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sabrinajones
sabrinajones
New Participant
September 2, 2017
Answered

Brush Feature - Red highlight not showing.

  • September 2, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 28874 views

Hello!

I use the brush feature to make edits in Lightroom and normally when I click "O" on my Mac a red highlight shows up to show me where I've painted. I've messed around with it and I can't figure out why that won't appear any more. Is there something in the settings that I messed up?

Also, what does "Auto Mask" mean?

Thanks!

Sabrina

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer JoeKostoss

In the left end of the tool bar under the main image you can select when to show the mask overlay.  tapping the letter "o" (not zero} key on the keyboard toggles this on and off.  If you don't see the tool bar, tap the letter t on the keyboard.

Auto mask is something different entirely.  Auto mask is used if you want to edit, say, a bright sky, but not the dark mountains or trees next to it.  Auto mask detects the edges of the color under the brush cross hairs and only edits that color.  If you have Auto Mask turned on and are brushing over a complex area, the red overlay may not cover the entire area brushed as you might be expecting, but only selected colors in that complex area.  You will also not see the overlay color if you have the brush density or flow sliders moved toward the left near 0.

2 replies

Rob_Cullen
Rob_Cullen
Community Expert
September 3, 2017

To add to Joe's answer-

The Overlay (o) that indicates the area you are brushing can be changed in color by toggling with [SHIFT+O]  (the letter o)

It toggles through the colors- Green Grey White and Red.

 

So - [ o ]  is on/off

[Shift+o] changes the overlay color.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.0, Photoshop 27.0, ACR 18.0, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0 .
    JoeKostoss
    JoeKostossCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    September 2, 2017

    In the left end of the tool bar under the main image you can select when to show the mask overlay.  tapping the letter "o" (not zero} key on the keyboard toggles this on and off.  If you don't see the tool bar, tap the letter t on the keyboard.

    Auto mask is something different entirely.  Auto mask is used if you want to edit, say, a bright sky, but not the dark mountains or trees next to it.  Auto mask detects the edges of the color under the brush cross hairs and only edits that color.  If you have Auto Mask turned on and are brushing over a complex area, the red overlay may not cover the entire area brushed as you might be expecting, but only selected colors in that complex area.  You will also not see the overlay color if you have the brush density or flow sliders moved toward the left near 0.

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