As a professional photographer, I can tell you that a good edit starts with a “global” adjustment. You fix the overall exposure, set the white balance, and apply your base style. But a great edit? That comes from the details. It comes from “local” adjustments. This is the art of guiding the viewer’s eye, adding pop to your subject, and toning down distractions. For years, our main tool for this job has been the Adjustment Brush in Adobe Lightroom.

Lightroom’s brushes are powerful. They let us paint light, shadow, sharpness, and color onto any part of our image. But they have always had one massive problem: they are slow. Manually brushing every photo in a gallery is tedious. For a wedding or a big portrait session, it can add dozens of hours to your workflow.

This guide is for the working photographer. We will cover how to master Lightroom’s brushes, from the classic tools to the new AI masking panel. But we won’t stop there. We will also discuss the “why” and “how” of this work, the time it costs you, and how to get that time back by using smart, professional tools like Imagen to automate the most time-consuming parts of the job.

Key Takeaways

  • Global vs. Local: Global edits (like the Basic panel) affect the whole image. Local edits (like brushes) affect only specific parts. Pros use local edits to make their subjects stand out.
  • The Masking Panel: Modern Lightroom (Lightroom Classic version 11.0 and newer) moved brushes into a “Masking” panel. This panel also includes powerful AI tools like “Select Subject” and “Select Sky.”
  • Classic Brush Settings: Mastering the classic brush means understanding Size, Feather (softness), Flow (build-up speed), and Density (maximum amount).
  • The “O” Key is Your Best Friend: Press “O” to show a red overlay of your mask. This lets you see exactly where you are painting and helps you create clean, blended edges.
  • The Problem is Time: Manual brushing is the biggest bottleneck in professional photo editing. A single wedding can require 20+ hours of just brushing and masking.
  • Automation is the Solution: Tools like Imagen use AI to automate common, repetitive masking tasks. Features like Subject Mask, Background Mask, Smooth Skin, and Whiten Teeth do in seconds what takes hours to do by hand.
  • AI Gives You Control: Using an AI tool like Imagen doesn’t mean losing control. It creates the masks for you inside Lightroom. You can still tweak, add to, or subtract from the masks it creates.
  • The 80/20 Rule: Let automation (like Imagen) handle 80-90% of the work (culling, global edits, and common masks). You use your valuable time for the final 10-20% of creative, artistic brushing on your “hero” shots.

Part 1: The Foundation – What Are Lightroom Brushes?

Before we dive into the “how,” let’s quickly cover the “what” and “why.”

What is “Local” vs. “Global” Editing?

This is the most important concept to understand.

  • Global Edits: These are the sliders in your main “Develop” panel (like in the “Basic” tab). When you move the Exposure slider, the exposure of the entire photograph changes. It’s a global change.
  • Local Edits: These are adjustments that you apply to a specific area of the photo. When you use a brush to paint over a person’s face and increase the exposure, only the face gets brighter. You are locally adjusting the image.

Why do we need local edits? Because this is how you tell a story. You make the subject (like a couple) brighter. You make a distracting bright spot in the background darker. You sharpen the eyes. You soften the skin. You are in full control, directing the viewer’s attention exactly where you want it to go. This is what separates a basic snapshot from a professional, polished image.

The Evolution: From a Simple Brush to a “Masking Panel”

For many years, Lightroom had a simple “Adjustment Brush” tool. You clicked its icon, you painted, you moved sliders.

In 2021 (with version 11.0), Adobe completely changed this. They introduced the Masking Panel.

You can find this panel in the Develop module. It’s a circle icon located just above the Basic panel. The keyboard shortcut is Shift + W.

All the old tools are now inside this panel, plus new AI-powered ones. When you click it, you’ll see options like:

  • Brush: The classic adjustment brush we all know and love.
  • Linear Gradient: A mask that fades in a straight line.
  • Radial Gradient: A mask that fades in a circle or oval.
  • Select Subject (AI): Automatically finds and masks people, animals, and objects.
  • Select Sky (AI): Automatically finds and masks the sky.
  • Select Background (AI): Automatically finds and masks everything except the subject.

This was a huge change. Brushing is no longer a standalone tool. It’s one part of a powerful, modern masking system.

