Skip to main content
D
digitaltranc3
Participant
April 30, 2025

P: Some AI Mask Overlays do not appear (Win)

  • April 30, 2025
  • 34 replies
  • 5965 views

Product: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Desktop/Cloud-based version)

Version: 8.3

Operating System: Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, OS build 26100.3915

Date: April 30, 2025

Issue Description:

Since updating to Lightroom Desktop version 8.3, I am experiencing an inconsistent issue where mask overlays for certain AI-generated masks fail to display on some images. This makes visually confirming or refining these specific AI selections difficult or impossible when the issue occurs.

Specifically:

  • Mask overlays for Select Background and Select People appear to work correctly and consistently display their overlays.
  • Mask overlays for Select Subject, Select Sky, Select Objects, and the new Landscape Masking features are intermittently invisible. The overlay simply fails to appear on certain images for these mask types, while potentially working correctly on others.
  • When the overlay is invisible for these specific AI masks, the mask itself is generated (adjustments affect the correct area), but the visual feedback (overlay) is missing.
  • Overlays for manually created masks (Brush, Linear Gradient, Radial Gradient) consistently display correctly as expected IF a new mask is created with these, but adding a Brush, Linear Gradient, Radial Gradient does not show the color overlay on masks created with the above problematic mask types.
  • This inconsistent behavior began immediately following the update to version 8.3. Functionality was normal and consistent in the prior version on this same system.
  • This issue is not related to standard overlay visibility settings being incorrect (details below).

 

System Information:

  • CPU: 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12950HX
  • RAM: 64.0 GB
  • GPU: NVIDIA RTX A3000 12GB Laptop GPU
  • GPU Driver Version (Latest Tested): R570 U4 (573.06) (Clean installed & tested: April 29, 2025)
  • System Type: 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

 

Troubleshooting Steps Performed (Exhaustive - All Failed to Resolve the Intermittent Issue):

The following steps have been systematically performed. The intermittent invisibility of overlays for Subject, Sky, Object, and Landscape AI masks persists:

  1. Standard Overlay Settings Verified Correct:
    • Confirmed "Show Overlay" checkbox in the Masking panel is ON.
    • Cycled through all available Overlay Modes using Shift+O.
    • Confirmed the main Mask Opacity slider is set sufficiently high (e.g., >50%).
    • Explicitly checked the nested Overlay Opacity setting via the ... menu > Color Overlay Settings > Opacity slider; confirmed it is set well above 0%.
    • Toggled overlay visibility off/on using the O key.
  2. GPU Configuration & Driver Verification:
    • Toggled the Preferences > Performance > Use Graphics Processor setting through all states (Auto, Off, Custom/On explicitly enabled) followed by Lightroom restarts. The issue occurs regardless of GPU acceleration status.
    • Performed clean installations of NVIDIA GPU drivers. Tested thoroughly with driver version 572.76 and confirmed the issue persists even with the latest production driver R570 U4 (573.06) (released April 28, 2025), also installed cleanly.
  3. Lightroom Application Resets:
    • Performed a full Lightroom Preference Reset using the Alt+Shift key combination during launch and confirming the dialog prompt.
    • Manually located and reset the Lightroom AI Model Cache by renaming/deleting relevant folders (e.g., ModelZoo, CR_OCPS, ModelAssets within relevant %APPDATA%\Adobe\CameraRaw, %APPDATA%\Adobe\Lightroom, or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Adobe\Lightroom folders) to force a complete redownload of AI assets.
    • Performed a full uninstall and reinstall of Lightroom Desktop 8.3 via the Creative Cloud application, including associated component cleanup where possible.
  4. System Environment Isolation:
    • Created a brand new local Administrator user account on Windows. Logged into the new account, launched Lightroom, synced minimal data, and tested AI masking. The intermittent issue persists in the new user profile.
    • Reviewed running background processes and services; disabled non-essential software temporarily; no obvious conflicts identified.
    • Ensured the Operating System (Windows 11 Pro 24H2) is fully updated with all current patches.
    • Performed multiple system restarts throughout the troubleshooting process.
  5. Content Variance Test:
    • Tested the AI masking overlay issue across numerous different image files (various camera RAW formats, JPGs). The problem where overlays fail to show for Subject/Sky/Object/Landscape masks occurs intermittently, seemingly dependent on the specific image, but the exact trigger hasn't been identified. Background/People masks consistently work on the same images where others fail.

 

Context Regarding Related Issues:

The intermittent nature makes this difficult to reproduce reliably. I have seen a related (though different) report in the Community about AI mask overlays failing 'on hover' in Lightroom Desktop 8.3, potentially indicating broader instability with AI mask visualization in this version.

Impact:

This bug introduces unpredictability and significantly hinders workflow when using Subject, Sky, Object, or Landscape AI masks, as visual confirmation is unreliable. It forces extra steps or requires rolling back to a previous version to guarantee functionality.

