Skip to content

Masks

A mask limits a layer to the areas you choose. White shows the layer, black hides it, and greys show it partly.

Add a mask

Select a layer, then choose Layer → Add Mask: Show All or Hide All, or use the mask button in the Layers panel. Show All starts with the layer visible so you paint black where it should not apply. Hide All starts hidden so you paint white where it should. A new adjustment layer or group starts with a white mask, except Grad D&B and Vignette, which start black because a click writes the fade into the mask.

You can also make a mask from a selection: Select → Add Mask from Selection. See Selections.

Paint on a mask

  1. Click the mask thumbnail beside the layer to select the mask. The Mask brush tool opens.
  2. Choose Reveal (paint white) or Hide (paint black). Press X to swap.
  3. Set Size, Hardness and Flow in Properties. Press [ and ] to change the size as you paint.
  4. Paint on the picture. A brush ring shows the size.

When you select a mask with the mask brush, the brush picks the colour that suits it: Hide on a mostly white mask, Reveal on a mostly black one. Press X to change it. Turn this off in Settings → Tools and navigation → Pick the mask brush colour automatically.

If a selection is active, painting stays inside it.

Look at and change a mask

  • Press \ (backslash), or Alt-click the mask thumbnail, to see the mask itself in the picture.
  • Shift-click the mask thumbnail to switch the mask off without losing it. A red cross marks a switched-off mask.
  • Right-click the mask thumbnail for a menu. Fill mask with black hides the layer everywhere, so you can paint white with the mask brush only where you want it. Fill mask with white shows it everywhere again. Each is one undo step, and the mask brush is selected for you with the opposite colour, ready to paint.
  • Layer → Invert Mask (Cmd/Ctrl+I) swaps black and white.
  • With the mask selected, Properties has Density, which weakens the mask, and Feather, which softens its edge. Feather mask blurs the mask by the chosen number of pixels as one undoable step.
  • Layer → Remove Mask deletes the mask.

Pen pressure

With a pen tablet, tick Pen pressure changes size or flow in the brush settings.