Part 2: A Deep Dive into the Classic Adjustment Brush

Even with all the new AI tools, you still need to know how to use the classic brush. It’s your “manual” tool for all the small details the AI might miss.

When you open the Masking Panel (Shift + W), just click on “Brush” to get started. Lightroom will create a new mask and your cursor will turn into a brush.

Now, look at the settings. These are your controls.

Understanding the Brush Settings

  • Size: This one is easy. It’s how big your brush is. You can use the slider or the scroll wheel on your mouse. The shortcut is using the bracket keys ([ and ]) on your keyboard. [ makes it smaller, ] makes it bigger.
  • Feather: This is the most important setting for getting a clean, professional look. Feather controls the softness of the brush’s edge.
    • Feather at 100: This is a very soft brush. The effect fades off gradually. This is what you want for 90% of your work. It helps your adjustments blend into the photo. Use it for skin, dodging, and burning.
    • Feather at 0: This is a very hard edge, like a pen. It’s very rare to use this, as it creates obvious, ugly lines. You might use it for a very hard-edged object, but it’s not common.
  • Flow: This controls how much “paint” comes out of your brush with each stroke. Think of it like a can of spray paint.
    • Flow at 100: You get 100% of the effect in one click.
    • Flow at 25: You only get 25% of the effect. To get to 100%, you have to click and “paint” over the same area four times.
    • Why use low Flow? It’s perfect for “building up” an effect. When dodging and burning, I often use a low flow (20-30) and build up the light or shadow slowly. It looks much more natural.
  • Density: This sets the maximum amount your brush can paint, no matter how many times you stroke it. If you set Density to 50, you can never go above a 50% effect in that area.
  • Flow vs. Density (The Pro Tip): What’s the difference?
    • Flow is about speed. A low flow just means you have to build up to 100%.
    • Density is about limits. A low density sets a hard cap that you cannot go over.
    • Most of the time, you will want to keep Density at 100 and only adjust Flow.

Auto Mask: The “Smart” Brush

There is one more setting: Auto Mask. This is a checkbox.

When Auto Mask is on, Lightroom tries to detect edges based on color and contrast. It will try to keep your brush “inside the lines.”

  • When to use it: When you are painting an object with a very clear, sharp edge. For example, brushing the sky around a building. The little plus-sign in the middle of your brush is the “sample” area. As long as that plus-sign stays on the color you want to paint, Auto Mask will try to stop the “spill.”
  • When NOT to use it: Never use Auto Mask on soft, blurry, or low-contrast edges. It will create a terrible, “chunky” looking mask. Never use it for softening skin or painting on hair. It will be a mess. Turn it off for that.

The “Paint and Tweak” Workflow

Here is the simple, 3-step process professionals use.

  1. Step 1: Create and Paint. Open the Masking Panel (Shift+W), select “Brush,” and set your sliders (like Exposure) to zero. Now, press the “O” key. This turns on the red mask overlay. You will see exactly where you are painting. Paint the area you want to adjust (e.g., the subject’s face).
  2. Step 2: Tweak. Once you’re done painting, press “O” again to hide the red overlay. Now, move your adjustment sliders. Increase the Exposure or lift the Shadows. You will see your effect applied only to the area you painted.
  3. Step 3: Refine. Is the mask too big? Hold the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Mac). Your brush will turn into an “Erase” brush. You can now paint to remove parts of the mask. Or, in the new Masking Panel, you can click the “Subtract” button and choose “Brush.”

That’s it. You just add, subtract, and tweak until it’s perfect.

Common Brushing Techniques for Photographers

Here are the bread-and-butter tasks we use brushes for every day.

