5 Ways To Improve Your Image Masking During Editing

1. Use Your Brush Edge to Your Advantage

Most of the time, when I’m masking an image, whether it be a filter or a layer, I have my Brush Feathering set to 100. I like to keep my brush edge soft because it allows for a smoother and more natural transition between modified and unmodified areas on my photographs. In this image, for example, if I wanted to lighten up the background using a Local Adjustment, I could use a very soft brush edge to make sure that the strokes blend in well with the other areas of my photo.

That’s not to say you can’t modify your feathering to fit your shot. Of course, there are situations when you would need to change your brush edge so it will not bleed into any of the adjustments onto a particular area or object on your photograph. The best thing about photo masking is that it is non-destructive, so you can always revert to your original shot.

2. Using the Perfect Brush to Refine Your Masking Edges

The Perfect Brush is an excellent tool for helping out the edges of your mask. I like to use the Perfect Brush for cleaning up the sides of my mask, whether I’m replacing a sky or I’m modifying the edges around a portrait, and I don’t want to alter any skin tones. To enable the perfect brush, make sure you have a brush selected and enter (CMD + R) on your keyboard. With this image, I’m trying to replace the sky behind Haystack Rock. I’ve used my Masking Brush to remove a portion of my base layer and reveal the new sky layer underneath, but I have a messy edge near the top of my rock. If I want to maintain the naturalness of the image, I need to refine the sides of the mask. The Perfect Brush will work perfectly in this situation. To improve the edges of a mask with your perfect brush, make sure you keep the Plus or Minus sign (depending on what Brush Mode) stays on top of the adjustment or layer you are looking to brush away/add. By keeping the middle of the brush over your targeted area, you will protect the different tones near the edges of your brush, making sure they don’t get modified.

3. Utilize Different Masking Shapes & Gradients

If you’re looking to blend an adjustment onto a shot with ease, the Adjustable Gradient and Masking Bug are going to be your best bet. These tools use shapes and gradients to blend adjustments and filters into your photograph. By using a gradient to mask, you can protect specific areas in your photos without sacrificing harsh edges. The gradients work well if you’re looking to protect your foreground or background from an adjustment because you can adjust your mask feathering, position, size, and you can even rotate. In this image, I’m using my Adjustable Gradient (Shift + K on your keyboard) to apply the Lighten Local Adjustment Layer to the top of my image; brightening the area where the couple is so that they stand out in the frame more.

Original Photo

With Local Adjustment Applied to the Top

Gradients and Radial masks also work great when targeting light on your photo. One thing I like to use them for is to create custom vignetting in my scene. When you select either the Masking Bug (B on your keyboard) or the Adjustable Gradient, you can modify the shape in the top tool modifier bar. When you choose the Center shape, for example, it will apply the adjustment everywhere except the center of your mask. If you select the Edges shape, it will apply the modification strictly to the inside of the mask, protecting everywhere outside of it. These are beneficial tools if you want to focus the viewer’s attention on a particular area of your shot. In this portrait, I’m using an Adjustable Gradient set to Edges to focus the Lighten Local Adjustment Layer on the inside of the mask and brighten where the couple is standing.

4. Chisel Your Mask for Cleaner Looking Edges

The Chisel Tool may be suited best for composite masking when you’re working on multiple layers, but it will still help with substantial adjustments and filter modifications. Sometimes when we are masking, we leave a halo edge around our mask that makes the photo look a little wonky. An easy way to get rid of that pesky edge is to use the Chisel Tool. The Chisel Tool lives in your Masking Tools in the Tool Well on the left side of Photo RAW. You can also select it by holding down Shift and hitting H on your keyboard (Shift + H). Just make sure you have your mode correctly set (paint in or out), and then brush the Chisel Tool onto the edges of the mask to remove the unwanted extras. The Chisel Tool will only brush away the halo edges around your mask and won’t modify anything inside of it. If you double-click the Chisel Tool icon in the top tool modifier bar, it will remove the halo edges around your entire mask edge rather than having to paint it onto the whole thing.

Double Clicking the Chisel Tool Icon

5. Use a Color Range Mask to Selectively Apply Filters or Adjustments

A Color Range Mask is a great way to target specific colors in your photograph. When applying this mask, it will apply the adjustment or mask to the specified color, protecting the rest of the tones in the scene. I like to use Color Range Masks when applying detail to make sure that particular objects or subjects pop out in the frame. To create a Color Range Mask, go into the Masking Options for your filter, local adjustment, or layer and select Color Range to enable. Now choose a color from the color box, or you can use the color dropper to select a color in your photo. You can always modify the amount of color with the Range slider below; this will control how much of that color gets affected. In this image, I’m using the Color Range Mask to apply my Dynamic Contrast Filter to the strawberries.