

Sign in  to add to your favorites

SPEAKERS

Featured Products

Session Resources

No resources available for this session

ABOUT THE SESSION

Technical Level: Intermediate

Join Bea Lubas, photographer and Lightroom Ambassador, for this informative session on how to use masking in Photoshop Lightroom to create more powerful images. Bea will show you how she creates emphasis and balance in her images utilizing the Masking tools built into Lightroom. You’ll leave with an understanding of how masking techniques and selective editing provide you with full control over the creative outcome of your images.

In this session, Bea will cover:

  • How to identify what needs to be adjusted in a photo
  • Adaptive Presets that enhance a particular part of your photo with just a single click
  • How to easily make quick and precise selections with AI masks Fine-tuning your
  • Masking selection by adding, subtracting, and even intersecting masks

Technical Level: Intermediate

Type: Session

Category: How To

Track: Photography

Audience Types: Photographer

This content is copyrighted by Adobe Inc. Any recording and posting of this content is strictly prohibited.


By accessing resources linked on this page ("Session Resources"), you agree that 1. Resources are Sample Files per our Terms of Use and 2. you will use Session Resources solely as directed by the applicable speaker.

Inspiring Insights

Short videos to explore even more

Keep the learning going with insights from industry experts. Get hot tips and tricks and best advice in 50+ bonus video — all under five minutes

Not sure which apps are best for you?

Take a minute. We’ll help you figure it out.