Preset to clear masks?

[DavePinMinn]

I can find a lot of posts about how masks get passed in presets, but I have a preset that completely resets an image to zero - everything.  It leaves the white balance as shot, and everthing else is zero.  And I can apply it to a group of images I want to use repeatedly for demonstrations to ensure they start clean.

My problem is I can't see how to have it also remove any masks on the images.

I deleted all the xmp files, but that didn't work.

I tried putting an empty mask on a image, that didn't work.  The "update preset with settings" doesn't let me select Masking.  I CAN put a mask on that actually DOES something, but thats the OPPOSITE of what I want.

So, HOW do I keep a set of images in Lightroom, and completely clear EVERYTHING including any masks on them with a preset?

[JohanElzenga]

This was changed with the new masking. A preset will always merge masks, not replace a mask. That means you cannot delete all masks using a preset that contains an 'empty' mask, and you cannot select 'no mask' either.

What you could try is to turn off automatically save changes to XMP, and then manually save to XMP while the image has no edits. Then when you want to clear all edits, you choose to read metadata from XMP. I never tried this but I think this might work.

[Jao vdL]

Easiest I think is to first reset the image and then apply your preset.

[richardplondon]

There doesn't seem to be any way to do this with a preset, with how presets / syncing are designed.

Easiest way would be to Reset those images instead. Chances are, the selection of "As Shot" WB is still in the default processing, which will then be seen. Or if you have altered those processing defaults to employ some other value or preset entry for WB, that can be put back.

To (only) bulk remove all masks across a selection of images, you can highlight them, turn on AutoSync, then for an active image which has got local adjustments present, right-click (Cmd+click) on one of those in the Masks panel, and then choose "Delete All Masks". This action will be applied for this image and also for all the other highlighted images, as a fresh History step within each one - hence, reversibly.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography · Accepted solution]

The method to do this in the new Masking should be to copy/paste from an image without a mask to an image with a mask. If Masking is the only item selected in the Copy dialog, then it will paste and replace the existing mask with no mask and leave the rest of the image alone. 

[DavePinMinn]

I think I'm doing the same thing...  I found that using Sync DID sync both cropping and masks, so if I clear an image of EVERYTHING I can sync all the others.  It's a lot slower than hitting a preset, but it looks like it works.

Thanks all, I'll just do what I need using Sync.

[richardplondon]

There's a Reset button right there though - one click, the same as a preset, and this option does clear masks as well as all other processing, right back to LrC (per camera) default starting point. If you want to control what that starting point consists of, different than the Adobe default, then you can do so - by setting a preset to be automatically used for that case. It is routine that As-Shot white balance will get shown for a Raw, also where the camera supports it, there may be an auto selection of camera matching profile to follow camera settings, or otherwise your choice of either the default Adobe Color profile or else of some other one, e.g. Adobe Standard or one of the camera-matching ones.

Of course a camera JPG will by default receive no adjustment hence that will be naturally shown again As Shot in all respects, after a Reset.

You might consider virtual copies, e.g. made directly into a fresh Collection, and then only these to be Reset.

Sync has got to be much the slower way IMO.

[Bob Somrak]

Use the Built-in ZEROED preset for this. It gets rid of all adjustments. 

[JohanElzenga]

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@Bob Somrak wrote:

Use the Built-in ZEROED preset for this. It gets rid of all adjustments. 

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All adjustments except masks. Adobe had the same problem with this preset as anybody else: you cannot select masks when you create a preset if the active image does not have any masks.

[DavePinMinn]

Does that preset still exist?  I found references to it from 2011, and one from Julieanne Kost in 2016 - in the "Lightroom General Presets", but in the current version of Lightroom Classic I'm not seeing it - BUT, I don't have every preset available turned on...

Either way, I have a preset that turns off what it can, but I've noticed two things that are a problem - there's no way to select Crop, so I can't reset the crop in the preset, and I can't reset the masking.  So, the preset to completely zero an image or bunch of images is a lot less useful.  Or, I'm looking in the wrong place...

[Jao vdL]

Dave, I am curious as you might have missed the suggestion or there is a reason I am not aware of but why doesn't "reset all" in library work for you? It should reset everything to the import default (usually all zero'ed) and delete any masks present. You can also set the default to your zero preset if you want everything including the detail sliders at zero.

[DavePinMinn]

Because it resets the images to the import default.  My images come in with an ISO-dependent preset applied, and unless it's changed, the last time I did the reset in the Library, it put the image back to the post-import settings.

I can try it again, but I'd like to get everything that was ever changed on the image removed so it's back to the original.

[Ian Lyons]

Assuming your images are raw, then you can change the raw defaults to use your ISO-dependent preset during import. The benefit of this approach is that resetting will leave your ISO-dependent settings as per your preset. You can find more info on this at https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/lightroom-classic-set-defaults-for-raw-...

[Bob Somrak]

I was incorrect about "Zeroed" resetting the Masks.   The Adobe Built-in Preset that removes masks is "Adobe Default".  I just tried this as I am back at my computer.  Adobe apparently has a special SECRET preset instruction that will reset the Masks in a preset.  As this is built in I can't see what the preset is doing.  At one time you could hold a modifier key down and the RESET button.would change to Reset Adobe but for some reason this was removed.