New way to mask objects in Camera Raw

Published on October 25, 2022

Mask objects in Camera Raw

In this blog I’ll show you a new method to select and mask objects in Camera Raw (version 15.0) using Adobe Photoshop.

Rather watch the video with instructions? Click here or scroll down to the end of this page.

Click here if you want to download the photo I used.

Step 1: Camera Raw filter

Open the photo you want to edit. Then press CTRL+J to duplicate the background layer. Right click on this new layer and select ‘convert to smart object‘.

If you convert your layer to a smart object, you’ll be able to adjust the Camera Raw settings at any point.

Then navigate to ‘Filter > Camera Raw Filter‘ to open Camera Raw.

Step 2: Mask objects

Select masking and then select objects.

There are 2 ways to select the objects now: brush select and rectangle select.

Mask objects – Brush select

I’ll use the brush select option first. Roughly brush over the object you want to select.

Camera Raw will then refine the selection and mask this area. If you select ‘show overlay‘, you can see the area that’s masked.

You can also select and mask multiple objects, simply brush over the next object when the first one is masked. The two red flowers are now masked (my mask overlay is shown in red).

When your mask is done, you can start to edit the masked area. I’ll change the color of these flowers by adjusting the hue, so you can clearly see the difference.

Mask objects – Rectangle select

If you want to create another mask, select ‘create new mask‘. To mask other objects, use the ‘select objects‘ option again.

This time I’ll use rectangle select. Just make a selection around the object that you want to select and Camera Raw will refine the selection and mask the object.

Again you can select and mask multiple objects. Make a selection around the next object to add this object to your mask.

You can then edit the masked area.

Step 3: Adjust mask

If you want to adjust one of the masks, select that mask. You can then add something to your mask (select ‘add‘), or remove something from it (select ‘subtract‘). You can use several tools to add or subtract something, it doesn’t matter what tool you use.

When you’re done editing, click OK. The adjustments are now applied to layer 1, the layer you’ve converted into a smart object. Because you did this, you can still adjust the Camera Raw settings. To do that, double click on the Camera Raw Filter layer. Camera Raw will then open again and you can adjust the masks and/or the settings.

And that’s how you quickly select and mask objects in Adobe Camera Raw! Camera Raw also has a new method to select and mask people. Click here to read the blog I wrote about that!

Want to learn more about editing in Adobe Photoshop? Check out my other blogs or take a look at my YouTube channel.

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