Masks

Masks let you edit one part of the photo and leave the rest alone: brighten a face, darken a sky, sharpen only the subject.

Pick a shape to start. Gradients and the brush you place by hand; Subject, Sky and Luminance find their area for you. Each mask then gets its own exposure, color and detail sliders, which only act inside it.

On the Shape page you refine the selection – feather, expand, invert – and combine it with more shapes that add, subtract or keep only the overlap. Subject minus the sky, say, or a radial trimmed by luminance so it only catches the lit side of a face. When it looks right, switch to Adjust and make the edit.

The red overlay shows the mask while you shape it and steps aside once you adjust; the eye brings it back.