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sharon editrix
sharon editrix
Inspiring
March 21, 2026
Question

How to create a black matte over a photo

  • March 21, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 75 views

I am trying to put a black box over the eyes of children to disguise them in photos. I want the box applied to the photo itself, not a matte that sits on the track above. I plan to add motion to the photos once I get this resolved. I don't want to nest either.

I don't know if there is something wrong with my copy of Premiere, but I've been trying to figure this out for the past two hours using Gemini, and the things suggested just don't seem to exist in my version. As far as I know, I have the latest version (26.0.2) but when I apply things like Gaussian Blur, I don't get the circle & square icons to use for creating a matte (not that I want to do a Gaussian Blur, just using it as an example as I've lost track of all the things I've attempted so far). I just am NEVER finding the circle & square icon under effects in Effect Controls panels when they are applied to clips. Yet when I look at YouTube videos, this seems to be how it works. Any ideas as far as why it's not working, or what to do differently? Thanks!

    2 replies

    Warren Heaton
    Community Expert
    Warren HeatonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 22, 2026



    If it’s still images, it should work to draw a rectangle (Graphics and Titles > New Layer > Rectangle) in Premiere with the fill set to black.  Adjust the Position, Rotation and Scale as needed.  Instead of superimposing the rectangle over the still image in two Video Tracks, use Graphics and Titles > New Layer > From File… to import the still image into a Graphic and then draw the rectangle in the resulting Graphic.

     

    If it’s video, it’s fairly quick to send Clips to After Effects, use Face Tracking (Detailed Features) to trace the eyes, draw a Shape Layer Path with a Stroke set to the desired width, create Nulls from that Path, and then link the Nulls to Left Eye Outer and Right Eye Outer of the Face Tracking such that the black bar follows over the eyes of the subject’s face.  This is easier to do with at least an intermediate understanding of After Effects.  If “Replace with After Effects Composition” is used to get to After Effects, the results will update right away in Premiere.  Once approved, use Render and Replace to speed performance in the Premiere Pro Timeline.

    Pictured:  mixkit-man-on-a-green-screen-on-a-phone-call-28286-full-hd.mp4 from MixKit with black box over subject’s eyes.

     

     

     

    sharon editrix
    sharon editrixAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 22, 2026

    For my purposes, I don’t want the black matte to be a separate layer, so while I think my process is a little funky, the solution works and only takes seconds to implement for each photo. 

    Ann Bens
    Community Expert
    Ann BensCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 21, 2026

    If you do not want an extra track or nest, and you want the box embedded in the photo you will have to do that in e.g. Photoshop or add the photo to a graphic containing the black box.

    As for the circle and square icons that has changed.

    What’s new in Adobe Premiere on desktop

    Use object masking in Premiere Pro

    When following tutorials make sure they match the version you are using.

    Best no to use AI its contains often wrong or outdated information. Stick to the Help (F1)

    sharon editrix
    sharon editrixAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 21, 2026

    Since making this post, I discovered the new mask tool. While I’ve found plenty of explanations for how to create masks, I’ve found no explanations for how to use a mask to create a black box, just a blur.

    R Neil Haugen
    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    March 21, 2026

    One can try to do things in the way you think they should work, or ... maybe a better option? ... is find out how the thing does work. Ann can give great help if you give enough explanation and then simply follow what she says.

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
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