Skip to main content
tobsn
tobsn
Participant
June 30, 2025
Question

Copy a mask to another image without any recalculation?

  • June 30, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 710 views

Hi there,

I’m trying to mask certain areas in an image. I already created a perfect mask by editing a virtual copy of the photo. Now I want to apply this exact same mask to the original image – without any changes or recalculation.

 

I just want to copy the mask 1:1 from one image to another, without Lightroom re-analyzing or adjusting it.

Is there a way to do that? I’m getting really frustrated over this. Any help is much appreciated!

 

Also: Is it possible to convert an AI-generated mask into a “normal” mask once it’s created?

That would solve my problem, I guess.

 

Thanks!

2 replies

Bob Somrak
Bob Somrak
Legend
June 30, 2025

You can use the "Copy Settings" plugin by John Ellis to do this.  See here

 

https://johnrellis.com/lightroom/copysettings.htm

 

Besides that, Copy Settings does what Copy/Paste, Sync etc does in LrC but FIXES a lot of the long standing bugs in the built in LrC tool and adds many extra functions. 

M4 Pro Mac Mini. 48GB
tobsn
tobsnAuthor
Participant
June 30, 2025

Oh, that looks interesting – thanks! I’ve downloaded it and started testing. It already seems to work better than before.

 

However, I’ve run into a couple of issues:

 

  1. When I create a mask using the brush with “auto mask” turned on and then copy it, the auto masking seems to be lost in the copied version.

  2. If the target image was rotated, the copied mask appears with the wrong orientation.

 

Is there any way to fix these things?

Thanks again for the tip!

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
June 30, 2025

Anthony Morganti explains how to do this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9jn1R1Uajw

 

Also if you want the mask to be copied and then pasted to more than one photo, you can do this in the Library Module, select the photo with the mask, then select other photos, then click on Copy Settings and select the mask. All of the other photos will have that mask pasted onto it. It doesn't work if you select the photos in the filmstrip, the mask will only be pasted onto one of the selected photos.

tobsn
tobsnAuthor
Participant
June 30, 2025

Thanks, but unfortunately that’s not it. Maybe I didn’t explain it well, but I do NOT want the mask to be recalculated. I want to apply EXACTLY THE SAME MASK to another image – in the exact same position, even if there’s something completely different in that area.

 

Unfortunately, the video didn’t cover that – it actually explained the opposite of what I’m looking for. I already knew that part. Sadly.

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices