P: Lasso Tool

[cdScott]

I'm hoping that the Adobe developers are monitoring this forum, because it would be a huge help to me, if there were a lasso tool (magnetic and polygonal) in Lightroom, to select areas for broad adjustments, such as those available with the adjustment brush.  Sometimes, it's just too tedious to use brush strokes, and a lasso would make selecting the area to be affected so much easier.

[ManiacJoe]

As a rule with exceptions, Adobe does not monitor this user-to-user forum.

To report bugs and make enhancement requests, go here:

Photoshop Family Customer Community

[andrews87970083]

I do a lot of real estate photography, and when shooting interiors, the windows are often blown out.  I can use a filter brush to mask and lower the exposure, but this is sloppy and time-consuming.  Is there a way to set lines as barriers or draw rectangles to set a filter area?  Thanks!

[Just Shoot Me]

No rectangle selection in LR.

I suggest you invest in some flashes, lighting, for your camera/photography.

[ManiacJoe]

Unfortunately, you need to go to Photoshop that level of masking. Lightroom's masking is limited to the size/shape of the brush and color matching when the auto-mask is turned on.

[JohanElzenga]

The new Range Mask may be useful here. Brush over the window and ignore the fact that you will go over the edges. Then add a luminosity range mask and use that to limit the brushed area to the brightest pixels.

[John R Ellis]

You can brush perfectly straight lines with the adjustment brush -- rather than holding the mouse down, click where the line should start, and then shift-click where it should end. Each time you shift click, it draws a straight line from where you last brushed.

For windows, I often select a low value for Feather and Automask, then straight-line brush the edges of the window. Then with Automask turned off, I fill in the window. When Automask doesn't work as well, I'll brush a straight line without it. Here's a video: Dropbox - straight-lines-adjustment-brush.2019.03.01.mov

[andrews87970083]

This is exactly what I was looking for.  Thank you very much.  If I could figure out how to change the correct answer to yours I would do that for this discussion.  I really appreciate your feedback!

[olewo]

Hello

I use Lightroom on iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. I primary edit wildlife photos and primary of birds.

The Automasking works great, but it struggles with the tip of the wings, specially on action photos. I have to correct it with the Apple Pencil and it takes a lot of time, and it's very difficult to be 100 % presice.

Is it possible to make an magnetic brush and/or improve the subject algorithm? I think the job would be much more easy with a brush who stuck to the wingtips and not spills between the feathers.

Hope you can make something out of my idea! 

Beat regards Ole Jørgen 

Instagram: olewo

[jonz75803620]

It would be great Adobe if you would add a polygonal selection masking tool to Lightroom Classic.  I've wished for this for some time and it's cumbersome to use workaround methods like tracing with a small brush along the edges and then "fill" the selection in the middle with a larger brush.

Please consider adding a polygonal selection mask tool--SOON!

Jon

[Gui G]

I shoot a lot of interior photography. And with the summer on the way, the difference between sunlight from the outside and the shade on the inside is sometimes multiple stops. To darken the windows, I use a radial gradient adjustment mask. But my windows are always square. And sometimes with large glass windows, very big. Because the radial is round, I always have lighter corners that are not covered by the radial. 

I would like to have a square adjustment gradient that works the same way as the radial gradient. Or be able to select a portion on the image with corners instead of rounds. But I would like to be able to select the window and adjust these. 

Thank you

[John R Ellis]

There have been a fair number of requests for this over the years from real-estate photographers.  Here's one technique that can make accurate masking of windows go faster (see this screen recording), though not as fast as if rectangular masking were fully implemented:

1. Start with a smaller brush with Auto Mask turned off and a reduced Feather (e.g. 26).

2. Click in one corner of the window, with the inner circle of the brush cursor just touching the window edges.

3. Shift-click in each of the subsequent corners to create straight brush strokes from corner to corner

4. Switch to Auto Mask to get the small bit of each corner not selected.

5. Turn off Auto Mask, make the brush bigger, and fill in the middle of the window.

[John R Ellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with the existing Idea:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/p-lasso-tool/idi-p/10196505

[John R Ellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with this existing Idea:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/p-lasso-tool/idi-p/10196505

[defaultq7riyfxfqxrk]

So resently I had to shoot some HDR pics for a realtor gig and did the edits in lightroom to take advantage of the batch time capture and HDR conversion using my bracketed photos. But when I started to edit I had to mask the windows to get the interior and exterior exposures even, nothing new to real estate photos. In stead of sending the photo to photoshop and doing the edit there then bringing back the photo to Lightroom I used a round mask and the brush to speed up the process since I had a quick turnaround. This is when I had an idea or more like a question? Why doesn't Lightroom have a free forming mask option for things like this? It would be so much easier to mask out windows and such then adjust exposure and colors instead of all this back and forth from apps. Adobe if your listening, please add a free form mask to be able to make any shape needed to mask out. That's my rant for the day, hope some listens or jumps on the band wagon with me.

[GoldingD]

Create the mask, use the brush, auto off, Need not be neat, then Intersect with Luminance Range.

[Java Jack]

While I love almost everything about Lightroom, I scratch my head as to why I cannot create a rectangular window and only have the option of an an oval shaped window? I am a colorist for television and feature films and the tools that I use in that world always offer ovals and rectangular windows. Yes, ovals are very useful, but if you wish to define say a window or a door in a house or building, or so many manmade things in the world, you need a rectangle. I usually end up using paint to define these areas and it's an unnecessary waste of my time, when a quick rectangle shape would adjust the area I need to work on. I hope others are feeling the same way and we can get this much needed, basic tool in our Lightroom arsenal. 

[Theresa J]

I think you are wanting to create a square or rectangular shaped selection. It is possible to do this with linear gradients.

[GoldingD]

In your mask, select say a brush, or a radial gradient, whatever, create that mask, then Intersect that with a color range or luminous range.The initial mask does not need to be geometricaly perfect or neat.

[Java Jack]

Theresa, are you talkinga bout setting up a linear gradient and then intersecting it 3 more times with additonal linear gradients? I realize this is a way of doing it, but extremely time consuming to accomplish this. When I am in an edit suite with a client, they want to see immediate results, apply a mask and adjust, Yes, No, move on. We need a square mask tool like the oval mask tool. 

[Java Jack]

GoldingG, I know this is a way, but I consider this a major workaround for a tool that should be in our arsenal. 

[Theresa J]

I agree that a marquee selection would be useful. While it is possible to create it with four linear gradients, it is a bit of a pain to do.

[Java Jack]

Here's another point to consider. Lightroom for timelapses and hyperlapses, which I do a lot of. These Lightroom projects can contain hundreds of images in a sequence in the same Lightroom project. If a mask needs to move, animate or reposition  over time during that sequence of images, I want to be moving one mask and not 4 masks intersecting. Thanks for listening. 

[John R Ellis]

Agreed that rectangular and other-shaped masks would be useful.  Here's a tip for using the brush tool to draw straight lines:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/p-lasso-tool/idc-p/10382227#M15362 

Not as fast as having polygonal selections built-in, but faster than free-hand.

[John R Ellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with this existing Idea:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/p-lasso-tool/idi-p/10196505

[Java Jack]

Very cool, Thanks for the video.