  • Dodging and Burning: This is a classic technique from the darkroom.
    • Dodge (Lighten): Create a new brush mask. Name it “Dodge.” Set Feather high (e.g., 80) and Flow low (e.g., 25). Gently paint over areas you want to make brighter, like under the eyes or on the cheekbones. Then, slowly raise the Exposure or Shadows slider.
    • Burn (Darken): Create a new brush mask. Name it “Burn.” Use similar settings. Paint on areas you want to darken, like a bright, distracting part of the background. Slowly lower the Exposure or Highlights.
  • Enhancing Eyes (The “Trifecta”): This is a must-do for portraits.
    • Mask 1 (Iris): Create a new mask. Use a small, soft brush to paint only the colored part of the eye (the iris). Increase Clarity and Saturation just a little bit. It makes the eyes pop.
    • Mask 2 (Whites): Create a new mask. Paint the white parts of the eye (the sclera). Lower the Saturation (or pull Temp cooler) to remove yellowing. You can gently raise Exposure. Be careful not to make them look like glowing alien eyes.
    • Mask 3 (Catchlights): Create a new mask. Use a tiny brush and just “tap” the bright catchlights in the eye. Raise the Exposure to make them sparkle.
  • Softening Skin:
    • Create a new mask. Use a large, soft brush (high feather, 100 flow). Press “O” to see your overlay and paint over all the skin, avoiding the eyes, mouth, and hair (Auto Mask is bad for this).
    • Now, lower the Clarity slider (e.g., -20) or the Texture slider (e.g., -15). This gives a nice, soft-focus look while keeping the skin texture.

Part 3: Beyond the Brush – The Power of the AI Masking Panel

What I just described is the manual way. It’s powerful, but it’s slow.

This is where the new AI tools in the Masking Panel come in. These tools are designed to create a starting point for your mask, saving you the time of painting it all by hand.

AI Masking: The Game Changer

  • Select Subject: You click this, and Lightroom analyzes the photo and automatically creates a mask for the main person, animal, or object. It’s not always 100% perfect, but it’s often 95% of the way there in one second.
  • Select Background: This just masks everything except the subject. It’s the inverse of “Select Subject.” This is fantastic for our “burning” technique. One click, and the background is masked, ready for you to darken it.

Combining AI and Manual Brushes for Total Control

This is the real “pro” workflow. You don’t have to choose between AI or manual brushing. You use them together.

Here is a perfect example of a modern portrait workflow:

  1. Step 1 (AI): Open the Masking Panel (Shift+W) and click “Select Subject.” Lightroom creates a mask of the person in 2 seconds.
  2. Step 2 (Tweak): Adjust your sliders. Raise the Shadows and add a tiny bit of Exposure to lift your subject.
  3. Step 3 (Refine): Press “O” to see the mask. Let’s say the AI missed a small spot between the subject’s arm and body.
  4. Step 4 (Manual): On that same mask, click the “Add” button and select “Brush.” Now, just paint in that small spot that the AI missed.

In 15 seconds, you’ve done what would have taken 2-3 minutes of careful manual painting. You let the AI do the heavy lifting and used the manual brush for the final, tiny fix.

Managing Multiple Masks

With this new panel, you’re going to create lots of masks. You’ll have one for the Subject, one for the Background, another for the Sky, and maybe a few manual brush masks for dodging and burning.

The Masking Panel shows these in a neat list. You must name your masks. This is a critical habit. Double-click on “Mask 1” and rename it “Subject Lift.” Rename “Mask 2” to “Background Burn.”

Why? Because when you come back to this photo in six months, you won’t have to click through 10 different masks to figure out which one was for the eyes.

Part 4: The Problem with Manual Brushing

Okay, so we’ve mastered the tools. We can paint by hand, and we can use AI to speed things up. So, what’s the problem?

The problem is volume.

If you’re a hobbyist editing 10 photos, this is all great. If you are a professional photographer delivering a 700-photo wedding gallery, this workflow is a complete nightmare.

The Time Sink: Clicks per Photo

Let’s do some simple, painful math.

  • You have a 500-photo portrait gallery to deliver.
  • On each photo, you want to do a few basic local adjustments:
    1. Lift the subject.
    2. Darken the background.
    3. Soften the skin.
    4. Enhance the eyes.
  • That’s 4 separate masks per photo.
  • Even using the AI tools, you have to click “Select Subject,” tweak, create a new mask, click “Select Background,” tweak… Let’s be very generous and say this takes you only 1 minute per photo to create and tweak all 4 masks.

500 photos x 1 minute/photo = 500 minutes = 8.3 HOURS.

That’s an entire workday just for local adjustments. That’s after you’ve already culled the gallery and after you’ve done your base global edits.

And what about a 1,000-photo wedding? That’s 16+ hours. For many of us, the real number is closer to 2-3 minutes per photo, which means that 500-photo gallery is closer to 25 hours of work.

The Consistency Challenge

The second problem is consistency. When you’re on photo #350 at 2:00 AM, is the “Skin Soften” you apply really the same as the one you applied on photo #12?

Are you dodging and burning with the same level of care? Of course not. You’re tired. You’re rushing. Your edits become sloppy. This creates an inconsistent final product for your client.

The Physical Strain

Let’s be real. Clicking a mouse and painting 2,000 masks (500 photos x 4 masks) is physically painful. It’s a direct path to repetitive strain injury (RSI) and carpal tunnel syndrome. Our bodies are not meant to do that.

This is the central problem of the professional photographer: we have the skill to make every photo perfect, but we lack the time and energy.

Part 5: The Solution – AI-Powered Masking with Imagen

This is where my professional workflow completely changed. I realized I needed a tool that wasn’t just inside Lightroom, but a tool that could run Lightroom for me.

This is what Imagen does.

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Imagen is a desktop app (that works with Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, Photoshop, and Bridge) that uses AI to automate your entire post-production workflow. It’s not just a masking tool; it’s a culling, editing, and masking tool all in one. But for this article, we’re focused on how it solves the brushing problem.

How Imagen Addresses Manual Masking

I looked at my 25-hour-per-gallery problem and realized most of that time was spent on the same repetitive tasks:

  1. Mask the subject.
  2. Mask the background.
  3. Mask the skin.
  4. Mask the teeth.

Imagen has “Additional AI Tools” that target these exact tasks. When I submit a gallery to be edited, I don’t just apply my AI Profile. I also check boxes for:

  • Subject Mask: Replicates “Select Subject.”
  • Background Mask: Replicates “Select Background.”
  • Smooth Skin: Analyzes the photo, finds the faces, and applies skin smoothing only to the skin.
  • Whiten Teeth: Finds smiles and applies a subtle, clean teeth-whitening adjustment.

The Imagen Workflow: Time and Consistency Solved

This is the new workflow.

  1. I finish a wedding. I load all the photos into a new Lightroom Classic catalog.
  2. I open the Imagen desktop app and point it to that catalog.
  3. I use Imagen’s Culling tool to sort my gallery.
  4. I select all my “keepers” and click “Edit.”
  5. I choose my Personal AI Profile (which Imagen built by learning from my past edits).
  6. I check the boxes for the AI Tools I need: Subject Mask, Smooth Skin, and Whiten Teeth.
  7. I click “Upload.” The Imagen app sends my photo data to the cloud for processing (which keeps my computer free) and then, in about 15-20 minutes, it downloads all the edits back into my Lightroom catalog.

Now, when I open Lightroom, that 500-photo gallery is done.

Every photo has my base edit. And every single photo already has a “Subject” mask applied, a “Skin” mask applied, and a “Teeth” mask applied.

That 25-hour job was reduced to 20 minutes.

This solves both problems:

  • Time: It’s almost instant.
  • Consistency: The AI applies the exact same logic to every single photo, 24/7. The skin smoothing on photo #1 is identical to photo #500. My clients get a perfectly consistent gallery.

You Still Have 100% Full Control

Here is the best part, and the reason this fits a pro workflow. Imagen doesn’t “flatten” the image. It’s not just a preset.

When I open an edited photo in Lightroom and click the Masking Panel, I see the masks that Imagen created. I see “Mask 1 (Imagen – Skin)” and “Mask 2 (Imagen – Subject).”

If I think the AI-generated “Subject” mask is a little too bright, I can click on that mask and lower the exposure slider. If I think the skin smoothing is too strong, I can lower the Clarity on that mask.

And just like my manual workflow, if the Imagen “Subject Mask” missed a tiny spot, I can click “Add” > “Brush” and paint that spot in myself.

This is the key. Imagen does 99% of the work, and I use my professional skill to do the final 1% check and refinement. I’ve turned a 25-hour-a-week job into a 1-hour-a-week job.

Linking to the Broader Platform

These masking tools are just one part of the Imagen system. They are powerful because they work with the other features.

  1. Culling: First, Imagen helps me sort the 5,000 photos from a wedding down to the 700 best ones.
  2. AI Profile Editing: Next, Imagen edits all 700 of those photos based on my Personal AI Profile, which it learned from my own editing style. This handles all my global adjustments (Exposure, White Balance, Tone Curve, etc.).
  3. AI Masking Tools: Finally, Imagen applies the local adjustments (Subject, Skin, etc.) on top of my global edit.

It’s a complete, end-to-end system for post-production. While you can use these features as standalone solutions, they are designed to work together to save you the most amount of time.

Part 6: Integrating Manual and AI Workflows

The future of photo editing is not “AI vs. Manual.” It’s “AI + Manual.”

A smart professional uses AI to eliminate the tasks that are repetitive and time-consuming. This frees up time for the tasks that are creative and artistic.

When to Still Use a Manual Brush

I let Imagen handle 100% of my culling, base edits, and common masks. This gets my galleries 95% complete.

I then spend my time only on the “hero” shots. These are the portfolio pieces, the “wow” shots for the album. On these 20-30 photos, I will go back in and add my artistic manual brushing.

  • I’ll add a manual “Burn” brush to the corners to create a vignette.
  • I’ll add a manual “Dodge” brush to the wedding dress details to make them pop.
  • I’ll create a new brush with a warm Temp and low Flow and paint in a “sun flare” on the side.

These are creative choices that an AI can’t predict. And because Imagen saved me 25 hours, I now have the time and creative energy to do this.

The 80/20 Rule for Editing

This is the new professional standard.

  • 80% of your work is repetitive: Culling duplicates, fixing white balance, brightening subjects, softening skin. This is a job. Let AI do this job.
  • 20% of your work is creative: Adding drama, telling a story, and putting your unique artistic stamp on an image. This is your art. You should do this art.

Tools like Imagen handle the 80%, so you can fall in love with your job again by focusing on the 20%.

Part 7: Practical Brushing “Recipes” (For Manual Tweaks)

When you do go in to do manual brushing, here are a few great “recipes” to build on top of your AI edit.

Recipe 1: The “Portrait Pop”

This is for making your subject truly stand out from the background.

  • Mask 1 (Subject): Let Imagen create this. Tweak as needed.
  • Mask 2 (Background): Let Imagen create this. Lower Exposure (-0.25), lower Highlights (-10), and lower Clarity (-15). This makes the background darker and softer, pushing it away.
  • Mask 3 (Eyes): Create a new Brush mask. Name it “Eyes.” Paint the irises. Add Clarity (+20) and Saturation (+15).

Recipe 2: The “Landscape Drama”

Perfect for adding “wow” to a landscape shot.

  • Mask 1 (Sky): Use the Select Sky tool. Lower Highlights (-30) and add Dehaze (+10). Maybe pull the Temp slightly cooler (blue).
  • Mask 2 (Foreground): In the Masking Panel, click the “…” on your Sky mask and choose “Duplicate and Invert Mask.” This perfectly selects your foreground. Raise Shadows (+25) and add Texture (+15).
  • Mask 3 (Vignette): Create a new Brush mask. High feather, low flow. Paint around the edges of the photo. Lower Exposure (-0.50). This pulls the viewer’s eye to the center.

Recipe 3: The “Subtle Dodge & Burn”

This is for adding 3D shape and dimension to a face or subject.

  • Mask 1 (Dodge): Create a new Brush mask. Set Flow to 20. Raise Exposure to +0.20. Gently paint on the natural highlights of the image (cheekbones, bridge of the nose, forehead).
  • Mask 2 (Burn): Create a new Brush mask. Set Flow to 20. Lower Exposure to -0.20. Gently paint on the natural shadows (under the chin, sides of the face, hairline).

Part 8: Brushing Beyond Lightroom

While Lightroom is our main tool, it’s good to know what else is out there.

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is the king of complex masking. When you need to do a head swap, remove a person from a background, or create a fantasy composite, you go to Photoshop. It uses Layer Masks, which are much more powerful than Lightroom’s masks. Its “Pen Tool” can create perfect, precise vector-based masks. But for 99% of a photographer’s workflow, it’s overkill.

Capture One

Capture One is another professional RAW editor. It doesn’t use “masks” in the same way. It uses “Layers.” You can create a new layer, brush on it, and then apply adjustments. It’s a very powerful system, especially for color grading, but it’s a different workflow. Many of the same principles (feather, flow, dodging, burning) still apply.

