Mask, Auto Mask, Invert Mask, Range Mask...what the heck are they, and what’s the difference? Some people have had questions about masks in Lightroom, so I thought I’d do a short tutorial explaining the differences between several different types of masks and just what masks are in the first place.
Masks are super useful tools in Lightroom. Basically, a mask lets you tell Lightroom what areas of a photo get specific edits or adjustments. There are three local adjustment tools that allow masking so you can edit just certain areas of your photo. They’re the:
- Adjustment Brush
- Radial Filter
- Graduated Filter
So any time you use one of these tools Lightroom creates a mask so only the area you brush on with the adjustment brush, for example, gets affected.
Auto Mask is a great feature that helps you precisely mask even a complex area without spilling into areas you didn't want to.
Invert Mask is available with the Radial Filter and it's helpful for portraits and landscapes and anywhere where you may want to highlight without affecting the rest of the image.
Range Masks are powerful tools that give you lots of precision when making adjustments. Range Masks are available with all the local adjustment tools, the graduated filter, radial filter and the adjustment brush. In order to active the feature, you have to have applied adjustments using one of the three adjustment tools. With Range Mask you can create a Luminance or color based mask.
Watch my complete video tutorial above to get all the tips and tricks.