 

Request to Adobe and Community:

  1. Is Adobe aware of this specific issue (intermittent invisibility of Subject/Sky/Object/Landscape AI mask overlays) in Lightroom Desktop 8.3? Is it under investigation?
  2. Are other users encountering this specific type of intermittent failure with these particular AI masks? If so, have any specific image characteristics or triggers been identified?
  3. Are there any known conflicts or alternative workarounds (beyond downgrading) that might address this inconsistency?

Any insights or official acknowledgement would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

    34 replies

    Show previous replies
    D
    defaultevmwk7alewi7
    Participant
    May 8, 2025

    After I create a mask in lightroom and i click out of the mask and i then try to go back into it. it will not show my mask again. it would only show the icon and not the red outline of what i masked. 

      Rikk Flohr_Photography
      Community Manager
      Rikk Flohr_PhotographyCommunity Manager
      May 5, 2025

      We've thus far been unable to reproduce this failure internally. We do have a bug open to investigate, but it would help us greatly identify the culprit if someone who is afflicted could provide precise, reproducible instructions that our engineers could use to diagnose the problem. 
      Our engineers have identified the issue and are working on the fix for an upcoming release. 

      Thank you for your patience. 

      Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org
        T
        Thomithy Trash
        Participant
        May 3, 2025

        I'm using Windows 11, Lightroom Cloud Based V8.3.

         

        I've only been using lightroom for about 6 months, and every time theres an update I think "hey maybe this will finally be fixed" but it ends up just being another AI data scraping thing no-one wants instead of a patch that makes the product we're paying for fit for purpose.

         

        Steps to recreate the issue.

         

        1. Open lightroom.

        2. Choose a photo, any photo, or import a new one to try it on.

        3. Create a new mask, doesn't matter which kind.

        4. Make a change to the mask. Whether it's widening a radial gradient, adjusting the angle of a radial gradient, using the brush to remove half of the background from your mask because the useless AI can't differentiate between a blue sky and a red bird, small changes, big changes, doesn't matter. Just continue working for somewhere from 2-30 seconds

        5. Now, the coloured overlay will either:

        a. disappear for no reason, or

        b. remain visible even when you toggle it on and off with the "show overlay" toggle, but at some point will disappear, never to return

        6. New masks appear without an overlay, and cannot be toggled on.

         

        6 months ago this only happened occasionally, and I was able to fix the issue by just relaunching lightroom. When that stopped working I found a "reset the preferences" method that worked for 2 days until another update came through. Then I found the only way to fix it was to delete the photo from my lightroom library, restart my computer and import it again, of course this means starting the edit from scratch. Now, not even a fresh install does anything.

         

        With this latest update, I can't mask at all because I have at most 30 seconds to create a mask with any degree of accuracy. I've googled every variation of this issue I can think of and tried every fix suggested to anyone who ever had a remotely similar issue, and while I'm happy to try anything suggested that I haven't already, I'd be more receptive to suggestions for alternatives to lightroom that work consistently.

          simonw7491262
          simonw7491262
          Participant
          May 9, 2025

          Lightroom v8.3.1, PC, Windows 11

          Steps to Reproduce:
          1. Open a photograph in Lightroom,

          2. Choose masking and create a mask, noting the default red overlay

          3. After making your selection, zoom (say to add or remove finer detail from the mask),

          4. Return to the mask.

           

          Results:

          The red overlay is no longer present. It is no longer possible to see what you have added or removed from the overlay. The overlay is shown as "on" in the sidebar. Toggling it off and on does nothing. Rebooting Lightroom or PC and Lightroom does nothing. The mask is useless. A new mask will have the overlay only until you leave it and then come back to it, then this issue occurs again. Making using the app very difficult.

            Anshul_Saini
            Community Manager
            Anshul_SainiCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            April 30, 2025

            Hi @digitaltranc3,

            Thanks for the detailed and well-structured report — it’s clear you’ve done a thorough job troubleshooting this.

             

            That said, while your explanation is excellent, we’re currently missing the supporting materials (like screenshots, screen recordings, or sample files) that we need in order to escalate this to the product team effectively. Since the issue is intermittent, we completely understand that capturing it may take a little time.

             

            To help us investigate further, please do the following:

            • System Info: Go to Lightroom > Help > System Info, save the details in a .txt file, and upload it here.

            • Sample Image: Share one or more image files where this issue occurred (any image that reproduces the behavior).

            • Screen Recording: If possible, record your screen when the issue happens — even a short clip will help us a lot.

            Once we have those, we’ll check with our dev and product teams to see if this behavior is known or currently being addressed.

             

            Thanks again for your patience and cooperation!

            Best,

            Anshul Saini

            D
            digitaltranc3Author
            Participant
            April 30, 2025

            Please find the requested items attached. Thank you.

            I am getting an error attempting to attach the DNG here (even when exported from Lightroom: "The attachment's pxl_20250310_234913877.raw-02.original.dng content type (image/DNG) does not match its file extension and has been removed." So I am sharing it via Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bWkCumaSJ7sTMoSl2CYR4G64AysQhcUi/view?usp=sharing 

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