Conclusion: Work Smarter, Not Harder

Lightroom’s brushes give us ultimate control. They are the tools we use to turn a good photo into a great one. Mastering the manual brush is a foundational skill every photographer should have.

But as a professional, your most valuable asset is not your mouse. It’s your time.

The biggest bottleneck to a profitable, scalable photography business is the hours spent on repetitive, manual brushing.

The modern workflow is about integration. You use Lightroom’s powerful built-in AI tools like “Select Subject” for one-off shots. And for your high-volume galleries, you use a dedicated, end-to-end platform like Imagen to automate the entire process.

Let AI handle the 25 hours of boring work. Use the time you get back to build your business, spend time with your family, or just pick up your camera and enjoy the creative art you fell in love with in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What are the most important brush settings to learn? Feather and Flow. Feather (80-100) makes your adjustments blend naturally. Flow (20-40) lets you build up an effect slowly and subtly. Get those two right, and your edits will look professional.

2. Why is my brush painting in red? You have the mask overlay on. This is a good thing! It shows you where you’re painting. Just press the “O” key on your keyboard to turn it on and off.

3. How do I erase part of my brush stroke? Hold the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Mac) to turn your brush into an eraser. In the new Masking Panel, you can also select your mask, click “Subtract,” and choose “Brush.”

4. What’s the real difference between Flow and Density? Think of it this way: Flow is a spray paint can. A low flow builds up slowly, but you can still get to 100% paint. Density is a stencil. A 50% density means you can never paint more than 50% in that area, no matter how hard you try. 99% of the time, you should leave Density at 100 and only adjust Flow.

5. Can Imagen create any brush mask I want? No. Imagen’s AI Tools are trained to automate the most common and repetitive tasks: Subject Mask, Background Mask, Smooth Skin, Whiten Teeth, etc. It can’t create a random artistic mask for you, like a sun flare. You would use your manual brush for that after Imagen does the heavy lifting.

6. Does Imagen work with Photoshop brushes? Imagen is a desktop app that integrates with Adobe Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, Photoshop, and Bridge. The masks it creates are Lightroom masks (or Adobe Camera Raw masks). They are not “Photoshop brushes,” but they are fully editable within the Adobe ecosystem.

7. What if I don’t like the mask Imagen made? You can change it! That’s the best part. When you open your photo in Lightroom, you can see the mask Imagen made in the Masking Panel. You can add to it, subtract from it, or just lower the effect sliders. You always have the final say.

8. Is using AI for masking “cheating”? No. Is using a digital camera “cheating” over film? Is using autofocus “cheating”? No, they are tools that let you focus on the creative part of the job. AI is the same. It automates the tedious parts so you can be more of an artist.

9. What’s the keyboard shortcut for the brush tools? Shift + W opens the new Masking Panel. K was the shortcut for the old Adjustment Brush (it now opens the new panel and selects “Brush”). O toggles the mask overlay. [ and ] change your brush size.

10. How do I make my brush paint in a perfectly straight line? This is a great trick. Click once at your starting point. Then, move your mouse to your end point, hold the Shift key, and click again. Lightroom will “connect the dots” and paint a perfectly straight line between the two points.

11. Why is “Auto Mask” not working right? Auto Mask needs clear, high-contrast edges to work. If you’re trying to use it on something soft and blurry (like hair, a foggy mountain, or skin), it will get confused and create ugly, splotchy results. Turn it off for soft edges.

12. Can Imagen learn my brushing style? This is a great question. Imagen’s Personal AI Profile learns your global editing style (your color, tone, exposure choices, etc.). The AI Masking Tools (like Smooth Skin) are separate, pre-trained AI models. They are applied on top of your Personal AI Profile’s edit, so they work together to match your overall look and feel.

13. What’s the best way to start practicing with brushes? Start with dodging and burning. Create two brush masks: “Dodge” (+0.25 Exposure) and “Burn” (-0.25 Exposure). Set the Flow to 20. On a photo, paint over the natural highlights with your Dodge brush and the natural shadows with your Burn brush. You will instantly see the photo gain a 3D “pop.”